— W. H. Auden, from "September 1, 1939"
Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature (for instance, Irish or France).
JanuaryLast issue of The Criterion is publishedThe Kenyon Review is established by John Crowe RansomJanuary/February – Poetry London: a Bi-Monthly of Modern Verse and Criticism, founded and edited by Tambimuttu (with Dylan Thomas and others), is first publishedFebruary 17 – Gunga Din, a film directed by George Stevens, based loosely on Rudyard Kipling's poem of the same name, is released in the United StatesJune – Rolfe Humphries, a former student of Nicholas Murray Butler at Columbia University, publishes in the magazine Poetry "Draft Ode for a Phi Beta Kappa Occasion", following a classical format of blank verse with one classical reference per line but with the first letters of each line of the resulting acrostic spelling out the message "Nicholas Murray Butler is a horses [sic.] ass"; upon learning of the "hidden" message, the irate editors run an apology in the August issueCarl Rakosi begins a 28-year hiatus from writing poetryArthur Bourinot, Under the Sun (1939 Governor General's Award)Anne Marriott, The Wind Our Enemy, Toronto: Ryerson PressHarindranath Chattopadhyaya, The Dark Well (Poetry in English), Madras: KalakshetraTandra Devi, Poems (Poetry in English), Srinagar: Tandra Devi PublicationsP. R. Kaikini, Shanghai (Poetry in English), Bombay: New Book Co.New Zealand
Ursula Bethell, Day and Night : Poems 1924-34, by the author of 'Time and Place, Christchurch: Caxton PressCharles Brasch, The Land and the People, and Other Poems, Christchurch: Caxton PressAllen Curnow, Not in Narrow Seas, Christchurch: Caxton PressW. H. Auden and Christopher Isherwood, Journey to a War, verse and nonfiction prose, published March 16; includes "In Time of War", a sonnet sequence with verse commentary by Auden; diary and prose by IsherwoodW. H. Auden, "September 1, 1939", a poem written on the occasion of the outbreak of World War II, first published in The New Republic on October 18, and which will later appear in Auden's collection Another Time (1940); at this time Auden is an English poet living in the United StatesGeorge Barker, Elegy on SpainRoy Campbell, Flowering Rifle: A poem from he battlefield of SpainW. H. Davies, The Loneliest Mountain, and Other PoemsT. S. Eliot:Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats"The Marching Song of the Pollicle Dogs" and "Billy M'Caw: The Remarkable Parrot", contributions to The Queen's Book of the Red Cross anthologyGavin Ewart, Poems and SongsGeoffrey Grigson, editor, New Verse, anthologyJ. F. Hendry and Henry Treece, editors, The New Apocalypse, an early anthology of the New Apocalyptics poets in BritainA. E. Housman, Collected PoemsLouis MacNeice, Autumn JournalRuth Pitter, The Spirit WatchesEnoch Powell, Casting-off, and Other Poems, Oxford: Blackwell’sLady Margaret Sackville, Collected PoemsChristopher Smart, Rejoice in the Lamb: A Song from Bedlam, the first publication of Smart's Jubilate Agno (written during his asylum confinement 1757–1758) edited by W. F. Stead (includes the lines beginning "For I will consider my Cat Jeoffry")William Soutar, In the Time of TyrantsJulian Symons, Confusions About XDylan Thomas, The Map of Love, verse and fictionW. B. Yeats, Last Poems and Two Plays, Irish poet published in the United Kingdom, published posthumously in JulyW. H. Auden:"September 1, 1939" a poem written on the occasion of the outbreak of World War II, first published in The New Republic on October 18, and which will later appear in Auden's collection Another Time (1940); at this time Auden is an English poet living in the United StatesWith Christopher Isherwood, The Journey to a WarStephen Vincent Benet, The Ballad of the Duke's MercyPaul Engle, CornRobert Frost, Collected PoemsArchibald MacLeish, America Was PromisesJosephine Miles, Lines at IntersectionEdna St. Vincent Millay, Huntsman, What Quarry?Kenneth Patchen, First Will and TestamentMuriel Rukeyser, A Turning WindMay Sarton, Inner LandscapeEdward Taylor, The Poetical Works, edited by Thomas H. JohnsonMark Van Doren, Collected PoemsThomas Wolfe, The Face of a NationKenneth Slessor, Five Bells: XX Poems, Sydney: F.C. Johnson, AustraliaW. B. Yeats, Last Poems and Two Plays, Irish poet published in the United Kingdom, published posthumously in JulyAimé Césaire, Cahier d'un retour au pays natal ("Notebook of a Return to My Native Land"), a landmark work in French Caribbean literature, which had previously been characterized by literary works derivative of European models and often marked by exoticism; this book-length poem, according to Bonnie Thomas, "laid the foundations for a new literary style in which Caribbean writers came to reject the alienating gaze of the Other in favour of their own Caribbean interpretation of reality", a change expressed in the theory of négritude; Martinique poet published in France, Volontés (Paris), August; (enlarged edition in book format, 1947; definitive edition, 1956)Paul Éluard, pen name of Paul-Eugène Grindel, Chanson complèteLuc Estang, TranshumancesLeon-Paul Fargue, Le Piéton de ParisTristan Tzara, Midis gagnésIncluding all of the British colonies that later became India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal. Listed alphabetically by first name, regardless of surname:
Akbar Allahabadi, Kulliyat-i Akbar Allahabadi, in four volumes, published (posthumously) from 1935 through this year; Urdu-languageMir Hasan, Maghribi tasanif ke Urdu tarajim, treatise in Urdu on the difficulties of translating Western literature into the Urdu language; one of the earlier studies of translation into any Indian languageMuhammad Tahir Farooqi, Sirat-i Iqbal, biography of Muhammad Iqbal, with appraisals of his poetryNushur Vahidi, Sabha-i Hindi, mostly traditional poems; UrduBaikunthanath Pattnayak, Myttika Darsana, long elegy on the death of his son; OriyaBalamani Amma, Strihrdayam ("The Heart of a Woman"), MalayalamBapiraju, Ssikala, love poems; TeluguChangampuzha Krishna Pillai, Rahtapuspangal, includes Vazhakkula ("A Bunch of Bananas"), which exerted a strong influence on revolutionary Malayalam poetry in the next few decadesKhalairakpam Chaoba, Thainagi Leirang ("Ancient Flowers"), ManipuriMahjoor, Payam-e Mahjoor, popular lyrics; KashmiriRameshvar Shukla, Aparajita Indian poetry, Hindi-languageSundaram, Vasudha, poems about social change and reflecting the influence of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi on Indian society; GujaratiSuryakant Tripathi 'Nirala', Tulsidas, long poem on the life and characteristics of Tulsidas, HindiU. M. Dandpota, Abyat-i-Sindhi, critical appraisal in Sindhi of the Sindhi couplets of Kkwaja Muhammad Zaman (1713–1774)Umashankar Joshi, Nishith, lyrics, songs, sonnets and longer poems; received the Bharatiya Jnanpith Award in 1968; GujaratiVisvanatha Satyanarayana, Srimad Ramayana Kalpavrksamu, the author's magnum opus, according to Indian literary scholar Siser Kumar Das; it won the Jnanapith Award; a free rendering of the Ramayana; the first canto was published in 1930, the last in 1957; TeluguJosé Gorostiza, Muerte sin fin ("Death without end"), MexicoW. J. Hartmann, comp., Sie alle fielen: Gedichte europäischer Soldaten ("They all fell in battle: poems of European soldiers"), translations into GermanEugenio Montale, Le occasioni ("The Occasions"), Turin: Einaudi; ItalyCésar Vallejo, posthumously published (died in 1936), Peru:Poemas humanos ("Human Poems")Sermón de la barbarie ("Sermon on Barbarism")Awards and honors
Governor General's Award, poetry or drama: Under the Sun, Arthur S. Bourinot (Canada)American Academy of Arts and Letters Gold Medal for Poetry: Robert FrostPulitzer Prize for Poetry: John Gould Fletcher: Selected PoemsDeath years link to the corresponding "[year] in poetry" article:
January 10 – Jared Carter, American poet, winner of the 1980 Walt Whitman AwardJanuary 23 – Fred Wah, Chinese-Canadian poet, novelist, and scholarFebruary 5 – Siv Cedering, Swedish-American poet, painter, sculptor, illustrator, and authorFebruary 26 – Clark Coolidge, AmericanMarch 26 – Patrick Lane, CanadianApril 13 – Seamus Heaney, Irish writer and lecturer from Northern Ireland awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1995 (died 2013)April 16 – Diane Wood Middlebrook, née Helen Diane Wood, American poet, academic and biographer (died 2008)April 25 – Ted Kooser, American poet and 13th Poet Laureate of the United States, serving two terms from 2004 to 2006May 7 – Volker Braun, GermanMay 11 – Samih al-Qasim, Palestinian (died 2014)May 23 – Stanley Plumly, American poet and academicMay 27 – Frank Bidart, AmericanMay 31 – Al Young, American poet, novelist and writer of musical memoirs named poet laureate of California in 2005June 6 – Lee Harwood, EnglishJune 30 – José Emilio Pacheco, Mexican poet, essayist, translator, novelist and short story writerJuly 22 – Quincy Troupe, American poet, editor, journalist, and academicJuly 27 – Michael Longley, Northern Irish poetAugust 8 – Dick Allen, AmericanAugust 31 – Dennis Lee, Canadian children's writer and poetOctober 7 – Clive James, Australian-born writer and poetOctober 24 – Paula Gunn Allen, Native American poet, literary critic, activist and novelistNovember 11 – Bimbo Rivas, born Bittman Rivas, Puerto Rican-born actor, community activist, director, playwright, poet and teacher (died 1992)November 18 – Margaret Atwood, Canadian novelist and poetNovember 23 – bill bissett, Canadian poet famous for his anti-conventional style who does not capitalise his nameAlso:Charles Boer, AmericanPhilip Dacey, AmericanStephen Dunn, American poet and winner of the Pulitzer Prize for PoetryJames L. McMichael, AmericanHeather Ross Miller, American poet, author and academicPrimus St. John, AmericanBirth years link to the corresponding "[year] in poetry" article:
January 28 – William Butler Yeats, 73, poetFebruary 18 – Okamoto Kanoko 岡本かの子, pen name of Ohnuki Kano (born 1889) Japanese author, tanka poet, and Buddhist scholar in the Taishō and early Shōwa periods; mother of artist Tarō OkamotoFebruary 22 – Antonio MachadoMarch 29 – Tachihara Michizō 立原道造 (born 1914), Japanese poet and architect (surname: Michizō)June 14 – Vladislav Khodasevich (born 1886), Russian poet and criticJuly 19 – Rose Hartwick Thorpe, AmericanAugust 29 – Robin Hyde (born 1906), New Zealander 
