April – Wallace Stevens is baptized a Catholic by the chaplain of St. Francis Hospital in Hartford, Connecticut, where Stevens spends his last days suffering from terminal cancer. After a brief release from the hospital, Stevens is readmitted and dies on August 2 at the age of 76.July 30 – Philip Larkin makes a train journey in England from Hull to Grantham which inspires his poem The Whitsun Weddings. His collection The Less Deceived is published in November (dated October).The Group, a British poetry movement, starts meeting in London with gatherings taking place once a week, on Friday evenings, at first at Philip Hobsbaum's flat and later at the house of Edward Lucie-Smith. The poets gather to discuss each other's work, putting into practice the sort of analysis and objective comment in keeping with the principles of Hobsbaum's Cambridge tutor F. R. Leavis and of the New Criticism in general. Before each meeting about six or seven poems by one poet are typed, duplicated and distributed to the dozen or so participants.The Movement poets as a group in Britain come to public notice this year in Robert Conquest's anthology New Lines. The core of the group consists of Philip Larkin, Elizabeth Jennings, D. J. Enright, Kingsley Amis, Thom Gunn and Donald Davie. They are identified with a hostility to modernism and internationalism, and look to Thomas Hardy as a model. However, both Davie and Gunn later move away from this position.Henry Rago becomes editor of Poetry magazine in the United States.July 19 – Beat poet Weldon Kees's Plymouth Savoy is found on the north side of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco with the keys in the ignition. When his friends go to search his apartment, all they find are the cat he had named Lonesome and a pair of red socks in the sink. His sleeping bag and savings account book are missing. He has left no note. No one is sure if Kees, 41, jumped off the bridge that day or if he went to Mexico. Before his disappearance, Kees quoted Rilke to friend Michael Grieg, ominously saying that sometimes a person needs to change his life completely.October 7 – The "Six Gallery reading" takes place in San Francisco with Kenneth Rexroth acting as M.C., Philip Lamantia, Michael McClure, Gary Snyder, and Philip Whalen read, and the event includes Allen Ginsberg's first reading of Howl (written the previous summer at Ginsberg's cottage in Berkeley, California); the reading (1) brings together the East and West Coast factions of the Beat Generation, (2) is the first important public manifestation of the poetry movement and (3) helps to herald the West Coast literary revolution that becomes known as the San Francisco Renaissance. In the audience a totally drunken Jack Kerouac refuses to read his own work but cheers on the others, shouting "Yeah! Go! Go!" during their performances.Listed by nation where the work was first published and again by the poet's native land, if different; substantially revised works listed separately:
Eldon Grier, A Morning from ScrapsIrving Layton, The Blue Propeller. Toronto: Contact Press.Irving Layton, The Cold Green Element. Toronto: Contact Press.Dorothy Livesay, New Poems. Toronto: Emblem Books.Sir Charles G.D. Roberts, Selected Poems, edited by Desmond Pacey, posthumously publishedRaymond Souster, For What Time Slays. Toronto: Contact Press.Miriam Waddington, The Second SilenceWilfred Watson, Friday's ChildAnne Wilkinson, The Hangman Ties the HollyNew Zealand
James K. Baxter:The Fire and the Anvil, critical study, based on three Macmillan Brown lectures on poetry at Victoria University in 1954, criticismTraveller’s Litany, a long poem published in pamphlet formJ. R. Hervey, She Was My SpringKendrick Smithyman, The Gay Trapeze, Wellington: Handcraft PressW. H. Auden, The Shield of Achilles, first published in the United StatesAustin Clarke, Ancient LightsRobert Conquest, PoemsPatric Dickinson, The Scale of ThingsW. S. Graham, The NightfishingElizabeth Jennings, A Way of LookingPhilip Larkin, The Less Deceived, Hessle, East Yorkshire: Marvell PressRobert Graves, Collected Poems 1955, revisions and reprintings of previously published poems; the book was among eight books of poetry included in "A List of 250 Outstanding Books of the Year" in the New York Times Book Review.Norman MacCaig, Riding LightsHugh MacDiarmid, pen name of Christopher Murray Grieve, In Memoriam James JoyceEdith Anne Robertson, Poems Frae the SuddronStephen Spender, Collected Poems. 1928-1953, what he considers his best poems, selected and revised; among eight books of poetry included in "A List of 250 Outstanding Books of the Year" in the New York Times Book Review.Iain Crichton Smith, 'The Long RiverR.S. Thomas, Song at the Year's Turning, introduction by John BetjemanCharles Tomlinson, The NecklaceA.R. Ammons, Ommateum with Doxology, his first bookW. H. Auden, The Shield of Achilles, a book of 28 pastoral and devotional poems (his poem of the same name was first published in 1953); among eight books of poetry included in "A List of 250 Outstanding Books of the Year" in the New York Times Book Review.Elizabeth Bishop, Poems: North & South — A Cold Spring, (Houghton Mifflin); among eight books of poetry included in "A List of 250 Outstanding Books of the Year" in the New York Times Book Review.Paul Blackburn, The Dissolving Fabric, Highlands, North Carolina: The Divers PressKenneth Burke, Book of Monuments: Poems 1915–1954John Ciardi, As IfRobert P. Tristram Coffin, Selected Poems, among eight books of poetry included in "A List of 250 Outstanding Books of the Year" in the New York Times Book Review.Gregory Corso, The Vestal Lady on Brattle and Other PoemsLouis Coxe, The Second ManEmily Dickinson, The Complete Poems, three volumesRobert Creeley, All That is Lovely in ManEmily Dickinson, The Poems of Emily Dickinson, three volumes, edited by Thomas H. Johnson; a "definitive edition of the Dickinson poems with variant readings critically compared," according to the New York Times Book Review, which listed it among eight books of poetry included in "A List of 250 Outstanding Books of the Year".Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Pictures of the Gone WorldIsabella Gardner, Birthdays from the Ocean, her first collection; among eight books of poetry included in "A List of 250 Outstanding Books of the Year" in the New York Times Book Review.William Graham (poet), The NightfishingDonald Hall, Exiles and MarriagesRobert Hughes, Collected PoemsRandall Jarrell, Selected PoemsJosephine Miles, PrefabricationsHoward Nemerov, The Salt GardenJohn Crowe Ransom, Poems and EssaysAdrienne Rich, The Diamond Cutters and Other PoemsLouis Simpson, Good News of DeathWilliam Carlos Williams, Journey to LoveCriticism, scholarship, and biography in the United States
Carl Sandburg, Prairie-town boy (autobiography; essentially excerpts from Always the Young Strangers)A. D. Hope, The Wandering Islands (Australia)D. Stewart and N. Keesing, editors, Australian Bush Ballads, anthology (Australia)Guillaume Apollinaire, pen name of Wilhelm Apollinaris de Kostrowitzky, Poèmes à Lou, (a revised edition of Ombre de mon amour, published by P. Cailler Vesenaz 1947), posthumously published (died 1918)Pierre Oster, Le Champ de maiJacques Prévert, La Pluie et le beau tempsRoger-Arnould Rivière, L'ÉquerreVictor Segalen, Stèles, Peintures, Équipée (see also Stèles 1912)Jean Tortel, Naissance de l'objetTristan Tzara, pen name of Sami Rosenstock, Le temps naissantTchicaya U Tam'si, Mauvais sangListed in alphabetical order by first name:
Balumukund Dave, Parikrama, GujaratiNatvarlal Kuberdas Pandya, Prasun, the author's first collection of poemsRamnarayan Vishvanath Pathak, Brhat Pingal, a study of the history and structure of Gujarati prosodyVenibhai Purohit, Sinjarav, the author's first collection of poemsKrushnachandra Tripathy, AhutiMohan Upendra Thakur, PhuldaliNarendranath Misra, Balarama Dasa O Oriya Ramayana, critical study of Balaram Das, the 15th-century poet-saint and author of the most popular Ramayana in the Oriya languageAmrita Pritam, Sunehure, PunjabiBirendra Chattopadhyay, Ulukhagdar Kabita, BengaliC. Narayanan Nair, translator, Kannaki-Kovalam, translation into Sanskrit from the Silappadikaram, a Tamil-language poemDina Nath Walli, also known as "Almast", Bala Yepari, lyrics on rural themes, mostly in the vatsun form; KashmiriHitanarayan Jha, Kavivar Canda Jha O Wordsworthak prakrtiprem, a comparative study of Chanda Jha and William Wordsworth's love of nature; MaithiliJaswant Singh Neki, Asle Te Ohle, PunjabiKalachand Shastri Chingorgban, Manipuri Mahabharat, translation into Manipuri from the Sanskrit Mahabharat, in 20 volumes, published from this year to 1980Krishnakanta Mishra, Maithili Sahityak Itihas, history of Maithili literatureLekhraj Aziz, Gul Va Khar, study of prosody and the rules of Islamic meters, including examples from various works by modern Sindhi poetsRam Nath Shastri, translator, Niti Sataka, translation into Dogri from the Sanskrit poems of BhartrihariSri Naunram Samskarta, Dasa dev, RajasthaniSudhindranath Datta, translator, Pratidhvani, translation into Bengali from English, French and German poems, including verses by Shakespeare, Mallarme and HeineV. R. M. Chettiyar, Kavinan Kural, literary essays on Percy Bysshe Shelley, Ralph Waldo Emerson, William Shakespeare, William Wordsworth, Bharatidasan, Mutiyaracan among others; TamilSimin Behbahani, Chelcheragh ("Chandelier"), PersiaAlberto de Lacerda, 77 Poems, Portuguese poet published in English, translations by poet and Arthur WaleyH. E. Holthusen and F. Kemp, editors, Ergriffenes Dasein: deutsche Lyrik 1900-1950, anthology, GermanyAlexander Mezhirov, Возвращение ("Return"), Soviet UnionGiorgos Seferis, Ημερολόγιο Καταστρώματος ΙΙΙ ("Deck Diary III"), GreeceYoshioka Minoru, 静物 ("Still Life"), JapanAwards and honors
Frost Medal: Leona SpeyerNational Book Award for Poetry: Wallace Stevens, The Collected PoemsPulitzer Prize for Poetry: Wallace Stevens: Collected PoemsQueen's Gold Medal for Poetry: Ruth PitterBollingen Prize: Léonie Adams and Louise BoganFellowship of the Academy of American Poets: Rolfe HumphriesCanada: Governor General's Award, poetry or drama: Friday's Child, Wilfred WatsonDeath years link to the corresponding "[year] in poetry" article:
February 2 – Leszek Engelking, Polish poetMarch 19 – John Burnside, Scottish poet and fiction writerMarch 27 – Lisa Zeidner, American poetApril 17 – Erin Mouré, Canadian poetApril 22 – Marie Uguay (died 1981), French-Canadian poetMay 13 – Mark Abley, Canadian poet, journalist, editor and non-fiction writerJuly 6 – William Wall, Irish novelist, poet and short story writerJune 15 – Les Wicks, Australian poetJune 25 – Patricia Smith, African-American poet, "spoken-word performer", playwright, author and writing teacherSeptember 13 – Hiromi Itō, Japanese poetOctober 19 – Jason Shinder (died 2008), American poet, editor, anthologist and teacher, founder of 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 GinsbergDecember 23 – Carol Ann Duffy, Scottish poetAlso:Marilyn Chin, American poetChris Edwards, Australian poetJennifer Harrison, Australian psychiatrist, poet and photographerMargaret Lindsay Holton, Canadian designer and writerKim Morrissey, Canadian poet and playwrightWang Xiaoni, Chinese poetYang Lian 杨炼, Swiss-born Chinese poet associated with the Misty PoetsDean Young, American poetOuyang Yu, Australian poet, novelist, writer, translator and academicBirth years link to the corresponding "[year] in poetry" article:
January 1 – Mizuho Ōta 太田水穂, pen-name of Teiichi Ōta 太田 貞, occasionally also using alternative pen name "Mizuhonoya", 78 (born 1876), Shōwa period Japanese poet and literary scholar (surname: Ōta)January 19 – Kenneth Mackenzie, writing fiction as Seaforth Mackenzie, 41 (born 1913), Australian poet and novelist (accidental drowning)January 20 – Robert P. Tristram Coffin, 62 (born 1892), American poet, essayist and novelistMarch 10 – Brian Vrepont (born 1882), Australian poetJune 19 – Adrienne Monnier, 63 (born 1892), French poet and publisherJuly 18 – Weldon Kees, 41 (born 1914), American poet, critic, novelist, short story writer, painter and composer (presumed dead – see "Events" section)August 2 – Wallace Stevens, 75 (born 1879), American poetNovember 12 – Tin Ujević, 64 (born 1891), Croatian poetDecember 30 – Rex Ingamells, 42 (born 1913), Australian poet influential in the Jindyworobak Movement (automobile accident) 
