1954 in poetry
Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature.
Events
- January 25 - Dylan Thomas's Under Milk Wood is broadcast posthumously on BBC Radio.
- February - W. H. Auden and Chester Kallman move to an apartment on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.
- Spring - Robert Creeley founds and edits the Black Mountain Review.
- Publication of American literary theorist William K. Wimsatt's collected essays Verbal Icon: Studies in the Meaning of Poetry, including the influential critical essays “The Intentional Fallacy” and “The Affective Fallacy” cowritten with Monroe Beardsley.
- Jack Kerouac reads Dwight Goddard's A Buddhist Bible, which will influence him greatly.
Works published in English
Listed by nation where the work was first published and again by the poet's native land, if different; substantially revised works listed separately:Canada">Canadian poetry">Canada
- Daryl Hine, Five Poems
- Irving Layton, In the Midst of My Fever. Palma de Mallorca, Spain: Divers Press.
- Irving Layton, The Long Pea-Shooter. Montreal: Laocoon Press.
- Jay Macpherson, O Earth Return
- P. K. Page, The Metal and the Flower, Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, Canada
- Raymond Souster, A Dream That Is Dying. Toronto: Contact Press
- Raymond Souster, Walking Death. Toronto: Contact Press.
- F. R. Scott, Events and Signals. Toronto: Ryerson Press.
- A. J. M. Smith, A Sort of Ecstasy; Michigan State College Press / Ryerson Press.
India">Indian poetry">India, in English">Indian poetry in English">in English
- Sri Aurobindo:
- * Collected Poems, Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram
- * Savitri, Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram
- R. de L. Furtado, The Centre, Hamilton, Ontario: Cromlech Press; Indian author published in Canada
- Nizamat Jung, Poems, edited and published by Zahir Ahmed in Hyderabad
- Prithwi Singh Nahar, The Wind of Silence, songs, sonnets and other poems; Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram
- C. Raju, This Modern Age, foreword by Amarnath Jha
- K. S. R. Sastry, A Vision of India, Madras: Raja Power Press
United Kingdom">English poetry">United Kingdom
- W. H. Auden, The Shield of Achilles, English poet living in the United States at this time
- Sir John Betjeman, A Few Late Chrysanthemums
- George Mackay Brown, The Storm, Scotland
- Thom Gunn, Fighting Terms, Fantasy Press
- John Heath-Stubbs, A Charm Against the Toothace
- Philip Larkin, The Less Deceived
- David Raikes, ''The Poems of David Raikes''
Criticism, scholarship and biography in the United Kingdom
- P. Cruttwell, The Shakespearean Moment, criticism, United Kingdom
- G. Hartmann, The Unmediated Vision, criticism, United Kingdom
- W. K. Wimsatt Jr., The Verbal Icon, criticism, United Kingdom
- Jon Silkin, The Peaceable Kingdom, including "Death of a Son "
- Dylan Thomas, Quite Early One Morning, New Directions Publishers
United States">American poetry">United States
- Léonie Adams, Poems
- W. H. Auden, The Shield of Achilles, English poet living in the United States at this time
- Louise Bogan, Collected Poems, 1923-1953
- E. E. Cummings, Poems, 1923-1954
- Babette Deutsch, Animal, Vegetable, Mineral
- Anthony Hecht, A Summoning of Stones
- Daniel G. Hoffman, An Armada of Thirty Wales
- Robinson Jeffers, Hungerfield and Other Poems
- Weldon Kees, Poems 1947-1954
- Archibald MacLeish, Songs for Eve
- W. S. Merwin, The Dancing Bears, New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press
- Edna St. Vincent Millay, Mine the Harvest
- Marianne Moore, The Fables of La Fontaine
- Howard Moss, The Toy Fair
- Kenneth Patchen, The Famous Boating Party
- May Swenson, Another Animal
- Wallace Stevens, The Collected Poems of Wallace Stevens, includes "The Rock," previously unpublished section including "The Poem That Took the Place of a Mountain," "A Quiet Normal Life," "Final Soliloquy of the Interior Paramour," "The Rock," "The Planet on the Table," and "Not Ideas about the Thing but the Thing Itself"), Knopf
- E. B. White, The Second Tree from the Corner
- William Carlos Williams, ''The Desert Music and Other Poems''
Criticism, scholarship and biography in the United States
- Hugh Kenner, Wyndham Lewis: A Critical Guidebook, criticism, United States
- W. C. Williams, Selected Essays, criticism, United States
Other
- Martin Carter, Poems of Resistance, Guyana
- Wilson Harris, Eternity to Season, Guyana
- Frank Prince, Soldiers Bathing and Other Poems, South African
- Keith Sinclair, Strangers or Beasts: Poems, New Zealand
Works published in other languages
French language
Canada">Canadian poetry">Canada, in French
- Jean-Guy Pilon, Les cloîtres de l'été, Montréal: l'Hexagone
France">French poetry">France
- Louis Aragon, Les Yeux et la memoire
- Jean Cocteau, Clair-obscur
- René Daumal, Poésie noire, poésie blanche, posthumously published
- Jean Follain, Appareil de la terre
- Jean Grosjean, Fils de l'homme
- Henri Michaux, ''Face au verrous''
India">Indian poetry">India
In each section, listed in alphabetical order by first name:Hindi">Hindi poetry">Hindi
- Girija Kumar Mathur, Dhup ke dhan
- Namvar Singh, Chayavad, literary criticism that offers a radically new interpretation of the romantic movement in Hindi poetry; shows the social foundations of Hindi romanticism and its ties to the progressive movement that followed it
- Premchand, Sahitya Ka Uddesya, literary essays; published posthumously
Malayalam">Malayalam poetry">Malayalam
- P. K. Paramesvaran Nair, Adhunika Sahitya Caritram, history of Malayalam literature
- P. Kunjiraman Nair, Kaliyacchan, poems reflecting traditional ways of life in Kerala
- Sreedhara Menon, Kunnimenikal
- Sukumar Azhikode, Asante Sitakavyam, critical assessment of Kumaran Asan's ''Cintavishtayaya''
Urdu">Urdu poetry">Urdu
- Gian Chand Jain, , literary criticism on classical Urdu fiction, written in that language
- Jigar Brelvi, Payam-i Savitri, a narrative poem on Savitri, a figure from Hindu mythology; Urdu
- Masood Husain Khan, Urdu zaban aur adab, critical study on the Urdu language and literature
Other languages of the Indian subcontinent
- Baldev Gajra, also known as "Gumnam", Gumnam Sada, nationalist poems; Sindhi
- Buddhadeb Basu, Sahitya Carca, essays on various literary topics; Bengali
- Jayant Pathak, Marmar, the author's first poetry collection; Gujarati
- M. Gopalakrishna Adiga, Cendemaddale, Kannada
- Mohan Singh, Awazan, lyrics with a "romantic progressive ideology", according to Indian academic Sisir Kumar Das; Punjabi
- Nand Lal Ambardar, Loel Ta Husun, including "Roopavat", Kashmiri
- Nirendranath Chakraborty, Nilnirjan, mostly love poems, although one or two have political elements, Kolkata: Signet Press; Bengali-language
- Raghunath Singh Samyal, Dogra Desa Te Dogari Boli, Dogri poetry praising Dograland, Dogra people and the Dogri language
- Tulasibahadur Chetri, nicknamed "Apatan", Samkalpa, Nepali
- Madhunapantula Satyanarayanashastri, also spelled "Madhunapantula Satyanarayana Sastri", Andhra Puranamu, Telugu,
- Manoj Das, Padadvani, Oriya
- Satramdas, also known as "Sail", Rama Katha, 32 cantos in a Persian meter, written in the wake of the partition of India in 1947; Sindhi
- Visvanatha Satyanarayana, Nannayagari prasanna Katha Kalitartha Yukti, critical appraisal of Nannaya; Telugu
Other languages
- Simin Behbahani, Ja-ye Pa, Persia
- José Santos Chocano, Obras completas,. de Luis Alberto Sánchez Madrid, Aguilar, Peruvian poetry published in Spain
- Haim Gouri, Shirei Hotam, Israeli writing in Hebrew
- Sorley MacLean, Hallaig, Scottish Gaelic
- Pier Paolo Pasolini, La meglio gioventù, Friulian language published in Italy
- Maria Luisa Spaziani, Le acque del sabato, Italy
- Wisława Szymborska, Pytania zadawane sobie, Poland
- Tin Ujević, Žedan kamen na studencu, Croatian
Awards and honors
- National Book Award for Poetry: Conrad Aiken, Collected Poems
- Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: Theodore Roethke: The Waking
- King's Gold Medal for Poetry: Ralph Hodgson
- Bollingen Prize: W. H. Auden
- Fellowship of the Academy of American Poets: Louise Townsend Nicholl and Oliver St. John Gogarty
- Canada: Governor General's Award, poetry or drama: The Metal and the Flower, P. K. Page
Births
Death years link to the corresponding " in poetry" article:- February 9 - Ian Duhig, English poet
- February 13 - Vijay Seshadri, Indian poet, essayist and literary critic who emigrates to the United States c. 1959
- February 21 - Francisco X. Alarcón, Mexican-American poet
- February 27 - Thylias Moss, African-American poet, writer and playwright
- March 4 - Irina Ratushinskaya, Russian samizdat poet
- March 26 - Dorothy Porter, Australian
- April 17 - Erín Moure, Canadian
- May 5 - Hamid Ismailov, Uzbek writer
- May 25 - Alexei Parshchikov, Russian poet, critic and translator who emigrates to the United States in 1991
- July 5 - Kevin Hart, Australian
- July 19 - Jane Eaton Hamilton, Canadian short story writer, poet and photographer
- July 31 - Kim Addonizio, American poet and novelist
- August 6 - Lorna Dee Cervantes, American poet
- August 8 - Yu Jian, China
- August 15 - Mary Jo Salter, American
- October 15 - Peter Bakowski, Australian
- November 10 - Joy Goswami, Indian Bengali poet
- December 5 - Lynda Hull, American
- December 20 - Sandra Cisneros, American poet and author
- December 27 - David Baker, American
- Also:
- * Catherine Anderson (poet), American
- * Robert Boates, Canadian
- * Brother Resistance, Trinidadian
- * Janet Charman, New Zealand
- * Imtiaz Dharker, Pakistan-born British
- * Cornelius Eady, African American
- * David Hallett, Australian
- * Sotiris Kakisis, Greek
- * Jan Heller Levi, American
- * Ahmed Matar, Iraqi poet
- * Ibrahim Nasrallah, Jordanian-Palestinian poet and novelist
- * Luis J. Rodriguez, American poet, novelist, journalist, critic and columnist
- * Stephen Sartarelli, poet and translator
- * Deb Westbury, Australian
Deaths
Birth years link to the corresponding " in poetry" article:- January 1 - Leonard Bacon, 66, American poet
- February 6 - Maxwell Bodenheim, 62, American poet and novelist known as the "King of Greenwich Village Bohemians", murdered
- March 28 - Francis Brett Young, 73, English novelist and poet
- August 3 - Fumiko Nakajo 中城ふみ子, pen name of Noe Fumiko 野江富美子, 32, Japanese tanka poet who dies young after a turbulent life and struggle with breast cancer, as recorded in her poetry
- August 18 - Samukawa Sokotsu 寒川鼠骨, Japanese, Meiji period haiku poet; Masaoka Shiki's pupil.
- October 22
- * Jibanananda Das, Bengali poet
- * Oswald de Andrade, Brazilian poet and polemicist