1984 in poetry
Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature.
Events
- December 19 – Ted Hughes' appointment as Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom in succession to Sir John Betjeman is announced, Philip Larkin having turned down the post.
- After Ghazi al-Gosaibi, the Saudi Arabian minister of health, publishes a poem, "A Pen Bought and Sold", that criticizes the corruption and privilege of the country's elite, he is dismissed from his post.
- Prvoslav Vujčić's second collection of poems, Kastriranje vetra, written during a week's imprisonment in Tuzla for criticising the state, is prohibited in Yugoslavia.
- Scottish Poetry Library established.
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:Australia">Australian literature">Australia
- Robert Gray, The Skylight
- Jeff Guess, Leaving Maps, Adelaide: Friendly Street Poets
- Chris Wallace-Crabbe, D. Goodman and D.J. Hearn, editors, Clubbing of the Gunfire: 101 Australian War Poems, Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, anthology
Canada">Canadian literature">Canada
- Roo Borson, The Whole Night, Coming Home, American-Canadian
- Dionne Brand, Chronicles of the Hostile Sun
- Leonard Cohen, Book of Mercy
- Robert Finch, Double Tuning. Erin, ON: Porcupine's Quill.
- Robert Finch, Sailboat and Lake.. Erin, ON: Porcupine's Quill.
- Paulette Jiles, Celestial Navigation
- George Johnston, Ask Again.
- Irving Layton, The Love Poems of Irving Layton: With Reverence & Delight. Oakville, Ontario: Mosaic Press, 1984.
- Irving Layton, A Spider Danced a Cosy Jig. Toronto: Stoddart.
- Dorothy Livesay, Feeling the Worlds: New Poems. Fredericton: Goose Lane.
- Miriam Mandel, The Collected Poems of Miriam Mandel. Sheila Watson, ed. Edmonton: Longspoon Press.
- Michael Ondaatje, Secular Love, Toronto: Coach House Press,, ; New York: W. W. Norton, 1985
- James Reaney, Imprecations: The Art of Swearing. Black Moss Press.
- Charles Sangster, The St. Lawrence and the Saguenary and other poems, edited by Frank M. Tierney
- Raymond Souster, Jubilee of Death: The Raid On Dieppe. Ottawa: Oberon Press.
- Raymond Souster, Queen City. Ottawa: Oberon Press.
India">Indian poetry">India, in English">Indian poetry in English">in English
- Kamala Das, Collected Poems Volume 1, Trivandrum: Kamala Das
- Nissim Ezekiel, Latter-Day Psalms, Delhi
- Arvind Krishna Mehrotra, Middle Earth, New Delhi: Oxford University Press,
- Suniti Namjoshi, From the Bedside Book of Nightmares, Fredericton, New Brunswick : Fiddlehead,
Ireland">Irish poetry">Ireland
- Seamus Heaney Northern Ireland native at this time living in the United States:
- * Hailstones, Gallery Press
- * Station Island, Faber & Faber,
- * Sweeney Astray
- * Verses for a Fordham Commencement, Nadja Press
- Thomas McCarthy, The Non-Aligned Storyteller, Anvil Press, London, Ireland
- Medbh McGuckian, Venus and the Rain, first edition, Oldcastle: The Gallery Press
- Derek Mahon, A Kensington Notebook, Northern Ireland poet published in the United Kingdom
- Paul Muldoon, editor, The Faber Book of Contemporary Irish Poetry, an anthology of works by Patrick Kavanagh, Louis MacNeice, Thomas Kinsella, John Montague, Seamus Heaney, Michael Longley, Derek Mahon, Paul Durcan, Tom Paulin and Medbh McGuckian.
New Zealand">New Zealand literature">New Zealand
- Fleur Adcock, editor, Oxford Book of Contemporary New Zealand Poetry
- Charles Brasch, Collected Poems, Auckland: Oxford University Press, posthumous
- Alan Brunton, And She Said, New York:Red Mole
- Lauris Edmond, Selected Poems, winner of the Commonwealth Poetry Prize in 1985
- Bill Manhire, Zoetropes: Poems 1972-82
- Cilla McQueen, Anti Gravity
- Ian Wedde:
- * Georgicon
- * ''Tales of Gotham City''
United Kingdom">English poetry">United Kingdom
- Peter Ackroyd, T. S. Eliot: A Life
- Samuel Beckett, Collected Poems 1930–78
- James Berry, News for Babylon: The Chatto Book of Westindian-British Poetry
- Alison Brackenbury, Breaking Ground
- George Mackay Brown, Christmas Poems
- Charles Causley, Secret Destinations
- David Constantine, Mappa Mundi
- Gavin Ewart:
- * The Ewart Quarto
- * Festival Nights
- U. A. Fanthorpe, Voices Off
- Alison Fell, Kisses for Mayakovsky
- James Fenton, Children in Exile: Poems 1968-1984 Salamander Press version, poems from this volume were combined with those from The Memory of War to make the Penguin volume titled The Memory of War and Children in Exile; that combined volume was published in the United States, also under the title Children in Exile
- Roy Fuller, Mianserin Sonnets
- Geoffrey Grigson, Montaigne's Tower, and Other Poems
- Seamus Heaney Northern Ireland native at this time living in the United States:
- * Hailstones, Gallery Press
- * Station Island, Faber & Faber,
- * Sweeney Astray
- * Verses for a Fordham Commencement, Nadja Press
- John Hegley, Visions of the Bone Idol
- Selima Hill, Saying Hello at the Station
- Liz Lochhead, Dreaming Franenstein and Collected Poems
- Medbh McGuckian, Venus and the Rain
- Derek Mahon, A Kensington Notebook, Northern Ireland poet published in the United Kingdom
- E. A. Markham, Human Rites
- Christopher Middleton, Serpentine
- Edwin Morgan, Sonnets from Scotland
- Blake Morrison, Dark Glasses
- Andrew Motion, Dangerous Play
- Grace Nichols, The Fat Black Woman's Poems, Virago
- Fiona Pitt-Kethley, London
- Peter Porter, Fast Forward
- Craig Raine, Rich
- Peter Reading, C
- Jeremy Reed, By the Fisheries
- Charles Tomlinson, ''Notes from New York; and Other Poems''
United States">American poetry">United States
- John Ashbery, A Wave, awarded the Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize and the Bollingen Prize
- Charles Bernstein and Bruce Andrews, The L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E Book, "selected" pieces from the 13 issues of L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E magazine
- Joseph Brodsky, To Urania
- Alan Brunton, And She Said, Red Mole, book by a New Zealand poet published in the United States
- Louise Erdrich, Jacklight
- Seamus Heaney Northern Ireland native at this time living in the United States:
- * Station Island, Faber & Faber,
- * Verses for a Fordham Commencement, Nadja Press
- * Hailstones, Gallery Press* Denise Levertov, Breathing the Water, her 19th book of poetry
- Sharon Olds, The Dead and the Living
- Michael Palmer, First Figure
- Molly Peacock, Raw Heaven
- Kenneth Rexroth, Selected Poems
- Rosmarie Waldrop, ''Differences for Four Hands''
Criticism, scholarship and biography in the United States
- 'The Rhapsodic Fallacy' by Mary Kinzie appears in Salmagundi 65
Other English language
- Judith Moffett, James Merrill: An Introduction to the Poetry
- Hariprasad Sastri, editor and translator, Indian Mystic Verse, 3rd revised and enlarged edition; New Delhi: Macmillan anthology
Works published in other languages
Denmark">Danish poetry">Denmark
- Klaus Høeck; Denmark:
- * Blåvand revisited, with Asger Schnack, publisher: Schønberg
- * International Klein Bleu, publisher: Gyldendal
- * Marienbad, publisher: Brøndum
- Henrik Nordbrandt, 84 digte ; Copenhagen: Gylendal, 125 pages
Poland">Polish poetry">Poland
- S. Barańczak, editor, Poeta pamieta, anthology
- Stanisław Barańczak, Uciekinier z utopii. O poezji Zbigniewa Herberta, criticism; London: Polonia
- Czesław Miłosz, Nieobjeta ziemia ; Paris: Instytut Literacki
- Jarosław Marek Rymkiewicz, ''Mogila Ordona''
India">Indian poetry">India
Listed in alphabetical order by first name:- Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Nuskha-hae Wafa; Urdu-language* Nirendranath Chakravarti; Bengali-language:
- * Roop-Kahini, Kolkata: Ananda Publishers
- * Shomoi Boro Kom, Kolkata: Proma Prokashoni
- Rituraj, Nahin Prabodhachandrodya, Bikaner: Dharati Prakashan; Hindi-language
- Saroop Dhruv, Mara Hathni Vat, Ahmedabad: Nakshatra Trust, Ahmedabad; Gujarati-language
- K. Satchidanandan, Socrateesum Kozhiyum, ; Malayalam-language
Other languages
- Christoph Buchwald, general editor, and Gregory Laschen, guest editor, Luchterhand Jahrbuch der Lyrik 1984, publisher: Luchterhand Literaturverlag; anthology; Germany
- Matilde Camus, Raíz del recuerdo, Spain
- Odysseus Elytis, Ημερολόγιο ενός αθέατου Απριλίου, Greece
- Ndoc Gjetja, Çaste ; Albania
- Rita Kelly, An Bealach Éadóigh, Ireland
- Alexander Mezhirov, Тысяча мелочей, Russia, Soviet Union
- Eugenio Montale, Tutte le poesie, enlarged from the original 1977 edition; publisher: Mondadori; posthumous; Italy
- Jacques Prévert, La Cinquième Saison, published posthumously ; France
- Jean Royer, Jours d'atelier, Saint-Lambert: Le Noroît; Canada, in French
- Håkan Sandell, Efter sjömännen; Elektrisk måne, Sweden
Awards and honors
Nobel Prize in Literature: Jaroslav Seifert, a Czech poetAustralia">Australian poetry">Australia
- Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry: Les Murray, ''The People's Other World''
Canada">Canadian poetry">Canada
- Gerald Lampert Award: Sandra Birdsell, Night Travellers and Jean McKay, Gone to Grass
- 1984 Governor General's Awards: Paulette Jiles, Celestial Navigation ; Nicole Brossard, Double Impression
- Pat Lowther Award: Bronwen Wallace, Signs of the Former Tenant
- Prix Émile-Nelligan: Normand de Bellefeuille, ''Le Livre du devoir''
Japan">Japanese poetry">Japan
- Japanese 100 yen note, starting this year and through 2004, features a portrait of Natsume Sōseki 夏目 漱石, pen name of Natsume Kinnosuke 夏目金之助, Meiji Era novelist, haiku poet, composer of Chinese-style poetry, writer of fairy tales and a scholar of English literature
United Kingdom">English poetry">United Kingdom
- Cholmondeley Award: Michael Baldwin (poet), Michael Hofmann, Carol Rumens
- Eric Gregory Award: Martyn Crucefix, Mick Imlah, Jamie McKendrick, Bill Smith, Carol Ann Duffy, Christopher Meredith, Peter Armstrong, Iain Bamforth
United States">American poetry">United States
- Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize: Arthur Smith, Elegy on Independence Day
- Bernard F. Connors Prize for Poetry: Gjertrud Schnackenberg, "Imaginary Prisons", and Sharon Ben-Tov, "Carillon for Cambridge Women"
- Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress : Robert Fitzgerald appointed this year in a health-limited capacity, but was not present at the Library of Congress.
- Frost Medal: Jack Stadler
- Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: Mary Oliver: American Primitive
- Fellowship of the Academy of American Poets: Richmond Lattimore and Robert Francis
Births
- Ailbhe Ní Ghearbhuigh, Irish-language poet
- Legna Rodríguez Iglesias, Cuban poet
Deaths
Birth years link to the corresponding " in poetry" article:- January 18 – Ary dos Santos, 46, Portuguese, of cirrhosis
- February 6 – Jorge Guillén, 91, Spanish
- February 8 – Ishizuka Tomoji 石塚友二 the kanji is a pen name of Ishizuka Tomoji, which is written with the different kanji 石塚友次, but in English there is no difference, Japanese, Shōwa period haiku poet and novelist
- February 17 – Jesse Stuart, 76, American, from a stroke
- February 26 – Richmond Lattimore, 77, American poet and translator, of cancer
- March 3 – Tatsuko Hoshino 星野立子, Japanese, Shōwa period haiku poet and travel writer; founded Tamamo, a haiku magazine exclusively for women; in the Hototogisu literary circle; haiku selector for Asahi Shimbun newspaper; contributed to haiku columns in various newspapers and magazines
- April 15 – Sir William Empson, 77, English critic
- May 19 – Sir John Betjeman, 77, English poet laureate, of Parkinson's disease
- July 2 – George Oppen, 76, American, of Alzheimer's disease
- August 26 – Rukhl Fishman, Israeli poet of Yiddish poetry
- September 14 – Richard Brautigan 49, American novelist and poet, of a self-inflicted gunshot wound; the exact date of his suicide is speculative as his body is not found until October 25
- September 29 – Hal Porter, 73, Australian writer, novelist, playwright and poet
- December 8 – Edward James, 77, English poet and patron of the arts and of surrealism
- December 14 – Vicente Aleixandre, 86, Spanish
- December 29 – Robert Farren, 75, Irish