1934 in poetry
Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature.
Events
- April 6 - Rudyard Kipling and W. B. Yeats are awarded the Gothenburg Prize for Poetry.
- September - T. S. Eliot visits the English Cotswolds manor house and garden which gives rise to his poem Burnt Norton.
- September 21 - The Barretts of Wimpole Street, a film directed by Sidney Franklin with Norma Shearer as Elizabeth Barrett and Fredric March as Robert Browning, is released in the United States; remade in 1957, less successfully
- Bengali poet Buddhadeb Bosu marries singer and writer Protiva Bose.
- The University Review is founded at the University of Kansas City. The publication is later called New Letters.West Indian Review founded.
Works published in English
Canada">Canadian poetry">Canada
- Kenneth Leslie, Windward Rock: Poems. New York: Macmillan.
- Tom MacInnes, High Low Along.
- Frederick George Scott, Collected Poems. Vancouver: Clarke & Stuart Co. Ltd.
- Charles G.D. Roberts, The Iceberg and Other Poems..
- Theodore Goodridge Roberts, The Leather Bottle
- Seranus, Penelope and Other Poems.
India">Indian poetry">India, in English">Indian poetry in English">in English
- Sri Aurobindo, Six Poems, Chandernagore: Rameshwar and Co.
- Harindranath Chattopadhyaya, Cross Road, Madras: Shama's Publishing House
- P. R. Kaikini, Flower Offerings ; Bombay: Bombay Book Depot
- E. E. Speight, editor, Indian Masters of English, London: Longmans, Green; anthology; published in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom">English poetry">United Kingdom
- Edmund Blunden, Choice or Chance
- Maud Bodkin, Archetypal Patterns of Poetry: Psychological Studies of Imagination, criticism
- Lilian Bowes Lyon, The White Hare
- Roy Campbell, Broken Record, the first version of his autobiography; South African native published in the United Kingdom
- Helen Cruickshank, Up the Noran Water, Scottish poet
- Lawrence Durrell, Transition
- T. S. Eliot, The Rock
- William Golding, Poems
- Pauline Gower, Piffling Poems for Pilots
- I. M. and H. Hubbard, The War Resisters, and Other Poems
- T. L. W. Hubbard, Poems, 1925-1934
- John Lehmann, The Noise of History
- Hugh MacDiarmid, pen name of Christopher Murray Grieve, Stony Limits and Other Poems, Scottish poet
- Ruth Pitter, A Mad Lady's Garland, preface by Hilaire Belloc
- Nan Shepherd, In the Cairngorms
- William Soutar, The Solitary Way
- E. E. Speight, editor, Indian Masters of English, London: Longmans, Green; anthology; Indian poetry in English, published in the United Kingdom
- Stephen Spender, Vienna
- Dylan Thomas, 18 Poems, including "The Force that Through the Green Fuse Drives the Flower"
- W. B. Yeats, The King of the Great Clock Tower, Irish poet published in the United Kingdom
United States">American poetry">United States
- James Agee, Permit Me Voyage
- W. H. Auden, Poems
- Paul Engle, American Song
- John A. Lomax, compiler, with Alan Lomax, American Ballads and Folk Songs
- Edna St. Vincent Millay, Wine From These Grapes
- George Oppen, Discrete Series
- Ezra Pound:
- * Eleven new Cantos: XXXI-XLI
- *Homage to Sextus Propertius, London
- * "Make It New"
- Edward Arlington Robinson, Amaranth
- Jesse Stuart, Man with a Bull-Tongue Plow
- William Carlos Williams, Collected Poems 1921-1931
- Yvor Winters, ''Before Disaster''
Other in English
- R. A. K. Mason, No New Thing, New Zealand
- Shaw Neilson, Collected Poems of John Shaw Neilson, edited and with introduction by R. H. Croll, Melbourne, Lothian, Australia
- W. B. Yeats, The King of the Great Clock Tower, Irish poet published in the United Kingdom
Works published in other languages
France">French poetry">France
- Louis Aragon, Hourra l'oural
- André Breton, L'Air de l'eau
- René Char, Le Marteau sans maître
- Paul Éluard, pen name of Paul-Eugène Grindel, La Rose publique
- Alphonse Métérié:
- * Petit maroc II
- * Cophetuesques
- Benjamin Péret, De derrière les fagots
- Jules Supervielle, ''Les Amis inconnus''
Indian">Indian poetry">Indian subcontinent
Including all of the British colonies that later became India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal. Listed alphabetically by first name, regardless of surname:Hindi">Hindi poetry">Hindi
- Gopal Sharan, Umanga, on themes of patriotism and love of nature
- Mahadevi Varma, Nirja
- Rameshvar Shukla, ''Kiran Bela''
Kashmiri">Kashmiri poetry">Kashmiri
- Fazil Kashmiri, Saz-e-Chaman
- Mahjoor, "Nera Ha Sanyas Lagith", a poem published in a special number of Martand
- Man Ji Suri, Krishna Avtar, a masnavi on Krishna, but also including devotional lyrics in the vatsan form
Telugu">Telugu poetry">Telugu
- Durbhaka Rajesekhara Satavadhani, Rana Pratapa Simha Caritra, called one of the "five modern epics", or Panca Kavya's in Telugu poetry; written in 5 cantos, with about 2,000 verses, in classical style, based on the Annals and Andiquities of Rajasthan by James Dodd
- Meka Ramachandra Appa Rao, translator, Amaruka, translation from English of Omar Khayyam's Rubbayit
- Tripurancni Ramaswami, Sutapuranam, poem criticizing Aryan mythologies; written in a classical style
- Pingali Lakshmikantam and Katuri Venkateshvara Rao, Saundaranandamu, epic in nine cantos, based on a Sanskrit poem by Asvagosha
Other Indian languages
- D. R. Bendre, also known as Ambikatanaya Datta, Murtu Mattu Kamakasturi, long, philosophical poem in 11 parts and 15 love songs; influenced by A.E.'s The Candle of Vision; Kannada
- Govinda Krishna Chettur, The Shadow of God, 37 sonnets in Kashmiri and a short prefatory poem in English; modeled on Alfred Lord Tennyson's In Memoriam
- Khavirakpan, Smaran mangal Kavya, humorous poems in Meitei
- Kirpa Sagar, Dido Jamval, epic on the actions of Maharaja Ranjit Singh in the Jammu area; Punjabi
- Masti Venkatesa Iyengar, Malara, a book that introduced the sonnet form into Kannada poetry; the 82 sonnets approach different subjects, including day-to-day life and the change of seasons, from a very religious point of view and in an uncomplicated, conversational style
- N. Balamani Amma, Amma, on a mother's love and a child's innocence; Malayalam
- Narayan Murlidhar Gupte, writing under the pen name "Bee", Phulanci Onjal, showing the influence of Kesavsut; Marathi
- Pramathanath Bisi, Pracin Asami Haite, sonnets written from 1924 to 1927 from the most prolific published sonnet-writer in Bengali; a companion volume, Bracin Parasik Haite, was published in the late 1960s
- Umashankur Joshi, Gangotri, Gujarati-language
- Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Savarakaranci Sphuta Kavita, including "Sagaras", and patriotic poems such as "Maze Mrtypatra" and "Maranonmukh Sayyevar" ; by a Marathi revolutionary
Other languages
- Vladimir Cavarnali, Poesii
- José Santos Chocano, Primicias de Oro de Indias, Peru
- Constantin S. Nicolăescu-Plopșor, Ghileà romanè
- Martinus Nijhoff, Awater, Netherlands
- Alejandro Peralta, El Kollao, Peru
- Fernando Pessoa, Mensagem, Portugal
- Heiti Talvik, Palavik, Estonia
- Ernst Volkman, ed., Deutsche Dichtung im Weltkrieg, Germany
Awards and honors
- Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: Robert Hillyer: Collected Verse
- Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry: Laurence Whistler
Births
Death years link to the corresponding " in poetry" article:- January 1 - Muthaffar al-Nawab Iraqi poet and political critic
- January 6 - John Wieners, American lyric poet
- January 22 - Sugathakumari, Indian Malayalam female poet and activist
- February 10 - Fleur Adcock, expatriate New Zealand poet and editor who lives much of her life in England
- February 18 - Audre Lorde, African-American writer, poet and activist
- February 27 - N. Scott Momaday, Native American poet and writer
- March 31 - Kamala Surayya, Indian poet and writer in English and Malayalam, her native language, Indian English
- March 20 - David Malouf, Australian poet and writer
- April 11 - Mark Strand, American poet
- April 12 - Anselm Hollo, Finnish-American poet and translator also resident for eight years in the United Kingdom, where his poems are included in British poetry anthologies.
- May 10 - Jayne Cortez, African-American poet
- June 15 - Hettie Jones, born Hettie Cohen, American poet, writer and first wife of Amiri Baraka
- July 1 - James Liddy, Irish American poet
- July 13 - Wole Soyinka, Nigerian writer, poet and playwright who in 1986 is the first African to win the Nobel Prize in Literature
- July 17 - Rainer Kirsch, German writer and poet
- July 18 - Walt McDonald, American poet and academic
- July 20 - Henry Dumas, African-American writer and poet
- August 5 - Wendell Berry, American novelist, essayist, poet, professor, cultural critic and farmer
- August 6 - Diane di Prima, American poet associated with the Beats
- September 2 - Jack Agüeros, American community activist, poet, writer and translator
- September 7 - Sunil Gangopadhyay, Indian Bengali-language poet
- September 9 - Sonia Sanchez, African-American poet, playwright and children's book author associated with the Black Arts Movement
- September 21 - Leonard Cohen, Canadian-born poet, singer-songwriter and novelist
- September 23 - M. Travis Lane, American-Canadian poet
- October 7 - Amiri Baraka, born LeRoi Jones, African-American poet, playwright, essayist and music critic whose first wife is poet Hettie Jones
- November 7 - Beverly Dahlen, American poet
- November 15 - Ted Berrigan, American poet and political activist
- November 19 - Joanne Kyger, American poet
- November 25 - Shakti Chattopadhyay, Bengali poet
- November 28 - Ted Walker, English poet, short story writer, travel writer, television and radio dramatist and broadcaster
- December 17 - Binoy Majumdar, Bengali poet
- December 29 - Forugh Farrokhzad, Iranian poet and film director
- Also:
- * Muhammad al-Maghut, Syrian Ismaili poet
- * Stephen Berg, American
- * Sugatha Kumari, Indian, Malayalam-language poet
- * Heather Spears, Canadian-born poet, novelist and artist
Deaths
Birth years link to the corresponding " in poetry" article:- January 8 - Andrei Bely, Russian novelist, poet and critic
- March 7 - Ernst Enno, Estonian
- March 25 - Arthur Alfred Lynch, Australian-born, Irish and British civil engineer, physician, journalist, author, soldier, anti-imperialist and polymath who served as a member of the House of Commons after being convicted of treason, sentenced to death, having his sentence reduced and then being released ; towards the end of World War I raised his own Irish battalion
- June 14 - John Gray, English
- July 4 - Hayim Nahman Bialik, Hebrew
- August 19 - Jean Blewett, Canadian
- September 26 - Inoue Kenkabō 井上剣花坊 pen name of Inoue Koichi, late Meiji, Taishō and early Shōwa period Japanese journalist and writer of senryū
- December 3 - Catherine Pozzi, French poet and woman of letters
- John Ferrar Holms, British critic