1980 in poetry
Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature.
Events
- Three new Hebrew literary journals appear this year in Israel: Mahbarot, edited by Y. Kenaz, Rosh a poetry journal edited by O. Bartena, and Hazerem hehadash, founded by a group of young ex-soldiers.
- Mark Jarman and Robert McDowell start the small magazine The Reaper to promote narrative and formal poetry.Conjunctions literary magazine gets its start one afternoon late this year when founding editor Bradford Morrow sits in Beat poet Kenneth Rexroth's library in Santa Barbara, California talking over the idea of assembling a publication to celebrate James Laughlin, editor of New Directions Publishing. Poets solicited for the publication promise to send in work for future issues of the magazine, not realizing that no magazine is planned at this stage. Morrow then starts the magazine, financing the first few issues himself.
- December 19 - Guatemalan poet Alaíde Foppa is abducted and never seen again.
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
- Roo Borson :
- * In the Smoky Light of the Fields,
- * Rain,
- Fred Cogswell, A Long Apprenticeship
- Louis Dudek, Cross-Section: Poems 1940-1980. Toronto: Coach House Press.
- Dorothy Farmiloe, Words for My Weeping Daughter
- Robert Finch, Variations and Theme.
- Gail Fox, In Search of Living Things
- Ralph Gustafson, Landscape with Rain
- Irving Layton, For My Neighbours in Hell. Oakville, Ontario: Mosaic Press.
- Miriam Mandel, Where Have You Been?. Edmonton: Longspoon Press.
- Joe Rosenblatt, The Sleeping Lady. Exile Editions.
- Raymond Souster, Collected Poems, Volume 1
- Raymond Souster and Richard Woollatt, eds. Poems of a Snow-Eyed Country. Don Mills, ON: Academic Press.
- Andrew Suknaski, Montage for an Interstellar Cry
- Anne Szumigalski, A Game of Angels
- Tom Wayman, Living on the Ground: Tom Wayman Country, including "Garrison", first prize-winner of the U.S. Bicentennial poetry competition
- Phyllis Webb, ''Wilson's Bowl''
Caribbean">Caribbean poetry">Caribbean
- A. J. Seymour, A Treasury of Guyanese Poetry
- Pamela Mordecai, Mervyn Morris, editors, Jamaica Woman: An Anthology of Poems, Publisher: Heinemann Educational Books
- Lorna Goodison, Tamarind Season
- Mutabaruka, The First Poems: 1970-1979
- Derek Walcott, The Star-Apple Kingdom, St. Lucia native living in and published in the United States
India">Indian poetry">India, in English">Indian poetry in English">in English
- Meena Alexander, Stone Roots, New Delhi: Arnold Heinemann, by an Indian writing and living in the United States
- Dilip Chitre, Travelling In A Cage, Mumbai:Clearing House
- Keki Daruwalla:
- * Editor, Two Decades of Indian Poetry 1960-1980, Delhi: Vikas
- * Winter Poems, New Delhi: Allied Publishers Pvt Ltd.
- E. V. Ramakrishnan:
- * A Python in A Snake Park, New Delhi: Rupa and Co.
- * Being Elsewhere in Myself, Kolkata: Writers Workshop, India.
- Jayanta Mahapatra, The False Start, Bombay: Clearing House, India.
Ireland">Irish poetry">Ireland
- Eavan Boland, In Her Own Image, Irish poet published in the United Kingdom
- Dermot Bolger, The Habit of Flesh
- Seamus Heaney, Selected Poems 1965-1975, Faber & Faber, Northern Ireland native published in the United Kingdom
- Thomas Kinsella, Poems 1956-1973, Irish poet published in the United Kingdom
- Paul Muldoon, Why Brownlee Left Northern Ireland native published in the United Kingdom
- Tom Paulin, The Strange Museum, including "Pot Burial" and "Where Art Is a Midwife", Faber and Faber, Irish poet published in the United Kingdom
New Zealand">New Zealand literature">New Zealand
- James K. Baxter, Collected Poems, posthumous
- Charles Brasch, Indirections: a Memoir, 1909-1947, Wellington; New York: Oxford University Press, autobiography
- Alistair Campbell, The Dark Lord of Savaiki: Collected Poems, Christchurch: Hazard Press
- Lauris Edmond:
- *Wellington Letter: A Sequence of Poems
- *Seven: Poems
- *Salt from the North
- W. H. Oliver, Out of Season: Poems, Wellington; New York: Oxford University Press, New Zealand
- Alistair Patterson, editor, Fifteen Contemporary New Zealand Poets, anthology
- Ian Wedde, ''Castaly: Poems 1973–1977''
United Kingdom">English poetry">United Kingdom
- Eavan Boland, In Her Own Image, Irish poet published in the United Kingdom
- Alan Brownjohn, A Night in the Gazebo
- David Constantine, A Brightness to Cast Shadows
- Wendy Cope, Across the City
- Donald Davie, In the Stopping Train, and Other Poems
- Lawrence Durrell, Collected Poems: 1931-1974, edited by James A. Brigham
- Gavin Ewart, The Collected Ewart 1933-1980
- Elaine Feinstein, The Feast of Eurydice, Faber & Faber/Next Editions
- James Fenton, A German Requiem: A Poem, Salamander Press, a pamphlet
- Roy Fisher, Poems 1955-1980
- John Fuller, The January Divan
- Roy Fuller, The Reign of Sparrows
- Geoffrey Grigson, History of Him
- Seamus Heaney, Selected Poems 1965-1975, Northern Ireland native published in the United Kingdom
- Adrian Henri, From the Loveless Matel
- Frances Horovitz, Water Over Stone
- Elizabeth Jennings, A Dream of Spring
- Linton Kwesi Johnson, Inglan is a Bitch
- Thomas Kinsella, Poems 1956-1973, Irish poet published in the United Kingdom
- Laurence Lerner, A.R.T.H.U.R. & M.A.R.T.H.A.; or, The Loves of the Computers, South African native living and published in the United Kingdom
- George MacBeth, Poems of Love and Death
- Norman MacCaig, The Equal Skies
- Pete Morgan, One Greek Alphabet
- Paul Muldoon, Why Brownlee Left, Northern Ireland native published in the United Kingdom
- Tom Paulin, The Strange Museum, Northern Ireland native published in the United Kingdom
- Kathleen Raine, The Oracle in the Heart, and Other Poems 1975-1978
- Jeremy Reed, Bleecker Street
- Jon Silkin, The Psalms With Their Spoils
- Anthony Thwaite, Victorian Voices
- John Wain, Poems, 1949-1979
- Benjamin Zephaniah, Pen Rhythm, his first published collection
Anthologies in the United Kingdom
- D. J. Enright, editor, The Oxford Book of Contemporary Verse
- Blake Morrison, editor, The Movement
- Charles Tomlinson, editor, The Oxford Book of Verse in English translation
- Geoffrey Grigson, editor, Oxford Book of Satirical Verse
- Gavin Ewart, editor, Penguin Book of Light Verse
- Valentine Cunningham, editor, ''Penguin Book of Spanish Civil War Verse''
United States
- Meena Alexander, Stone Roots, New Delhi: Arnold Heinemann, by an Indian writing and living in the United States
- A.R. Ammons, Selected Longer Poems
- Ted Berrigan:
- * So Going Around Cities: New & Selected Poems
- * Carrying a Torch
- Elizabeth Bishop, That was Then, published posthumously
- Philip Booth, Before Sleep
- Joseph Brodsky: A Part of Speech, New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux Russian-American
- Lucille Clifton, Two-Headed Woman
- George F. Butterick and Richard Blevins, editors, Charles Olson and Robert Creeley: The Complete Correspondence, first volume published this year, Santa Barbara, California
- Billy Collins, Video Poems
- Allen Ginsberg, Straight Hearts' Delight: Love Poems and Selected Letters, 1947-1980
- Daniel G. Hoffman, Brotherly Love
- Galway Kinnell, Mortal Acts, Mortal Words
- James McMichael, Four Good Things
- William Meredith, The Cheer
- James Merrill, Scripts for the Pageant
- Howard Nemerov, Sentences
- Molly Peacock, And Live Apart
- James Schuyler, The Morning of the Poem
- Frederick Seidel, Sunrise
- Louis Simpson, Caviare at the Funeral
- Mark Strand, Selected Poems, Canadian native living in and published in the United States
- Derek Walcott, The Star-Apple Kingdom, St. Lucia native living in and published in the United States
- Rosmarie Waldrop, When They Have Senses
- Robert Penn Warren, Being Here: Poetry 1977-1980
- Philip Whalen, Enough Said
- Ray Young Bear, ''winter of the salamander''
Criticism, scholarship and biography in the United States
- Justin Kaplan, Walt Whitman
- Lew Welch, I Remain, posthumous
Other in English
- Lorna Goodison, Tamarind Season, Jamaica
- Philip Salom, The Silent Piano, Australia
- Chris Wallace-Crabbe, editor, The Golden Apples of the Sun: Twentieth Century Australian Poetry, Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, anthology
Works published in other languages
Listed by language and often by nation where the work was first published and again by the poet's native land, if different; substantially revised works listed separately:Denmark">Danish literature">Denmark
- Klaus Høeck, Denmark:
- * Bowie, Bowie, with Asger Schnack, publisher: Gyldendal
- * Eno One, with Asger Schnack, publisher: Albatros
- * Nul , publisher: Sommersko
- * Renaldo & Clara , publisher: Virkelyst
- Klaus Rifbjerg, ''Livsfrisen''
French language
Canada">Canadian poetry">Canada, in French
- Suzanne Jacob, Poèmes I : Gémellaires, Montréal: Le Biocreux
- Pierre Nepveu, Couleur chair, Montréal: l'Hexagone
- Edmond Robillard, Le temps d'un peu... : Poèmes, Montréal: Éditions Albert-le-Grand
- Jean Royer, Faim souveraine, l'Hexagone
France">French poetry">France
- Yves Bonnefoy, Entretiens sur la poésie, France
- Philippe Denis:
- * Carnet d'un aveuglement
- * Surface d'écueil
- Emmanuel Hocquard, Une journée dans le détroit
- Edmond Jabès, L'Ineffacable L'Inaperçu
- Abdellatif Laabi, Moroccan author writing in and published in France:
- * Le Règne de barbarie. Seuil, Paris
- * Histoire des sept crucifiés de l'espoir. La Table rase, Paris
- Jean Max Tixier, editor, Vers une logoqie poétique, publisher: La Table Rase
Germany">German poetry">Germany
West Germany
- Christoph Buchwald, general editor, and Christoph Meckel, Jahrbuch der Lyrik 2, publisher: Claassen; anthology
- Ernst Jandl, Der gelbe Hund
- Johanna Moosdorf, Sieben Jahr sieben Tag
- W. Schubert and K. H. Höfer, editors, Ansichten über Lyrik, anthology, poems and prose since Opitz
East German exiles
- Roger Loewig, Ein Vogel bin ich ohne Flügel
- Thomas Brasch, Der Schöne 27. September
- Günter Kunert, ''Abtötungsverfahren''
Hebrew">Hebrew literature">Hebrew
- Natan Sach,
- Dan Pagis, editor, an anthology of medieval Hebrew love poetryMavet ve' ahava, an anthology of Egyptian poetry in Hebrew translation
India">Indian poetry">India
Listed in alphabetical order by first name:- Gulzar, Kuch Aur Nazme, New Delhi: Radhakrishna Prakashan; Hindi-language
- Kedarnath Singh, Zameen Pak Rahi Hai, Delhi: Prakashan Sansthan; Hindi
- M. Gopalakrishna Adiga, Mulaka Mahasayaru, India, Kannada-language
- Nilmani Phookan, Kavita, Guwahati, Assam: Barua Book Agency, Assamese-language
- Rajendra Kishore Panda, Nija Pain Nanabaya, Samabesha, Bhubaneswar: Prakashani, Oraya-language
- Panna Nayak, Philadelphia; Gujarati-language
- Prabhu Chugani, Surkh Gulab Suraha, a collection of five-line poems in a form invented by him; the book received the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1981, Indian, Sindhi-language
Italian">Italian poetry">Italian
- Piero Bigongiari, Moses
- Valerio Magrelli, Ora serrata retinae
- Eugenio Montale, L'opera in versi, the Bettarini-Contini edition, publisher: Mondadori; Italy
- Edoardo Sanguineti, Stracciafoglio
- Antonio Porta, Passi passaggi
- Maurizio Cucchi, Le meraviglie dell'acqua
- Ugo Reale, ''Il cerchio d'ombra''
Norway">Norwegian literature">Norway
- Ernst Orvil, Nær nok
- Harald Sverdrup, Fugleskremsel
- Marie Takvam, ''Falle og reise seg att''
Poland">Polish poetry">Poland
- Stanisław Barańczak, Tryptyk z betonu, zmeczenia i sniegu, Kraków: KOS
- M. Korolko, editor, Średniowieczna pieśn religina polska, second edition, anthology
- A. Lam, editor, Ze struny na strune, anthology
- Bronisław Maj, Wiersze ; Warsaw: NOWA
- Piotr Sommer, Pamiątki po nas
- Jan Twardowski, Niebieskie okulary, Kraków: Znak
Portuguese language">Portuguese poetry">Portuguese language
Portugal">Portuguese literature">Portugal
- Mário Cláudio, Estáncias
- Mário Cesariny de Vasconcelos, ''Primavera Autónomia das Estradas''
Brazilian">Brazilian literature">Brazilian
- Carlos Drummond de Andrade, Esquecer para lembrar
- Mário Chamie
- Astrid Cabral
- Liane dos Santos
- Tarik de Sousa
- Dante de Milano, complete poems
- Paulo Mendes Campos, complete poems
- Afonso Félix de Sousa, book of poems
Russia">Russian poetry">Russia
- Aleksandr Blok, much of his poetry was republished in this year, his centenary, including a six-volume edition of his collected works and ''Blok in the Reminiscences of Contemporaries''
Spanish language">Spanish poetry">Spanish language
Spain
- Matilde Camus, Perfiles
- Antonio Colinas, Astrolabio
- Leopoldo Azancot, ''La novia judia''
Sweden">Swedish literature">Sweden
- Lars Forssell, Stenar
- Ylva Eggehorn, Hjärtats Knytnãvsslag
- Tobias Berggren, Threnos
- Begt Emil Johnson, ''Vinterminne''
Other languages
- Leyzer Aichenrand, Landscape of Fate, Yiddish in Switzerland
- Samih al-Qasim, Je t'aime au gré de la mort, Palestinian
- Simin Behbahani, Khatti ze Sor'at va Atash, Persia
- Mairtin O Direain, Danta, including "Deiradh Re", "Cuimhne an Domhnaigh", and "Cranna Foirtil", Gaelic-language, Ireland
Awards and honors
- Nobel Prize in Literature: Czesław Miłosz, Polish poet, translator, literary critic, and exile.
Australia">Australian poetry">Australia
- Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry: David Campbell, ''Man in the Honeysuckle''
Canada">Canadian poetry">Canada
- See 1980 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.
- Prix Émile-Nelligan: Claude Beausoleil, ''Au milieu du corps l’attraction s’insinue''
United Kingdom">English poetry">United Kingdom
- Cholmondeley Award: George Barker, Terence Tiller, Roy Fuller
- Eric Gregory Award: Robert Minhinnick, Michael Hulse, Blake Morrison, Medbh McGuckian
United States">American poetry">United States
- Academy of American Poets Fellowship: Mona Van Duyn
- AML Award for Poetry to Emma Lou Thayne for "Once in Israel"
- Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: Donald Justice, Selected Poems
- American Academy of Arts and Letters: John Ashbery elected a member of the Literature Department
- American Poets: Mona Van Duyn
- Walt Whitman Award of the Academy of American Poets: Jared Carter
Spanish">Spanish poetry">Spanish
- Premios de la Crítica awards in poetry:
- * Castilian: Luis Rosales, Diario de una resurrección
- * Catalan: Miquel Martí i Pol, Estimada Marta
- * Galician: Eduardo Moreiras, O libro dos mortos
- * Basque: Juan Mari Lekuona, ''Ilargiaren eskolan''
Deaths
Birth years link to the corresponding " in poetry" article:- January 3 - George Sutherland Fraser, Scottish poet and critic
- February 12 - Muriel Rukeyser, 66, American, of a heart attack
- February 25 - Robert Hayden, 66, American poet, essayist, and educator, of a heart ailment
- March 25 - James Wright, 52, American, of cancer
- March 31 - Vladimir Holan, 74, Czech
- April 21 - Sohrab Sepehri, Persian poet and painter
- April 30 - Luis Muñoz Marín, Puerto Rican poet, journalist and politician
- June 20 - Amy Key Clarke, English mystical poet
- July 9 - Vinicius de Moraes, Brazilian writer, poet and diplomat
- July 25 - Vladimir Vysotsky, Russian singer-songwriter, poet and actor
- August 9 - Denis Glover, New Zealand poet and publisher
- September 2 - Frederick T. Macartney, Australian
- September 25 - Marie Under, Estonian
- October 18 - Martin Haley, Australian poet, essayist, translator and schoolteacher
- October 25 - Sahir Ludhianvi, Urdu/Hindustani poet and Hindi film lyricist
- November 21 - A. J. M. Smith, Canadian
- November 28 - Julia Reynolds, 98