2008 in poetry

Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature.

Events

June 18 – Release in the United Kingdom of a new film, The Edge of Love, concerning Dylan Thomas' relationship with two women, starring Keira Knightley, Sienna Miller, Cillian Murphy and Matthew Rhys.
September – A United Kingdom examination board, Assessment and Qualifications Alliance, asks schools to withdraw copies of its anthology which contain the poem, Education for Leisure by Carol Ann Duffy after some teachers complained about the poem's reference to knives. Other teachers oppose the move, and Duffy responds with a new poem, Mrs Schofield's GCSE.
December 15 – The American Academy of Arts and Sciences begins awarding the May Sarton prize. Five "emerging poets" each year will receive a $2,000 honorarium and an opportunity to have their work published in the Academy's journal, Daedalus.
Dennis Brutus is awarded the Lifetime Honorary Award by the South African Department of Arts and Culture for his lifelong dedication to African and world poetry and literary arts. Brutus was also an activist who was imprisoned and incarcerated in the cell next to Nelson Mandela's on Robben Island from 1963 to 1965.
Complaints about Carol Ann Duffy's poem "Education for Leisure" cause it to be withdrawn from the AQA Anthology studied in English schools.
Dmitry Vodennikov wins a Russian poetry competition television show, "King of the Poets".POETomu, a glossy magazine about poetry, is founded in Russia.

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

Robert Adamson, The Golden Bird, winner of the C. J. Dennis Prize for Poetry in the 2009 Victorian Premier's Literary Awards, shortlisted for the 2009 Age Book of the Year Awards
Michael Brennan, Unanimous Night
David Brooks, The Balcony, finalist for the 2008 Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry; University of Queensland Press,
Brook Emery, At a Slight Angle: and Other Poems
Elizabeth Hodgson, Skin Painting, winner of the 2007 David Unaipon Award; University of Queensland Press,
Sarah Holland-Batt, Aria, University of Queensland Press, winner of the Judith Wright Prize and the Anne Elder Award
Yvette Holt, Anonymous Premonition, winner of the 2005 David Unaipon Award for an unpublished manuscript, Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Indigenous Writing, and the Poets Union's Scanlon Prize for Indigenous Poetry
Clive James, Opal Sunset: Selected Poems, 1958–2008, W.W. Norton
Carol Jenkins, Fishing in the Devonian, Puncher & Wattmann
John Kinsella, Divine Comedy, University of Queensland Press,
Anthony Lawrence, Bark, University of Queensland Press,
Bronwyn Lea, The Other Way Out, Giramondo Publishing
David Malouf, Revolving Days, University of Queensland Press,
Peter Rose, The Best Australian Poems 2008, including work from: Dorothy Porter, Robert Adamson, Judith Beveridge, Rosemary Dobson, Laurie Duggan, Stephen Edgar, Clive James, John Kinsella, Les Murray, Lisa Gorton, Geoffrey Lehmann, Tracy Ryan and Brenda Walker, Chris Wallace-Crabbe and Fay Zwicky; Black Inc.,

Canada

Kyle Buckley, The Laundromat Essay, a long poem
Margaret Christakos, What Stirs,
Jen Currin, Hagiography
Jeramy Dodds, Crabwise to the Hounds
Nancy Holmes, Open Wide a Wilderness: Canadian Nature Poems, Wilfrid Laurier University Press
Randall Maggs, Night Work: The Sawchuk Poems
George McWhirter, The Anachronicles
Joe Rosenblatt & Catherine Owen, Dog; photos by Karen Moe. Toronto: Mansfield Press.
Jordan Scott, Blert
David Silverberg, editor, Mic Check: An Anthology Of Canadian Spoken Word Poetry, Quattro Books,
Todd Swift, Seaway: New and Selected Poems
R. M. Vaughan, Troubled,
Zachariah Wells, editor, Jailbreaks: 99 Canadian Sonnets,

India, Indian poetry in English

Antony Theodore, Divine Moments : Journey through the Year,
Arundhathi Subramaniam, translator, The Absent Traveller: Prākrit love poetry from the Gāthāsaptaśatī of Sātavāhana Hāla, New Delhi: Penguin India,
Bibhu Padhi, poet, Going to the Temple,
Eunice de Souza, editor, Both Sides of the Sky, Post-Independence Poetry in English, New Delhi: National Book Trust,
Meena Alexander, Quickly Changing River, Triquarterly Books, by an Indian writing living in and published in the United States
Jeet Thayil:
* These Errors Are Correct, Delhi: Tranquebar Books
* Editor, The Bloodaxe Book of Contemporary Indian Poets, Bloodaxe, anthology of Indian poetry in English, published in the United Kingdom
Sujata Bhatt. "Pure Lizard", Carcanet Press. Retrieved 2008-09-13.

Ireland

Guzstáv Báger, Object Found, translated by Thomas Kabdebo; Hungarian poet published in Ireland
Ciaran Berry, The Sphere of Birds, Oldcastle: The Gallery Press,
Dermot Bolger, External Affairs, 80 pages, New Island Press,
Andrew Carpenter, editor, Thornfield: Poems by the Thornfield Poets
Ciarán Carson:
* Collected Poems, Oldcastle: The Gallery Press,
* For All We Know, Oldcastle: The Gallery Press,
Eileen Casey, Drinking the Colour Blue
Gerald Dawe, Points West, Oldcastle: The Gallery Press,
Frank Golden, In Daily Accord
Maurice Harmon, The Mischievous Boy and other poems
Anne Le Marquand Hartigan, To Keep the Light Burning: Reflections in Times of Loss, poetry and prose
Kevin Higgins, Time Gentlemen, Please
Peter van de Kamp, In Train, Dutch native living in Ireland
Caroline Lynch, Lost in the Gaeltacht
Alan Jude Moore, Lost Republics
Patrick Moran, Green
Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin: Selected Poems Gallery Press, London: Oldcastle and Faber, Irish work published in the United Kingdom
Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill, The Fifty Minute Mermaid, translated from Irish by Paul Muldoon, Gallery Press,
Ulick O'Connor, The Kiss: New and Selected Poems and Translations
Lorna Shaughnessy, Torching the Brown River
Eamon Wall, A Tour of Your Country Irish native living in the United States, published in Ireland

New Zealand

Jenny Bornholdt, The Rocky Shore, winner of the Montana New Zealand Book Award for Poetry
Kevin Ireland, How To Survive The Morning, Cape Catley Ltd,
C. K. Stead, Collected Poems 1951–2006, winner of the"reference and anthology" category of the Montana New Zealand Book Awards
Vladimir Nabokov, edited by Brian Boyd and Stanislav Shvabrin, ' 'Verses and Versions: Three Centuries of Russian Poetry Selected and translated by Vladimir Nabokov' ', English translations of Russian poetry, presented next to the Russian originals, Harcourt
Sam Sampson, Everything Talks, Auckland University Press and Shearsman Books; winner of the 2009 New Zealand Society of Authors Jessie Mackay Best First Book Award for Poetry

Best New Zealand Poetry 2007

The year's guest editor, who chose 25 poems for inclusion, was Paula Green. The list appeared at the series website in February 2008.

United Kingdom

Paul Thomas Abbott, FLOOD
Moniza Alvi:
* Europa, shortlisted for the T. S. Eliot Prize; Bloodaxe Books
* Split World: Poems 1990–2005, Bloodaxe Books
Annemarie Austin, Very: New and Selected Poems, Bloodaxe Books, Bloodaxe Books
Mourid Barghouti, Midnight and Other Poems, translated by Radwa Ashour, Palestinian poet published in the United Kingdom,
Paul Batchelor, The Sinking Road
Marck L. Beggs, Catastrophic Chords
Robyn Bolam, New Wings
Zoë Brigley, The Secret
Constantine Cavafy, The Selected Poems of Cavafy, translated from the original Greek by Avi Sharon, Penguin Classic,
Felix Dennis, Homeless in my Heart, Ebury Press,
Menna Elfyn, Perfect Blemish, translated by Elin Ap Hywel from the original Welsh; Bloodaxe Books
Janet Frame, Storms Will Tell: Selected Poems, Bloodaxe Books; posthumously published
Anne Gorrick, Kyotologic, Shearsman Books,
Chris Greenhalgh, The Invention of Zero, Bloodaxe Books
Jane Griffiths, Another Country: New and Selected Poems, Bloodaxe Books
Liam Guilar, Lady Godiva and Me
Jen Hadfield, Nigh-no-place, Bloodaxe Books
David Harsent, Selected Poems 1969–2005,
Selima Hill:
* Gloria: Selected Poems, Bloodaxe Books
* The Hat, Bloodaxe Books
Mick Imlah, The Lost Leader, Faber and Faber,
Clive James, Angels Over Elsinore: Collected Verse 2003–2008
Esther Jansma, What It Is, edited and translated by Francis R. Jones from the original Dutch, Bloodaxe Books
Daniel Kane, Ostentation of Peacocks,
Jackie Kay:
* Darling: New and Selected Poems, Bloodaxe Books
* The Lamplighter, Bloodaxe Books
Agnes Lehoczky, Budapest to Babel,
Ira Lightman, Duetcetera
Jack Mapanje, Beasts of Nalunga, Bloodaxe Books
Robert Minhinnick, King Driftwood, Carcanet Welsh poet, writing in English
Kenji Miyazawa, Strong in the Rain: Selected Poems, translated from the original Japanese by Roger Pulvers, Bloodaxe Books
Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin: Selected Poems Gallery Press, London: Oldcastle and Faber, Irish work published in the United Kingdom
Stephanie Norgate, Hidden River, Bloodaxe Books
Naomi Shihab Nye, Tender Spot: Selected Poems, Bloodaxe Books
Sean O'Brien, Andrew Marvell: poems selected by Sean O'Brien
Julie O'Callaghan, Tell Me This Is Normal: New & Selected Poems, Bloodaxe Books
Pamela Robertson-Pearse, editor, In Person: 30 Poets, including two DVDs,, Bloodaxe Books
Anne Rouse, The Upshot: New and Selected Poems, Bloodaxe Books
John Sears, Reading George Szirtes, Bloodaxe Books
Yi Sha, Starve the Poets!, edited and translated from the original Chinese by Simon Patton and Tao Naikan, Bloodaxe Books
Elena Shvarts, Birdsong on the Seabed, edited and translated from the original Russian by Sasha Dugdale, Bloodaxe Books
Pauline Stainer, Crossing the Snowline, Bloodaxe Books
George Szirtes, New and Collected Poems, Bloodaxe Books
Edward Thomas, The Annotated Collected Poems, Bloodaxe Books
Ruth Thompson, The Flaggy Shore, Northern Irish poet published in United Kingdom
Tomas Venclova, The Junction, translated from the original Lithuanian by Ellen Hinsey, Bloodaxe Books
Rab Wilson, ''Life Sentence: More Poems Chiefly in the Scots Dialect''

Anthologies in the United Kingdom

Lesley Duncan, editor, 100 Favourite Poems of the Day
Mark Richardson, editor, The Big Green Poetry Machine Poems from Scotland
Jeet Thayil, editor, The Bloodaxe Book of Contemporary Indian Poets, Bloodaxe Books Forward Book of Poetry 2009, Faber and Faber,

Criticism, biography and scholarship in the United Kingdom

Bloodaxe Poetry Lectures: a series of talks by poets at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne about the craft and practice of poetry, published by Bloodaxe Books:
* Maura Dooley, editor, Life Under Water
* Jane Hirshfield, Hiddenness, Uncertainty, Surprise
* Jo Shapcott, The Transformers: Newcastle
Josephine Nock-Hee Park, Apparitions of Asia: Modernist Form and Asian American Poetics, Oxford University Press, scholarship
James Persoon and Robert R. Watson, editors, The Facts on File Companion to British Poetry, 1900 to the Present
Shira Wolosky, The Art of Poetry: How to Read a Poem, Oxford University Press, scholarship

United States

Meena Alexander, Quickly Changing River, Triquarterly Books, by an Indian writing living in and published in the United States
Rae Armantrout:Versed
Mary Jo Bang, Elegy, Graywolf Press
Ed Barrett, Bosston, Boston: Pressed Wafer,
Frank Bidart, Watching the Spring Festival,
Charles Bukowski, The People Look Like Flowers At Last: New Poems, purportedly the "fifth and final" posthumous collection
William Corbett, Opening Day
Robert Creeley, Selected Poems, 1945–2005, edited by Benjamin Friedlander, University of California Press
Mark Doty:
* Theories and Apparitions, London: Jonathan Cape
* Fire to Fire: New and Selected Poems, New York, HarperCollins
Elvis Dino Esquivel, Sólo lloré en otoño, Solar Empire Publishing,
Reginald Gibbons, Creatures of a Day, Louisiana State University Press,
Anne Gorrick, Kyotologic, Shearsman Books,
Jorie Graham, Sea Change Ecco/HarperCollins
Geoffrey Hill, A Treatise of Civil Power, Yale University Press,
John Hollander, A Draft of Light, Knopf, his 19th book of poems
Richard Howard, Without Saying
Kimberly Johnson, "A Metaphorical God"
Devin Johnston, Sources,
George Johnston, The Essential George Johnston, selected by Robyn Sarah, The Porcupine's Quill,
August Kleinzahler, ' 'Sleeping It Off in Rapid City' ', Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Ted Kooser, Valentines, University of Nebraska Press
David Lehman, editor, The Best American Erotic Poems: From 1800 to the Present, Scribner
Sarah Lindsay, Twigs and Knucklebones, Copper Canyon Press
Magus Magnus, Verb Sap, Narrow House
Jackson Mac Low, Thing of Beauty: New and Selected Works,
James Merrill, Selected Poems, edited by J. D. McClatchy and Stephen Yenser
W. S. Merwin, The Shadow of Sirius; Port Townsend, Washington: Copper Canyon Press; awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 2009
Rusty Morrison, true keeps calm biding its story, Small Press Distribution,.
George Oppen, Selected Prose, Daybooks, and Papers,
Peter Oresick, Warhol-o-rama, Carnegie Mellon University Press
Danielle Pafunda, ' 'My Zorba' ', Bloof Books
Grace Paley, Fidelity, posthumous
Kenneth Patchen, The Walking-Away World, New Directions,
Alan Michael Parker, Elephants & Butterflies, BOA Editions,
Jacqueline Risset, Sleep's Powers, translated from French by Jennifer Moxley, Ugly Duckling Presse
Aram Saroyan, Complete Minimal Poems, Ugly Duckling Presse
Leslie Scalapino, It's go in horizontal: Selected Poems, 1974–2006,
Susan M. Schultz, Dementia Blog,
Ron Silliman, The Alphabet, University of Alabama Press,
Patricia Smith, Blood Dazzler
Jack Spicer, my vocabulary did this to me: The Collected Poetry of Jack Spicer, edited by Peter Gizzi and Kevin Killian, Wesleyan University Press,
Gertrude Stein, Tender Buttons, introduction by Steve McCaffery, BookThug, Toronto
Richard Tayson, The World Underneath
David Wagoner, A Map of the Night
Francis X. Walker, When Winter Come: The Ascension of York, University of Kentucky Press
John Witte, Second Nature, University of Washington Press,
Mark Yakich, The Importance of Peeling Potatoes in Ukraine, Penguin

Anthologies in the United States

Tina Chang and Nathalie Handal, editors, Language for a New Century: Contemporary Poetry from the Middle East, Asia, and Beyond, W. W. Norton & Company,
Vladimir Nabokov, edited by Brian Boyd and Stanislav Shvabrin, Verses and Versions: Three Centuries of Russian Poetry Selected and translated by Vladimir Nabokov, English translations of Russian poetry, presented next to the Russian originals, Harcourt
Nguyen Do and Paul Hoover, editors, Black Dog, Black Night, anthology of contemporary Vietnamese poetry from 21 poets, many of whom had never previously been translated into English; Milkweed
Leslie Pockell and Celia Johnson, editors, 100 Poems to Lift Your Spirits, Grand Central Publishing,
Reginald Shepherd, editor, Lyric Postmodernisms: An Anthology of Contemporary Poetries, Counterpath Press,
Jason Shinder, John Lithgow, Billy Collins, editors, The Poem I Turn To: Actors and Directors Present Poetry That Inspires Them,
Mark Strand and Jeb Livingood, editors, Best New Poets 2008, including work by Zach Savich, Heidi Poon, and Malachi Black
Carolyne Wright, editor and translator, Majestic Nights: Love Poems of Bengali Women, Buffalo, New York: White Pine Press,

Criticism, scholarship and biography in the United States

Michael Almereyda, editor, Night Wraps the Sky: Writings by and about Mayakovsky,
Robert Frost, The Collected Prose of Robert Frost, edited by Mark Richardson; Frost was reluctant to publish his collected prose and even said he lost his notes to the Charles Eliot Norton Lectures he delivered at Harvard in 1936
Donald Hall, Unpacking the Boxes: A Memoir of a Life in Poetry, Houghton Mifflin
Michael Heller, Speaking the Estranged: Essays on the Work of George Oppen, Cambridge UK: Salt Publishing
Michael Palmer, Active Boundaries: Selected Essays and Talks, New Directions, 2008.
Reginald Shepherd, Orpheus in the Bronx: Essays on Identity, Politics, and the Freedom of Poetry, University of Michigan Press
Jan Ziolkowski and Bridget K. Balint, editors, A Garland of Satire, Wisdom, and History: Latin Verse from Twelfth-Century France , Harvard University Press,

Poets in ''The Best American Poetry 2008''

These poets appeared in The Best American Poetry 2008, with David Lehman, general editor, and Charles Wright, guest editor :

Works published in other languages

French language

France

Stéphane Bataillon, Sylvestre Clancier and Bruno Doucey, editors, Poésies de langue française: 144 poètes d'aujourd'hui autour du monde, Éditions Seghurs,, anthology
Yves Bonnefoy, La Longue Chaîne de l'Ancre, publisher: Mercure de France
Hélène Dorion, Le Hublot des heures, Paris, Éditions de La Différence; Canadian poet published in France
Haïjin, translated from her Japanese edition, Du rouge aux lèvres, publisher: La Table Ronde, short poems to be read aloud in a single breath
Philippe Jaccottet, Ce peu de bruits, publisher: Gallimard
Vénus Khoury-Ghata, Les Obscurcis, publisher: Mercure de France
Abdellatif Laabi, Tribulations d'un rêveur attitré, coll. La Clepsydre, La Différence, Paris, Moroccan author writing French and published in France
Jacques Prévert, Grand bal du printemps, publisher: Le Cherche midi
Jean Max Tixier, Le grenier à sel, publisher: Encres vives
Jean-Vincent Verdonnet, Mots en maraude, illustrated by Marie-Claude Enevoldsen-Bussat, Publisher: Voix d'Encre

Canadian poetry in French

Roger Des Roches, Dixhuitjuilletdeuxmillequatre, winner of the Prix Chasse-Spleen
Hélène Dorion, Le Hublot des heures, Paris, Éditions de La Différence; Canadian poet published in France

Germany

Christoph Buchwald, series editor, and Ulf Stolterfoht, guest editor, Jahrbuch der Lyrik 2008, Frankfurt: Fischer, 215 pages,, anthology
Christoph Janacs:
* die Ungewissheit der Barke/la barca sin certidumbre, publisher: Arovell
* Nachtwache, Edition Thanhäuser, 37 poems; St. Georgs Presse
Bjoern Kuligk and Jan Wagner, editors, Lyrik von Jetzt 2, publisher: Berlin Verlag, featuring poetry by 50 authors born after 1969, Kookbooks, 59 pages,
Sabine Scho:
* Album: Gedichte, Kookbooks, 62 pages,
* Farben, Kookbooks, 78 pages,

Greece

Michael Longley, Το χταπόδι του Ομήρου, translated from the original English of the Irish author by Harris Vlavianos, Athens: Patakis
Katerina Iliopoulou, Asylum, Melani editions
George Koropoulis, Αντιύλη, Athens: Upsilon
Dionysis Kapsalis, Όλα τα δειλινά του κόσμου, Athens: Agra
Stamatis Polenakis, Notre Dames, publisher: Odos Panos Editions

India

Listed in alphabetical order by first name:

Bharat Majhi, Highware Kuhudi, Bhubaneswar: Pakshighara Prakasani; Oriya
Jiban Narah, Momaideur Phulani, Guwahati, Assam: Banalata; Assamese-language
K. Siva Reddy, Posaganivannee, Hyderabad: Jhari Poetry Circle, Telugu-language
P. P. Ramachandran, Kalamkaari, Kottayam: DC Books; Malayalam
Raghavan Atholi, Chavumazhakal, Kottayam: DC Books; Malayalam
Rituraj, Chuni Huin Kavitayen, Hindi-language
Sitanshu Yashaschandra, Vakhar, Mumbai and Ahmedabad: R R Sheth & Co.; Gujarati
Teji Grover, Maitri, Bikaner: Surya Prakashan Mandir, Hindi-language

Iran

Sarvenaz Heraner, Sarrizha-yi sukut
Mohammad Reza Shafi'i Kadkani, editor, Gozideh-ye Ghazaliyat-e Shams extensive, annotated selections from Divan-e Shams-e Tabrizi by Rumi; Persian, published in Iran
Ru'ya Muqaddas, ''Ru'yaha-yi 'ashiqanah: 'ashiqanahha-yi Ru'ya''

Poland

Kazimierz Brakoniecki, Glosolalie
Ryszard Kapuściński, Wiersze zebrane, posthumously published
Ludwik Jerzy Kern, Litery cztery. Wiersze prawie wszystkie
Krzysztof Koehler, Porwanie Europy
Tadeusz Różewicz, Kup kota w worku, Wrocław: Biuro Literackie
Eugeniusz Tkaczyszyn-Dycki, Piosenka o zależnościach i uzależnieniach, winner of both the Gdynia Literary Prize, for poetry and the Nike Award for literature in 2009

Russia

Yelena Fanailova, Baltisky dnevnik
Yelena Shvarts, Collected Works, Volumes 3 and 4
Books of poetry were published by Mikhail Aizenberg, Vasily Borodin, Natalya Gorbanevskaya, Alla Gorbunova, Vadim Mesyats, Andrey Rodionov and Aleksey Tsvetkov

Other languages

Herberto Helder, A faca não corta o fogo: súmula e inédita; Portugal
Jang Jin-sung, I Am Selling My Daughter for 100 Won, Korea
Tarawa Machi, Japanese tanka poet, translated into French by Yves-Marie Allioux, Salad Anniversary, Éditions Philippe Picquier
Pia Tafdrup, Boomerang, Copenhagen: Gyldendal Publishers, Denmark
Rahman Henry, Gottrobhumikaheen, Bhasachitra, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Bangladesh; Shrestha Kabita, NODEE publishing and Media House, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Ghassan Zaqtan, Like a Straw Bird it Follows Me, Palestinian

Awards and honors

International

Golden Wreath of Poetry: Fatos Arapi
Beca Internacional Antonio Machado de creación poética: Subhro Bandopadhyay

Australia awards and honors

C. J. Dennis Prize for Poetry: Robert Adamson, The Golden Bird ; finalists: Carol Jenkins – Fishing in the Devonian ; Bronwyn Lea, The Other Way Out
Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry
Arts Queensland Judith Wright Calanthe Award
Arts ACT Judith Wright Prize
Fellowship of Australian Writers Anne Elder Award

Canada awards and honors

Lampman-Scott Award: Shane Rhodes, The Bindery
Gerald Lampert Award: Alex Boyd, Making Bones Walk
Governor General's Awards:
* English language: Jacob Scheier, More to Keep Us Warm
* French language: Michel Pleau, La Lanteur du monde
Griffin Poetry Prize: Canadian: Robin Blaser, The Holy Forest: Collected Poems
Griffin Poetry Prize: International, in the English Language: John Ashbery, Notes from the Air: Selected Later Poems
* Others on the shortlist: David Harsent, Selected Poems 1969–2005 ; Elaine Equi, Ripple Effect: New and Selected Poems ; Clayton Eshleman, translating from the Spanish by César Vallejo, The Complete Poetry: A Bilingual Edition
Pat Lowther Award: Anne Simpson, Quick
Prix Alain-Grandbois: Nathalie Stephens, ...s'arrête? Je
Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize: Rita Wong, Forage
Prix Émile-Nelligan: Catherine Lalonde, ''Corps étranger''

India awards and honors

Sahitya Akademi Award : Jayant Parmer for Pencil Aur Doosri Nazmein
Jnanpith Award : Akhlaq Mohammed Khan

New Zealand awards and honors

Prime Minister's Awards for Literary Achievement:
Montana New Zealand Book Awards :

United Kingdom awards and honors

Cholmondeley Award: John Burnside, David Harsent, John Greening and Sarah Maguire
Costa Award for poetry: Jean Sprackland, Tilt
* Shortlist : Ian Duhig, The Speed of Dark, John Fuller, The Space of Joy, Daljit Nagra, Look We Have Coming to Dover!
English Association's Fellows' Poetry Prizes: Tony Flynn, Kim Rooney and Peter Cash and Simon Jackson
Eric Gregory Award : Emily Berry, Rhiannon Hooson, James Midgley, Adam O'Riordan and Heather Phillipson
Forward Poetry Prize:
*Best Collection:
**Shortlist: Sujata Bhatt, Pure Lizard ; Jane Griffiths, Another Country ; Jen Hadfield, Nigh-No-Place ; Mick Imlah, The Lost Leader, Jamie McKendrick, Crocodiles & Obelisks ; and Catherine Smith, Lip
*Best First Collection:
**Shortlist: Simon Barraclough, Andrew Forster, Frances Leviston, Allison McVety, Stephanie Norgate and Kathryn Simmonds
Jerwood Aldeburgh First Collection Prize for poetry:
*Shortlist: Paul Batchelor, The Sinking Road ; Ciaran Berry, The Sphere of Birds ; Adam Foulds, The Broken Word ; Frances Leviston, Public Dream ; Stephanie Norgate, Hidden River
Manchester Poetry Prize: Lesley Saunders and Mandy Coe
National Poet of Wales: Gillian Clarke succeeds Gwyn Thomas
National Poetry Competition : Christopher James for Farewell to Earth
T. S. Eliot Prize : Sean O'Brien The Drowned Book
*Shortlist : Ian Duhig, Alan Gillis, Sophie Hannah, Mimi Khalvati, Frances Leviston, Sarah Maguire, Edwin Morgan, Poetry Review's Fiona Sampson, and Matthew SweeneyThe Times/Stephen Spender Prize for Poetry Translation:
Wigtown Poetry Competition : Jane Weir, first prize

United States awards and honors

Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize awarded to Cheryl Dumesnil for In Praise of Falling
American Academy of Arts and Sciences prize for poetry: Arda Collins, Matthew Dickman, Dawn Lundy Martin, Meghan O'Rourke, Matthew Zapruder; Judges : Paul Muldoon, Carl Phillips, Charles Simic, C. D. Wright, and Adam Zagajewski
AML Award for poetry to Neil Aitken for The Lost Country of Sight and Warren Hatch for Mapping the Bones of the World
Andrés Montoya Poetry Prize awarded to Paul Martínez Pompa for My Kill Adore Him
Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize: Henri Cole for Blackbird and Wolf
National Book Award for Poetry: Mark Doty for Fire to Fire: New and Selected PoemsThe New Criterion Poetry Prize:The Poetry Center Book Award : – Barbara Guest for The Collected Poems of Barbara Guest ; Judge: Eileen Tabios
Pulitzer Prize for Poetry : Robert Hass for Time and Materials; and Philip Schultz for Failure
Poet Laureate of Virginia: Claudia Emerson, two year appointment 2008 to 2010
Wallace Stevens Award: Louise Gluck
PEN Award for Poetry in Translation: Rosmarie Waldrop for Lingos I – IX by Ulf Stolterfoht
Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize : Gary Snyder
Whiting Awards: Rick Hilles, Douglas Kearney, Julie Sheehan

From the Poetry Society of America

Frost Medal: Michael S. HarperShelley Memorial Award: Ed Roberson, Judges: Lyn Hejinian & C.D. WrightWriter Magazine/Emily Dickinson Award: Joanie Mackowski, Judge: Donald RevellLyric Poetry Award: Wayne Miller, Judge: Elizabeth MacklinLucille Medwick Memorial Award: Christina Pugh, Judge: Timothy Donnelly; finalist: Sally BallAlice Fay Di Castagnola Award: Natasha Sajé, Judge: Dean Young; finalists: Kevin Prufer & James RichardsonLouise Louis/Emily F. Bourne Student Poetry Award: Carey Powers, Judge: David Roderick; finalists: Willa Granger & Philip SparksGeorge Bogin Memorial Award: Theresa Sotto, Judge: by Prageeta SharmaRobert H. Winner Memorial Award: Jocelyn Emerson, Judge: by Annie Finch; finalists: Rachel Conrad & Marsha PomerantzCecil Hemley Memorial Award: Brian Henry, Judge: Norma ColeNorma Farber First Book Award: Catherine Imbriglio for Parts of the Mass, published by Burning Deck, Judge: Thylias Moss); finalist: Alena Hairston for The Logan Topographies, published by PerseaWilliam Carlos Williams Award: Aram Saroyan for Complete Minimal Poems, published by Ugly Duckling Presse; Judge: Ron Silliman; finalists: Roberta Beary for The Unworn Necklace, published by Snapshot Press; and Eileen Myles for Sorry, Tree, published by Wave Books

Other awards and honors

Japan: Akutagawa Prize for works published in the second half of 2007: Mieko Kawakami, ''Chichi to Ran''

Deaths

Birth years link to the corresponding " in poetry" article:

January 1 – Wanda Sieradzka de Ruig, 85, Polish author, poet, journalist and translator.
January 3:
* Henri Chopin, 85, French poet
* Petru Dugulescu, 62, Romanian Baptist pastor, poet and politician, heart attack.
* John O'Donohue, 52, Irish poet, philosopher and priest
January 4 – Stig Claesson, Swedish
January 5 – Rowan Ayers English television producer and poet
January 12:
* Ángel González Muñiz, 82, Spanish
*Adriano González León, 76, Venezuelan writer and poet
January 16 – Hone Tuwhare, 85, New Zealander
January 21 – Burton Hatlen, 71, American scholar, founding member of the National Poetry Foundation, mentor and teacher to Stephen King, who promoted the work of the Objectivist poets
February 7 – Frank Geerk, German
February 13 – raúlrsalinas, 73, American Chicano poet, complications of liver cancer
February 28 – Max Nord ) Dutch
March 10 – Ana Kalandadze, 83, Georgian
March 16 – Jonathan Williams, 79, American poet, publisher and founder of The Jargon Society
March 19 – Hugo Claus, Flemish novelist, poet, playwright, painter, film director writing primarily in Dutch
March 23 – E. A. Markham, 68, Montserrat-born British poet and writer.
March 26 – Robert Fagles, 74, American professor, poet and translator of ancient epics, prostate cancer.
April 3 – Andrew Crozier, 64, English poet associated with the British Poetry Revival, with connections to American poetry, who edited volumes by American poet Carl Rakosi After Rakosi's Selected Poems, published in 1941, Rakosi dedicated himself to social work and apparently neither read nor wrote any poetry at all. A letter from Crozier to Rakosi asking about his early poetry was the trigger that started Rakosi writing again. His first book in 26 years, Amulet was published by New Directions in 1967 and his Collected Poems in 1986 by the National Poetry Foundation; of a brain tumour.
April 13 – Robert Greacen, 87, Irish poet
April 14 – Horst Bingel, German writer, poet, graphic artist and publisher
April 15 – Parvin Dowlatabadi, 84, Iranian children's author and poet, of heart attack
April 17:
* Aimé Césaire, 94, French-Martiniquan poet and politician
* April 17 – Werner Dürrson, German
* Mikhail Tanich, 84, Russian poet, kidney problems
April 24 – Jason Shinder, 53, American poet, editor, anthologist and teacher who founded the Y.M.C.A. National Writer's Voice program, one of the country's largest networks of literary-arts centers, at one time an assistant to Allen Ginsberg
May 1 – Alberto Estima de Oliveira, 74, Portuguese poet
May 2 – Ilyas Malayev, 72, Uzbek musician, wedding entertainer and poet. "His performances in stadiums drew tens of thousands of Uzbeks, and his appeal reached beyond his native republic", according to The New York Times.
May 19 – Rimma Kazakova, 76, Russian poet.
May 25:
* George Garrett, 78, American novelist and poet, cancer
*Alejandro Romualdo, 82, Peruvian
May 29 – Paula Gunn Allen, 68, Native American poet, novelist, and activist, lung cancer
June 5:
* Angus Calder Scottish academic, writer, historian, poet and literary editor
* Eugenio Montejo, 70, Venezuelan poet, essayist and ambassador, of stomach cancer
June 8 – Peter Rühmkorf, German writer and poet
June 11 – James Reaney Canadian poet, playwright and literary critic
June 16 – Aleda Shirley American poet
June 29 – William Buchan, 3rd Baron Tweedsmuir, also known as "William Tweedsmuir", an English peer and author of novels, short stories, memoirs and verse
July 4 – Thomas M. Disch, 68, American poet and novelist; suicide
July 16 – Richard Exner German and American poet, academic and translator who moved to the United States in 1950, then moved to Germany after his retirement
July 19 – Samudra Gupta, 62, Bangladeshi poet, gallbladder cancer
July 9 – Kilin, pen name of Mikiel Spiteri, 90, Maltese poet and novelist; fluent in six languages and published in English, Spanish and other languages
July 24 – Alain Suied, 51, French poet, from cancer
August 9 – Mahmoud Darwish, 67, Palestinian poet; complications following heart surgery.
August 24 – Wei Wei, 88, Chinese poet and writer, liver cancer
August 25 – Ahmed Faraz, pseudonym of Syed Ahmad Shah, 77, Pakistani Urdu-language poet and son of Agha Syed Muhammad Shah Bark Kohati, a leading traditional poet, from kidney failure
August 28 – İlhan Berk, 89, Turkish
September 10 – Reginald Shepherd, 44, American poet, complications from colon cancer
September 15 – John Matshikiza, 53, South African actor, writer and poet; heart attack
September 20 – Duncan Glen, 75, British poet, critic and literary historian
September 28 – Konstantin Pavlov, 75, Bulgarian poet and screenwriter who was defiant against his country's communist regime; When censors prevented his works from being published officially in the country from 1966 to 1976, his popularity didn't wane, as Bulgarians clandestinely copied and read his poems.
September 29 – Hayden Carruth, 87, American poet and literary critic
September 30 – Christa Reinig, German
October 6 – Paavo Haavikko, 77, Finnish poet and playwright, after long illness
October 15 – Fazıl Hüsnü Dağlarca, 94, Turkish poet; chronic renal failure
October 25 – Tahereh Saffarzadeh, 72, Iranian poet and academic, cancer
November 5 -- James Liddy, 74, Irish American poet, cancer.
November 10 – Fries de Vries Dutch
November 15, – Donald Finkel, 79, American poet, husband of poet and novelist Constance Urdang, complications from Alzheimer's disease
November 16 – Tibor Gyurkovics, 77, Hungarian poet, writer and publicist
November 20 – Gyula Takáts, 97, Hungarian poet, writer and translator
December 1 – Peter Maiwald German
December 2 – Ann Darr American poet and World War II pilot.
December 5 – Altaf Nia, 44, Kashmiri poet and academic
December 10 – Dorothy Porter, 54, Australian
December 14 – Tajal Bewas, pen name of Taj Mohammed Samoo, 70, bucolic Sufi poet, novelist, short-story writer, teacher and Pakistani government official
December 15 – Jwalamukhi, 71, Indian poet and president of the India-China Friendship Association
December 20 – Adrian Mitchell, 74,, English poet, playwright, children's author, journalist and political activist, of heart failure
December 22 – Nanao Sakaki, Japanese poet and leading personality of "the Tribe", a counter-cultural group
December 24 – Harold Pinter, 78, English playwright, poet, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, human rights activist, winner of the 2005 Nobel Prize for Literature