1989 in poetry
Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature.
Events
- April 15-June 4 - 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre in Beijing : Poets are active in the events.
- June 2 - Dead Poets Society, a film incorporating excerpts from many traditional poets, ending with the title and opening line of Walt Whitman's lament on the death of Abraham Lincoln, "O Captain! My Captain!", is released in the United States
- November 10 - My Left Foot, a film about Christy Brown, the Irish poet, and based on his autobiography, is released
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 Adamson The Clean Dark
- Les Murray, The Idyll Wheel
- Philip Salom: Barbecue of the Primitives.
- Chris Wallace-Crabbe (Sangue e l'acqua, translated and edited into Italian by Giovann Distefano, Abano Terme: Piovan Editore
Canada">Canadian literature">Canada
- Margaret Avison, No Time
- Roo Borson, Intent, or, The Weight of the World, American-Canadian
- Tim Lilburn, Tourist To Ecstasy, a finalist for the Governor General's Award, Canada
- Michael Ondaatje, The Cinnamon Peeler: Selected Poems, Canadian poet published in the United Kingdom; London: Pan; New York: Knopf, 1991
- Michael Ondaatje and Linda Spalding, editors, The Brick Anthology, illustrated by David Bolduc, Toronto: Coach House Press
India">Indian poetry">India, in English">Indian poetry in English">in English
- Nissim Ezekiel, Collected Poems, Delhi, Oxford University Press
- Jayanta Mahapatra, Temple, Sydney: Dangaroo Press
- Imtiaz Dharker, Purdah, Oxford University Press, Delhi
Ireland">Irish poetry">Ireland
- Sebastian Barry, Fanny Hawke Goes to the Mainland Forever
- Dermot Bolger, Leinster Street Ghosts
- Eavan Boland, Selected Poems, including "Listen. This is the Noise of Myth" and "Fond Memory", Carcanet Press
- Ciaran Carson, Belfast Confetti, including "The Mouth" and "Hamlet", Oldcastle: The Gallery Press,
- Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin: The Magdalene Sermon, shortlisted for the Irish Times/Aer Lingus Award, Oldcastle: The Gallery Press, Ireland
- Denis Devlin, Collected Poems, including "Ank'hor Vat", "Little Elegy", "Memoirs of a Turcoman Diplomat: Oteli Asia Palas, Inc.",, Dedalus Press
- Thomas McCarthy, Seven Winters in Paris, Anvil Press, London, Ireland
- John Montague, New Selected Poems, including "Like Dolmens Round My Childhood, the Old People", "The Trout", "A Chosen Light", The Same Gesture", "Last Journey", "Dowager" and "Herbert Street Revisited", Oldcastle: The Gallery Press
- Matthew Sweeney, Blue Shoes, including "to the Building Trade", and "Tube Ride to Martha's"
United Kingdom">English poetry">United Kingdom
- Dannie Abse, White Coat, Purple Coat
- Fleur Adcock, translator, Orient Express: Poems. Grete Tartler, Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press
- Simon Armitage, Zoom!
- Dermot Bolger, Leinster Street Ghosts, Irish poet published in the United Kingdom
- Gillian Clarke, Letting in the Rumour
- Donald Davie, To Scorch or Freeze
- Gavin Ewart, Penultimate Poems
- James Fenton, Manila Envelope, self-published book of poems
- Roy Fuller, Available for Dreams
- Alasdair Gray, Old Negatives
- Gerald Hammond, Fleeting Things: English Poets and Poems, 1616-1660, scholarship
- The Blasphemers' Banquet by Tony Harrison
- Selima Hill, The Accumulation of Small Acts of Kindness
- Ted Hughes, Wolfwatching
- Peter Levi, Shadow and Bone
- George MacBeth, Collected Poems 1958-1982
- E. A. Markham, editor, Hinterland: Caribbean Poetry from the West Indies and Britain
- Grace Nichols:
- * Editor, Poetry Jump-Up, illustrated by Michael Lewis, Penguin ; had been published as Black Poetry in 1988 by Blackie
- * Lazy Thoughts of a Lazy Woman, and Other Poems, Virago Press ; published in 1990 by Random House
- Sean O'Brien, Boundary Beach
- Fiona Pitt-Kethley, The Perfect Man
- Peter Porter, Possible Worlds
- Pauline Prior-Pitt, Waiting Women
- J. H. Prynne, Word Order
- Peter Reading, Perduta Gente
- Vernon Scannell, Soldiering On
- Iain Crichton Smith, The Village, and Other Poems
- Charles Tomlinson, Annunciations
- Hugo Williams, Selected Poems, Oxford University Press
United States">American poetry">United States
- Joseph Payne Brennan, Look Back On Laurel Hills
- Raymond Carver, A New Path To The Waterfall
- Henri Cole, The Zoo Wheel of Knowledge
- Ed Dorn, Abhorrences, Black Sparrow Press
- Rita Dove, Grace Notes
- W. S. Merwin and Soiku Shigematsu, translators, Sun at Midnight, poems by Musō Soseki
- Molly Peacock, Take Heart
- Charles Reznikoff, Poems 1918-1975: The Complete Poems of Charles Reznikoff, edited by Seamus Cooney
- Michael Ryan, God Hunger, Viking Penguin
- Mary Jo Salter, Unfinished Painting, Knopf
Anthologies in the United States
- N. Baym, et al., editors, American Literature, two volumes, third edition
- Eugene England and Dennis Clark, editors, Harvest: Contemporary Mormon Poems, 328 pages. Signature Books,.
- M. Honey, editors, Shadowed Dreams: Women's Poetry of the Harlem Renaissance
- M. Harris and K. Aguero, editors, ''An Ear to the Ground''
Poets included in ''[The [Best American Poetry 1989]]''
- A. R. Ammons
- John Ashbery
- Beth Bentley
- Elizabeth Bishop
- Robert Bly
- Catherine Bowman
- George Bradley
- David Budbill
- Michael Burkhard
- Amy Clampitt
- Tom Clark
- Clark Coolidge
- Douglas Crase
- Robert Creeley
- Peter Davison
- David Dooley
- Rita Dove
- Stephen Dunn
- Russell Edson
- Daniel Mark Epstein
- Elaine Equi
- Aaron Fogel
- Alice Fulton
- Suzanne Gardinier
- Debora Greger
- Linda Gregg
- Thom Gunn
- Donald Hall
- John Hollander
- Paul Hoover
- Marie Howe
- Andrew Hudgins
- Rodney Jones
- Lawrence Joseph
- Donald Justice
- Vickie Karp
- Jane Kenyon
- Kenneth Koch
- Phillis Levin
- Philip Levine
- Anne MacNaughton
- Harry Mathews
- Robert Mazzacco
- James McCorkle
- Robert McDowell
- Wesley McNair
- James Merrill
- Thylias Moss
- Sharon Olds
- Mary Oliver
- Steve Orlen
- Michael Palmer
- Bob Perelman
- Robert Pinsky
- Anna Rabinowitz
- Mark Rudman
- Yvonne Sapia
- Lynda Schraufnagel
- David Shapiro
- Karl Shapiro
- Charles Simic
- Louis Simpson
- W. D. Snodgrass
- Gary Snyder
- Elizabeth Spires
- David St. John
- William Stafford
- George Starbuck
- Patricia Storace
- Mark Strand
- Eleanor Ross Taylor
- Jean Valentine
- Richard Wilbur
- Alan Williamson
- Jay Wright
Criticism, scholarship and biography in the United States
- Frederick Feirstein, editor, Expansive Poetry, various essays on the New Formalism and the related movement New Narrative, under the umbrella term "Expansive Poetry"
- Michele Leggott, Reading Zukofsky's 80 Flowers, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press,
- A. Shucard, Modern American Poetry 1865-1950
- M. Davidson, The San Francisco Renaissance
- W. Kalaidjian, ''Languages of Liberation: The Social Text in Contemporary American Poetry''
Other in English
- Norman Simms, Who's Writing and Why in the South Pacific, scholarship, New Zealand
Works published in other languages
Listed by nation where the work was first published and again by the poet's native land, if different; substantially revised works listed separately:Arabic">Arabic poetry">Arabic language
- Nizar Qabbani, Syrian;
- * A Match in My Hand
- * Petty Paper Nations
- * ''No Victor Other Than Love''
Denmark">Danish poetry">Denmark
- Inger Christensen, Denmark:
- * Digt om døden
- * Lys og Græs
- Klaus Høeck, Heptameron, publisher: Gyldendal; Denmark
French language
- Claude Esteban, Elégie de la mort violente, Flammarion; France
- Abdellatif Laabi, translator, Plus rares sont les roses, translated from the original Arabic of Mahmoud Darwich into French; Paris: Éditions de Minuit
- Jean Royer, Introduction à la poésie québécoise: Les poètes et les œuvres des origines à nos jours, Montréal: BQ; Canada
Hungary">Hungarian poetry">Hungary
- György Petri
- * Ami kimaradt
- * ''Valahol megvan''
India">Indian poetry">India
Listed in alphabetical order by first name:- Anamika, Samay Ke Shahar Mein, Delhi: Parag Publications; Hindi-language
- Dileep Jhaveri, Pandukavyo ane Itar, Gujarati-language
- Gagan Gill, Ek Din Lautegi Laraki, New Delhi: Rajkamal Prakashan, New Delhi, 1989, Bharatiya Jnanpith; Hindi-language
- Nirendranath Chakravarti, Jongole Ek Unmadini, Kolkata: Ananda Publishers; Bengali-language
Poland">Polish poetry">Poland
- Juliusz Erazm Bolek, Prywatne zagrożenie
- Tymoteusz Karpowicz, Rozwiązywanie przestrzeni. Poemat polifoniczny
- Wisława Szymborska: Poezje: Poems, bilingual Polish-English edition
Spain">Spanish poetry">Spain
- Matilde Camus:
- * Santander en mi sentir
- * ''Sin alcanzar la luz''
Other languages
- Nujoom Al-Ghanem, Masaa Al-Janah, Emirati Arabic
- Christoph Buchwald, general editor, and Rolf Haufs, guest editor, Luchterhand Jahrbuch der Lyrik 1989/90, publisher: Luchterhand Literaturverlag; anthology; West Germany
- Alexander Mezhirov, Russia, Soviet Union:
- * Бормотуха
- * Стихотворения
- Vladimir Vysotsky, Poėzii͡a i proza, Russia songwriter and poet, Soviet Union
- Yu Jian, Shi liushi shou, China
Awards and honors
Australia">Australian poetry">Australia
- C. J. Dennis Prize for Poetry: Gwen Harwood, Bone Scan
- Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry: John Tranter, Under Berlin
- Mary Gilmore Prize: Alex Skovron, ''The Re-arrangement''
Canada">Canadian poetry">Canada
- Gerald Lampert Award: Sarah Klassen, Journey to Yalta
- Archibald Lampman Award: Patrick White, Habitable Planets
- 1989 Governor General's Awards: Heather Spears, The Word for Sand ; Pierre DesRuisseaux, Monème
- Pat Lowther Award: Heather Spears, The Word for Sand
- Prix Alain-Grandbois: Jean Royer, Poèmes d'amour
- Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize: Charles Lillard, Circling North
- Prix Émile-Nelligan: Élise Turcotte, ''La Terre est ici''
New Zealand">New Zealand literature">New Zealand
- Jenny Bornholdt, Moving House
- Lauris Edmond, Hot October, autobiography
- Kendrick Smithyman, Selected Poems, edited by Peter Simpson, Auckland: Auckland University Press, New Zealand
United Kingdom">English poetry">United Kingdom
- Cholmondeley Award: Peter Didsbury, Douglas Dunn, E. J. Scovell
- Eric Gregory Award: Gerard Woodward, David Morley, Katrina Porteous, Paul Henry
- Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry: Allen Curnow
United States">American poetry">United States
- Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize: Nancy Vieira Couto, The Face in the Water
- Aiken Taylor Award for Modern American Poetry: Anthony Hecht
- AML Award for poetry Susan Elizabeth Howe for "Things in the Night Sky"
- Bernard F. Connors Prize for Poetry: Jorie Graham, "Spring"
- Frost Medal: Gwendolyn Brooks
- Lannan Literary Award for Poetry: Cid Corman, George Evans and Peter Levitt
- Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: Richard Wilbur: New and Collected Poems
- Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize: Mona Van Duyn
- Whiting Awards: Russell Edson, Mary Karr, C.D. Wright
- William Carlos Williams Award: Diane Wakoski, Emerald Ice: Selected Poems 1962-1987
- Fellowship of the Academy of American Poets: Richard Howard
Births
- March 9 - Chen Chen, Chinese-born American poet
- June 19 - Chris Tse, Canadian spoken word poet and hip hop artist
- June 21 - Jackie Hill Perry, born Jackie Hill, American poet and hip hop artist
- Matt Abbott, English poet and performer
Deaths
Birth years link to the corresponding " in poetry" article:- January 4 - Srikrishna Alanahalli, 41, Indian Kannada-language novelist and poet
- January 13 - Sterling Allen Brown, 87, African-American poet, teacher and writer on folklore and of literary criticism
- January 17 - Georges Schehadé, 83, Lebanese poet and playwright
- January 23 - M. Govindan, 69, Indian, Malayalam-language poet
- January 28 - Halina Konopacka, 89, Polish-born poet and discus thrower
- February 28 - Richard Armour, 82, American poet and writer, of Parkinson's disease
- May 14 - Bhupi Sherchan, 53 Nepali poet
- June 19 - Betti Alver, 82, Estonian poet
- August 25 - Hans Børli, 70, Norwegian poet, novelist, and writer
- September 15 - Robert Penn Warren, poet and writer, former U.S. Poet Laureate, of cancer
- October 12 - N. V. Krishna Warrier, 78, Indian, Malayalam-language poet, critic and scholar, introduced new types of long narrative poems and satires, editor of weekly Mathrubhumi, director of Kerala Bhasa Institute
- October 24 - Doris Huestis Speirs, Canadian painter, ornithologist and poet
- December 4 - May Swenson, American poet and playwright
- December 22 - Samuel Beckett, Irish poet, playwright and novelist, winner of the Nobel Prize in 1969