2015 in poetry

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

Events

September 8 – In the 2015 edition of American Poetry, the inclusion of a poem by Michael Derrick Hudson, a white American poet from Fort Wayne, Indiana, who claims he used the Asian female pseudonym Yi-Fen Chou to get the poem published, causes considerable debate and criticism on the issue of identity politics and cultural appropriation.
September 15 – Juan Felipe Herrera, the first Latino to serve as U.S. poet laureate, gives his inaugural reading.
November 10 – The Bodleian Library at the University of Oxford in England acquires its twelve millionth book, a unique copy of Shelley's subversive Poetical Essay on the Existing State of Things, "By a Gentleman of the University of Oxford," published in 1811.
November 17 – the General Court of Abha in Saudi Arabia sentences Palestinian poet Ashraf Fayadh to death for apostasy. Used as evidence against him were several poems within his book Instructions Within, Twitter posts, and conversations he had in a coffee shop in Abha.

Anniversaries

January 4 – On this day 50 years ago, Anglo-American poet T. S. Eliot dies.
April 23 – On this day 100 years ago, English poet Rupert Brooke dies on active service.
June – In this month 100 years ago, T. S. Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" is published.
June 13 – The 150th anniversary of W. B. Yeats, who was born on this date in 1865.
October 7 – The 60th anniversary of Allen Ginsberg's reading of his poem Howl, first performed at the Six Gallery in San Francisco on this day in 1955.

Selection of works published in English

Africa

Ijeoma Umebinyuo, Questions for Ada, Nigerian author

Australia

Jane Godwin, ''The True Story of Mary''

Anthologies in Australia

Albiston, Jordie & Brophy, Kevin, Prayers of a Secular World, Inkerman & Blunt Publishers.
Beveridge, Judith & Ogle, Susan, Falling and Flying: Poems on Ageing, Brandl & Schlesinger.
Page, Geoff, The Best Australian Poems 2015, Black Inc.

Canada

Liz Howard, Infinite Citizen of the Shaking Tent
Soraya Peerbaye, ''Tell''

New Zealand

Poets in ''Best New Zealand Poems''

These poets wrote the 25 poems selected for Best New Zealand Poems 2014, published this year:

United Kingdom

England

Mona Arshi, Small Hands
Sarah Crossan, One
George the Poet, Search Party
Thomas Grey, Poems on the Great War
Sarah Howe, Loop of Jade
Clive James
*Sentenced to Life
*Latest Readings
Bhanu Kapil, Ban en Banlieue
Frances Leviston, Disinformation
*Andrew McMillan, Physical
Sean O'Brien, The Beautiful Librarians
Sam Riviere, ''Kim Kardashian’s Marriage''

Scotland

Iain Banks, Poems.
Kathleen Jamie, The Bonniest Companie
Robin Fulton Macpherson, A Northern Habitat: Collected Poems 1960-2010
Don Paterson, ''40 Sonnets''

United States

Rae Armantrout, Itself
Clayton Eshleman, The Essential Poetry
Terrance Hayes, How to Be Drawn
Ernest Hilbert, Caligulan, Measure Press
Robin Coste Lewis, Voyage of the Sable Venus and Other Poems
Fred Moten, The Little Edges
Veronica J. Valentini, Perseverance: A Collection of Poetry
Tiphanie Yanique, ''Wife''

Criticism, scholarship and biography in the United States

David Biespiel, A Long High Whistle: Selected Columns on Poetry
David Schneider, ''Crowded by beauty: The Life and Zen of Poet Philip Whalen''

Poets in ''The Best American Poetry 2015''

The 2015 edition of The Best American Poetry is guest-edited by Native American poet and novelist Sherman Alexie

Works published in other languages

French

Ultime recours, Une anthologie de la poésie francophone contemporaine des profondeurs

Serge Venturini, Éclats d'une poétique des métamorphoses, Livre VII,

Italian

Milo De Angelis, Incontri e agguati
Franco Buffoni, Avrei fatto la fine di Turing
Anna Maria Carpi, L'animato porto
Gianni D'Elia, Fiori del mare
Gio Evan, Teorema di un salto
Lia Galli, Non si muore più per un bacio
Massimo Gezzi, Il numero dei vivi
Fabio Jermini,
Jonathan Lupi, Agli istanti
Giorgio Orelli, Tutte le poesie
Franco Marcoaldi, Il mondo sia lodato
Carlotta Silini, ''Igiene di vita''

Awards and honors by country

Awards announced this year:

International

Glenna Luschei Prize for African Poetry:
*Finalists are:
**A Book of Rooms by Kobus Moolman
**Gumiguru by Togara Muzanenhamo
**Now the World Takes These Breaths by Joan Meterlerkamp
Struga Poetry Evenings Golden Wreath Laureate:

Australia awards and honors

Canada awards and honors

Archibald Lampman Award: Shane Book, Congotronic
Atlantic Poetry Prize: Susan Paddon, Two Tragedies in 429 Breaths
2014 Governor General's Awards: Robyn Sarah, My Shoes Are Killing Me ; Joël Pourbaix, Le mal du pays est un art oublié
Griffin Poetry Prize:
*Canada: Jane Munro, Blue Sonoma
*International: Michael Longley, The Stairwell
*Lifetime Recognition Award : Derek Walcott
Latner Writers' Trust Poetry Prize: Karen Solie
Gerald Lampert Award: Kayla Czaga, For Your Safety Please Hold On
Pat Lowther Award: Sina Queyras, MxT
Prix Alain-Grandbois: André Roy, La très grande solitude de l'écrivain pragois Franz Kafka
Raymond Souster Award: Patrick Lane, Washita
Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize: Cecily Nicholson, From the Poplars
Prix Émile-Nelligan: Rosalie Lessard, ''L'observatoire''

France awards and honors

Prix Goncourt de la Poésie:

Italian awards and honors

Premio Letterario Camaiore:
* Italy: Nicola Vacca, Luce nera
* International: Claribel Alegría, Voci
* Special award: Franco Marcoaldi, Il mondo sia lodato
* Honorable mentions:
** Italian poetry: Antonio Porta, Carmelo Pistillo Perché tu mi dici: poeta?
** Russian Poetry: Solomon Volkov, Dialoghi con Josif Brodskij
* Section "Vittorio Grotti": Davide Maria Quarracino, ''Frangiflutti''

New Zealand awards and honors

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

United Kingdom awards and honors

Cholmondeley Award: Patience Agbabi, Brian Catling, Christopher Middleton, J. H. Prynne, Pascale Petit
Costa Award for poetry:
* Shortlist:
English Association's Fellows' Poetry Prizes:
Eric Gregory Award :
Forward Poetry Prize:
*Best Collection:
**Shortlist:
*Best First Collection:
**Shortlist:
*Best Poem:
**Shortlist:
Jerwood Aldeburgh First Collection Prize for poetry:
*Shortlist:
Manchester Poetry Prize:
National Poet of Wales:
National Poetry Competition 2015:
T. S. Eliot Prize : Sarah Howe, Loop of Jade
*Shortlist : 2015 Short ListThe Times/Stephen Spender Prize for Poetry Translation:

United States awards and honors

Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize:
AML Award for Poetry awarded to Hive by Christina Stoddard
*Finalists: Glyphs by Colin Douglas, Lake of Fire: Landscape Meditations from the Great Basin Deserts of Nevada by Justin Evans, Let Me Drown With Moses by James Goldberg
Arab American Book Award :
Anisfield-Wolf Book Award: Marilyn Chin for Hard Love Province
Best Translated Book Award :
Beatrice Hawley Award from Alice James Books:
Bollingen Prize: to Nathaniel Mackey
Jackson Poetry Prize:
*Judges:
Lambda Literary Award:
* Gay Poetry: Danez Smith, boy
* Lesbian Poetry: Valerie Wetlaufer, Mysterious Acts by My People
Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize:
Los Angeles Times Book Prize:
*Finalists:
National Book Award for Poetry
*NBA Longlist; Finalists ; Winner
** Ross Gay, Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude;†
** Amy Gerstler, Scattered at Sea;
** Marilyn Hacker, A Stranger’s Mirror: New and Selected Poems, 1994-2014;
** Terrance Hayes, How to Be Drawn;†
** Jane Hirshfield, The Beauty;
** Robin Coste Lewis, Voyage of the Sable Venus;†
** Ada Limón, Bright Dead Things;†
** Patrick Phillips, Elegy for a Broken Machine;†
** Rowan Ricardo Phillips, Heaven;
** Lawrence Raab, Mistaking Each Other for Ghosts.
*NBA Judges: Sherman Alexie, Willie Perdomo, Katha Pollitt, and Tim Seibles
National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry:
*Finalists
**Catalogue of Unabashed Gratitude by Ross Gay
**How to Be Drawn by Terrance Hayes
**Bright Dead Things by Ada Limón
**Parallax: And Selected Poems by Sinéad Morrissey
**What About This: Collected Poems of Frank Stanford by Frank StanfordThe New Criterion Poetry Prize:
Pulitzer Prize for Poetry : Digest by Gregory Pardlo
*Finalists: Reel to Reel by Alan Shapiro and Compass Rose by Arthur Sze
Wallace Stevens Award: Joy Harjo
Whiting Awards: Anthony Carelli, Aracelis Girmay, Jenny Johnson, Roger Reeves
PEN Award for Poetry in Translation: to Eliza Griswold, I Am the Beggar of the World: Landays from Contemporary Afghanistan, translated from the Pashto. – Judge: Ana BožičevićPEN Center USA 2015 Poetry Award: Claudia Rankine, Citizen: An American Lyric
PEN/Voelcker Award for Poetry:
Raiziss/de Palchi Translation Award:
Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize: Alice Notley
Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award:
Walt Whitman Prize – - Judge:
Yale Younger Series:

From the Poetry Society of America

Frost Medal:
Shelley Memorial Award:
Writer Magazine/Emily Dickinson Award:
Lyric Poetry Award:
Alice Fay Di Castagnola Award:
Louise Louis/Emily F. Bourne Student Poetry Award:
George Bogin Memorial Award:
Robert H. Winner Memorial Award: '
Cecil Hemley Memorial Award:
Norma Farber First Book Award:
Lucille Medwick Memorial Award:
William Carlos Williams Award:
*Finalists for WCW Award:

Conferences and workshops by country

United States

West Chester University Poetry Conference will take place at West Chester University in West Chester, Pennsylvania from June 2 to 6, 2015.

Deaths

January – June

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

January 1 – Miller Williams, 84, American poet, maybe best known for reading the inaugural poem at US President Bill Clinton's second inauguration.
January 4 – Michele Serros, 48, American novelist and poet, who was a staff writer for the George Lopez Show.
January 29 – Rod McKuen, 81, American poet, singer and songwriter who was one of the bestselling poets of the 1960s
February 4 – Martin Green, 82, English author, poet and publisher
February 14 – Philip Levine, 87, American Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and a former Poet Laureate of the United States.
April 15 – Tomas Tranströmer, 83, Swedish poet and translator who gained significant recognition during his lifetime. He was the recipient of numerous awards, including the Neustadt International Prize for Literature, and the Nobel Prize in Literature.
May 14 – Franz Wright, 62, US poet who received the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, an award his father, poet James Wright, also received in 1972.

July – December

July 8 – James Tate, 71, American Pulitzer Prize-winning poet.
July 26 – Lee Harwood, 76 British poet associated with the British Poetry Revival.
July 30 – Kenneth Irby, 78, American poet who received the Shelley Memorial Award, and was sometimes associated with the Black Mountain poets.
August 22:
* Stephen Rodefer, 74, American poet and painter whose early publications associated him with the Language poets.
*Charles Tomlinson, 88, English poet and translator.
November 8 – Abdul Razzak Abdul Wahid, 85, Iraqi poet.
November 11 – Madeline DeFrees, 95, Canadian-born American poet who was awarded the 2002 Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize.
November 23 – Jamiluddin Aali, 90, Pakistani Urdu poet, critic, playwright, essayist, columnist and scholar.
November 25 – Judith Fitzgerald, 63, Canadian poet and journalist.
November 29 – Christopher Middleton, 89, British poet and translator.
December 5 – William McIlvanney, 79, Scottish novelist, short story writer and poet.
December 24 – Justin Chin, 46, San Francisco-based poet who was born in Malaysia, but had been active in the Bay Area since the early 1990s