Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature (for instance, Irish or France).
September 12 – Abraham Sutzkever, a Polish Jew writing poetry in Yiddish, escapes the Vilna Ghetto with his wife and hides in the forests. Sutzkever and fellow Yiddish poet Shmerke Kaczerginsky, fight against the Nazis as partisans. During the Nazi era, Sutzkever wrote more than eighty poems, whose manuscripts he manages to save for postwar publication.December – English poet Philip Larkin, having graduated from the University of Oxford, obtains his first post as a librarian (at Wellington, Shropshire).Babi Yar in poetry: poems are written about the 1941 Babi Yar massacres by Mykola Bazhan (Микола Бажан) of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union ("Babi Yar"); Sava Holovanivskyi ("Avraam" (Abraham)) and Kievan poet Olga Anstei (Ольга Николаевна Анстей) ("Kirillovskie iary"; "Kirillov Ravines", another name for Babi Yar). She defects this year from the Soviet Union to the West with her husbandNazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels closes theaters and publishers in Germany.Ezra Pound, still in Italy, is indicted for treason by the United States Attorney General.Canadian poet, critic and editor John Sutherland publishes a review of Patrick Anderson's poetry in his magazine First Statement (a rival to Anderson's Preview) which suggests homoerotic themes in his writing, and accuses Anderson of "some sexual experience of a kind not normal"; although Anderson would in fact come out as gay later in life, he is married at this time to Peggy Doernbach and threatens to sue. Sutherland prints a retraction in the following issue of his magazine.Ottawa native Elizabeth Smart moves permanently to England.Focus magazine founded in Jamaica.Poetry Scotland magazine founded in Glasgow by Maurice Lindsay.Publication of a new comprehensive edition of Friedrich Hölderlin's complete works (Sämtliche Werke, the "Große Stuttgarter Ausgabe"), begins.Listed by nation where the work was first published and again by the poet's native land, if different; substantially revised works listed separately:
Archibald Lampman, At The Long Sault, edited by Duncan Campbell Scott and E.K. Brown, a selection from Lampman's unpublished manuscripts; posthumous editionWilson MacDonald, Greater Poems Of The Bible: metrical versions, biblical forms, and original poemsE. J. Pratt, Still Life and Other Verse, Toronto: Macmillan.A.J.M. Smith, News of the Phoenix and Other Poems. Toronto: Ryerson Press. Governor General's Award 1943.AnthologiesRalph Gustafson, editor, Canadian Poets, published by New DirectionsA.J.M. Smith, The Book of Canadian Poetry anthology - introduction identified modern poets in Canada as either in "The Native Tradition" or "The Cosmopolitan Tradition";CriticismE.K. Brown, On Canadian Poetry. Governor General's Award 1943.Sunderrao Rama Rao Dongerkery, The Ivory Tower (Poetry in English ), Baroda: East and West Book HousePunjalal, Lotus Petals (Poetry in English ), Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo AshramKrishna Shungloo, The Night is Heavy (Poetry in English ), Lahore: Free India PublicationsK. R. Srinivasa Iyengar, Indo-Anglian Literature, a pioneering literary historyKenneth Allott, The Ventriloquist's DollLilian Bowes Lyon, Evening in StepneyCecil Day-Lewis, Word Over AllKeith Douglas, Selected PoemsLawrence Durrell, A Private CountryT. S. Eliot, Four Quartets (first collected, in U.S.)David Gascoyne, Poems 1937–1942Geoffrey Grigson, Under the Cliff, and Other PoemsMichael Hamburger, Friedrich Hölderlin: PoemsJ. F. Hendry, The Orchestral MountainSidney Keyes, The Cruel SolsticeRudyard Kipling, A Choice of Kipling's Verse, edited by T. S. EliotRoy McFadden, Swords and Ploughshares, Northern Ireland poetJohn Pudney, Beyond This DisregardKathleen Raine, Stone and Flower, with drawings by Barbara HepworthKeidrych Rhys, pen name of William Ronald Rhys Jones, editor, More Poems From The Forces, anthologyWilliam Soutar, But the Earth AbidethDylan Thomas, New Poems, WelshTerence Tiller, The Inward AnimalLeonard Bacon, Day of FireStephen Vincent Benet, Western StarKenneth Fearing, Afternoon of a PawnbrokerRobert Fitzgerald, A Wreath for the SeaLangston Hughes, Freedom's PlowWeldon Kees, The Last ManArchibald MacLeish, Colloquy for the StatesEdna St. Vincent Millay, Collected LyricsKenneth Patchen, Cloth of the TempestCarl Sandburg, Home Front MemoDelmore Schwartz, Genesis: Book OneYvor Winters, The Giant Weapon, New DirectionsElinor Wylie, Last PoemsAllen Curnow, Sailing or Drowning (Progressive Publishing Society), New ZealandListed by nation where the work was first published and again by the poet's native land, if different; substantially revised works listed separately:
Louis Aragon, Le Musee GrevinLanza del Vasto, Le Pèlerinage aux sourcesAndrée Chedid, On the Trails of my FancyRobert Desnos, État de veilleLuc Estang, Mystère apprivoiséAndré Frénaud, Les Rois Mages, Anthony Hartley called this book, "probably the best book of verse published at this time"; first edition (revised edition, 1966)Jean Follain, Usage de tempsFrancis Jammes, Elégies et poésies diversesAndré Pieyre de Mandiargues, Dans les années sordidesJules Supervielle, Poèmes de la France malheureuseRaymond Queneau, Les ZiauxIncluding all of the British colonies that later became India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal. Listed alphabetically by first name, regardless of surname:
Abdul Shakoor, Daur-i jadid ke cand muntakhab Hindu shu'ara, short biographical sketches and reviews of Hindu poets in the Urdu languageAcharya Bhagvat, Jivan Ani Sahitya, essays in Marathi, mostly translated from Bengali and Gujarati, including some on which are on Rabindranath Tagore; criticismAkhtarul Imam, Girdab, Urdu-languageBalvantrai Thakore, Navin Kavita Vise Vyakkyano, published lectures in Gujarati by this poet and critic on the forms of Gujarati poetry; criticismBawa Balwant Juala Mukhi, PunjabiD. R. Bendre, Meghaduta, translation into Kannada from the Sanskrit of Kalidasa's Meghaduta; the translation is in a modified ragale meter; one of the most popular translations of that poet into the Kannada languageD. V. Gundappa, Mankuthimmana Kagga, "Song of Mankutimma", KannadaG. V. Krishna Rao, Kavya Jagattu, on Marxism, Freudian thought and Indian poetics; Telugu; criticismGauri Shankar Bhadrawahi, Srimad Bhagvadgita, translation into Dogri–Badrawahi from the Sanskrit originalLutif Allah Badvi, Tazkira-Elutfi, first volume of a Sindhi-language history of Sindhi poetry (see also Volume 2, 1946, Volume 3 1952)Makhan Lal Chaturvedi, Sahitya Devata, essays in literary criticism; HindiNarayan Bezbarua, Mahatmar Maha Prayanat, Indian, Assamese-languageAgyeya, Tar Saptak, groundbreaking Hindi anthology of seven previously unpublished poets which began the Prayogvad ("Experimentalism") movement; that, in turn, grew into the Nayi kavita ("New Poetry") movement in Hindi poetry. "The importance of Tar Saptak to the development of Hindi verse cannot be overstated", according to Ludmila L. Rosenstein. The movement got its name as a derisive term coined by critics who noted the constant use of the word prayog ("experimentalism") in Agyeya's introduction. That introduction and later writings by Agyeya made him one of the chief literary critics in India in the rest of the 20th century. The anthology was reprinted in new editions, with the sixth appearing in 1996. The seven poets in this edition: Agyeya, Gajanan Madhav Muktibodh, Shamsher Bahadur Singh, Raghuvir Sahay, Sarveshwar Dayal Saxena, Kunwar Narain and Kedarnath Singh.Vijayrai Vaidya, Gujarati Sahityani Ruprekha, a Gujarati history of the literature in that language; scholarshipChairil Anwar, "Aku" ("Me"), IndonesianOdysseus Elytis, Sun the First, GreekGerardo Diego, Poemas adrede ("Purposeful Poems");SpainSorley MacLean, Dàin do Eimhir agus Dàin Eile, Scottish GaelicEugenio Montale, Finisterre, a chapbook of poetry, smuggled into Switzerland by Gianfranco Contini; Lugano: the Collana di Lugano (June 24); second edition, 1945, Florence: Barbèra; ItalyCésar Moro, pen name of César Quíspez Asín, Le château de grisou, PeruLuis Rosales and Luis Felipe Vivanco, editors, Sonetos à la piedra ("Sonnets to Stone"), anthology of heroic poetry; SpainOle Sarvig, Grønne Digte ("Green Poems"), the author's first book of poems; DenmarkAwards and honors
Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress (later the post would be called "Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress"): Allen Tate appointed this year. He would serve until 1943.Frost Medal: Edna St. Vincent MillayGovernor General's Award, poetry or drama: News of the Phoenix, A.J.M. Smith (Canada) Death years link to the corresponding "[year] in poetry" article:
April 22 – Louise Glück, American poetMay 11 – Michael Palmer, American poet, translator and winner of 2006 Wallace Stevens AwardJune 7 – Nikki Giovanni, African American poet, activist and authorJuly 21 – Tess Gallagher, American poet, essayist, novelist and playwrightJuly 22 – Hadi Khorsandi, Iranian poet and satiristAugust 14 – Alfred Corn, American poet and essayistSeptember 12 – Michael Ondaatje, Canadian-Sri Lankan novelist and poet whose Booker Prize winning novel, The English Patient, is adapted into an Academy-Award-winning filmOctober 2 – Franklin Rosemont (died 2009), American Surrealist poet, labor historian and co-founder of the Chicago Surrealist GroupDecember 2 – John Balaban, American poet and translatorDecember 8:James Tate, American poet, educator, and man of letters and a winner of the Pulitzer Prize, National Book AwardJim Morrison (died 1971), American singer, songwriter, poet; best known as the lead singer and lyricist of The DoorsDecember 9 – Michael Krüger, German poet, writer, publisher and translatorAlso:Alan Bold (died 1998), Scottish poetRichard Berengarten, English poetEmanuel di Pasquale, American poet and translatorTridib Mitra, Bengali poet associated with the 1961–1965 Hungryalism (or "Hungry Generation") movementJusto Jorge Padrón, Canarian Spanish poet, translator and lawyerRon Smith, Canadian poet, author, playwright and publisherFrederick Turner, English poet, critic and academic in the United States; editor of The Kenyon ReviewEllen Bryant Voigt, American poetBill Zavatsky, American poet, journalist, jazz pianist and translatorBirth years link to the corresponding "[year] in poetry" article:
January 3 – F. M. Cornford, 68 (born 1874), English classical scholar and poetFebruary 27 – Kostis Palamas, 84 (born 1859) Greek poetMarch 10 – Lawrence Binyon, 72 (born 1869), English poet, dramatist and art scholarMarch 13 – Stephen Vincent Benét, 44 (born 1898), American poetMarch 19 – Tsugi Takano 鷹野 つぎ, 52 (born 1890), Japanese novelist and poet (a woman; surname: Takano)April 29 – Sidney Keyes, 20 (born 1922), English poet killed in action in TunisiaAugust 12 – Kurt Eggers, 37 (born 1905), Nazi German writer, poet, songwriter and playwright killed in action on the Eastern FrontOctober 7 – Radclyffe Hall, 63, English poet and author of the lesbian novel The Well of LonelinessOctober 15 – William Soutar, 45 (born 1898), leading poet of the Scottish Literary Renaissance. Bedridden from 1930, he died of tuberculosisOctober 24 – Hector de Saint-Denys Garneau (born 1912), Canadian considered "Quebec's first truly modern poet"November 22 – Lorenz Hart, 48 (born 1895), American lyricistNovember 26 – Charles G. D. Roberts (born 1860), Canadian poet and writer known as the "Father of Canadian Poetry" because he served as an inspiration for other writers of his time; also known as one of the "Confederation poets" (together with his cousin Bliss Carman, William Wilfred Campbell Archibald Lampman and Duncan Campbell Scott)December 2Drummond Allison (born 1921), English poet killed in action in ItalyNordahl Grieg (born 1902), Norwegian poet and author killed in action over GermanyAlso:Guido Mazzoni (born 1859), Italian poetSanjayan, pen name of M. R. Nayar (born 1903), Indian, Malayalam-language poet and academicK. V. Simon, (born 1883), Indian, Malayalam-language poet 