Brazilian manifesto for concrete poetry, which focuses on visual and other sensory qualities
Writers Workshop, a Calcutta, India-based literary publisher, was founded this year by the poet P. Lal with several other writers.
April 18 — Ezra Pound's indictment for treason is dismissed. He is released from St. Elizabeths Hospital, an insane asylum in Maryland, after spending 12 years there (starting in 1946) and returns to Italy.
June 29 — A monument to Vladimir Mayakovsky is unveiled in the centre of Moscow and becomes a focus for informal poetry readings.
Listed by nation where the work was first published and again by the poet's native land, if different; substantially revised works listed separately:
Donald Hall et al., editors, New Poets of England and America
David Cecil and Allen Tate, Modern Verse in English (anthology)
Earle Birney, Selected Poems
Louis Dudek:
Laughing Stalks
En Mexico
John Glassco, The Deficit Made Flesh
Ralph Gustafson, The Penguin Book of Canadian Verse
Irving Layton, A Laughter in the Mind.
E. J. Pratt, The Collected Poems of E. J. Pratt. Toronto: Macmillan. (introduction by Northrop Frye)
James Reaney, A Suit of Nettles. Governor General's Award 1958.
F. R. Scott and A.J.M. Smith, The Blasted Pine, a satirical miscellany
A. J. M. Smith and F. R. Scott, editors, The Oxford Book of Canadian Verse (see also the edition of 1966)
Raymond Souster, Crepe-Hanger's Carnival: Selected Poems 1955-58 Toronto: Contact Press.
Miriam Waddington, The Season's Lovers
Criticism, scholarship and biography in Canada
L.M. Lande, Old Lamps Aglow
R.E. Rashley, Poetry in Canada
Ireland
Thomas Kinsella, Another September, Dublin, Dolmen Press
Patrick MacDonogh, One Landscape Still
Donagh MacDonagh and Lennox Robinson editors, The Oxford Book of Irish Verse, XVIIth century-XXth century (anthology)
Sarojini Naidu, The Sceptred Flute—Songs of India ( Poetry in English ), Allahabad: Kitabistan, published posthumously (died 1949)
Dilip Kumar Roy, The Immortals of the Bhagvat ( Poetry in English ),
A. Alvarez, The End of It
John Betjeman, Collected Poems, London: John Murray; Boston, Houghton Mifflin, 1959
Michael Hamburger, The Dual Site, London: Routledge and Kegan Paul
John Heath-Stubbs, Helen in Egypt, and Other Plays
Elizabeth Jennings, A Sense of the World
George Rostrevor Hamilton, Collected Poems
John Heath-Stubbs, The Triumph of the Muse
Elizabeth Jennings, A Sense of the World, London: André Deutsch
Thomas Kinsella, Another September Irish poet published in the United Kingdom
Dom Moraes, A Beginning, his first book of poems (winner of the Hawthornden Prize), Indian at this time living in the United Kingdom
James Reeves, The Talking Skull
Michael Roberts, Collected Poems
Alan Ross, To Whom It May Concern
John Silkin, The Two Freedoms
Sir Osbert Sitwell, On the Continent (see also England Reclaimed 1927 and Wrack at Tidesend 1952)
John Smith, Excursus in Autumn, including "Two Men Meet, Each Believing the Other to be of a Higher Rank"
A.S.J. Tessimond, Selection
R.S. Thomas, Poetry for Supper
C.A. Trypanis, a book of poetry
David Wright, Monologue of a Deaf Man, London: André Deutsch
Conrad Aiken, Sheepfold Hill
Djuna Barnes, The Antiphon a surrealist verse play
John Berryman, His Thoughts Made Pockets & the Plane Buckt
John Ciardi, I marry You; a Sheaf of Love Poems
Gregory Corso:
Gasoline
Bomb
Louis Coxe, The Wilderness and Other Poems
E.E. Cummings, 95 Poems
Lawrence Ferlinghetti, A Coney Island of the Mind, New Directions
George Garrett, The Sleeping Gypsy
Donald Hall, The Dark Houses
Anthony Hecht, The Seven Deadly Sins
John Hollander, A Crackling of Thorns, Yale University Press
Rolfe Humphries, editor, New Poems by American Poets (anthology)
Stanley Kunitz, Selected Poems: 1928–1958
Denise Levertov, Overland to the Islands, Highlands, North Carolina: Jonathan Williams
Archibald MacLeish, J.B., a verse play
William Meredith, The Open Sea and Other Poems
Howard Nemerov, Mirrors and Windows
Kenneth Patchen:
Poem-scapes
Hurrah for Anything
When We Were Here Together
Theodore Roethke, Words for the Wind, Garden City, New York: Doubleday
Muriel Rukeyser, Body of Waking
Winfield Townley Scott, The Dark Sister
Karl Shapiro, Poems of a Jew, New York: Random House
Eli Siegel, Hot Afternoons Have Been in Montana: Poems
Clark Ashton Smith, Spells and Philtres
William Jay Smith, Poems 1947-1957
May Swenson, A Cage of Spines
Charles Tomlinson, Seeing Is Believing, New York: McDowell, Obolensky
John Updike, The Carpentered Hen and Other Tame Creatures
Mona Van Duyn, Valentines to the Wide World
David Wagoner, A Place to Stand
William Carlos Williams, Paterson, Book V
James K. Baxter, In Fires of No Return, published by Oxford University Press, giving Baxter international recognition, New Zealand
Peter Bland, Three Poets, New Zealand
Listed by language and often by nation where the work was first published and again by the poet's native land, if different; substantially revised works listed separately:
Efraín Barqueto, La Compañera
Alfonso Calderón, El Pais Jubiloso ("Jubilant Country")
Vincente Huidobro, Ataigle, French translation
Gabriela Mistral, Poesías completas, Madrid : Aguilar
Pablo Neruda, Complete Works
José Ramón, Antología poética, Argentina
Rubén Vela, Veranos, Argentina
Jorge Guillén:
Viviendo
Maremágnum
Miguel de Unamuno, Cincuenta poesías inéditas (written 1899–1927, now published for the first time)
Herberto Hélder, O Amor em Visita
Eugénio de Andrade, Coração do dia
Alexandre O'Neill, No Reino da Dinamarca
Mário Cesariny, Alguns Mitos Maiores e Alguns Mitos Menores Postos à Circulação pelo Autor
Ollivier Mercier-Gouin, Poèmes et Chansons
Ronald Després, Silences à nourrir de sang
Roger Brien, Vols et plongées
Alain Grandbois, L'Étoile pourpre
Roland Giguère, Le défaut des ruines est d'avoir des habitants
Yves Bonnefoy, Hier régnant désert
Pierre Emmanuel, Versant de l'âge
Vincente Huidobro, Altaigle (translation from Spanish)
Philippe Jaccottet, L'Ignorant
Pierre Jean Jouve, Inventions
Raymond Queneau:
Le chien à la mandoline
Cent mille milliards de poèmes
Roger-Arnould Rivière, Déserts
Georges Schéhadé, Ethiopiques
Sh. Shalom:
Ben Tehelet ve-Lavan ("Amidst the Blue and White")
Shirai Kommiut Israel ("Poems on the Rise of Israel")
Yehoshua Rabinow, Shirat Amitai ("Amitai's Song")
I. Shalev, Eloha Hanoshek Lohamim
P. Elad, Mizrah Shemesh ("East of the Sun")
David Rokeah, Kearar Aleh Shaham ("Juniper on Granite")
T. Carmi, ha-Yam ha-Aharon ("The Last Sea")
Y. Amihai, be-Merhak Shtai Tikvot ("At a Distance of Two Hopes")
Ephraim Lisitzky, Anshai Midot ("Virtuous Men")
Listed in alphabetical order by first name:
Buddhidhari Singha, Madhumati, Maithili
Nalini Bala Devi, Yuga-devata, Indian, Assamese-language
Gopal Prasad Rimal, Yo Prem! ("This Love"), Nepali
K. S. Narasimha Swami, Silalate, Kannada
Dritëro Agolli, Në rrugë dolla ("I went out on the street") (Albania)
Ko Un, Hyondae Munhak (South Korea)
Meyer Shtiker, Yidishe landshaft ("Yiddish Landscape"), his second book of poems (Yiddish)
Lo Fu (poet) (Luo Fu) River of the Soul Chinese (Taiwan)
Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry: Francis Cornford
Foyle Prize for Poetry: Dame Edith Sitwell, Collected Poems
Guinness Poetry Awards:
Ted Hughes, The Thought Fox
Thomas Kinsella, Thinking of Mr. D
David Wright, A Thanksgiving
Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress (later the post would be called "Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress"): Robert Frost appointed this year.
National Book Award for Poetry: Robert Penn Warren, Promises: Poems, 1954-1956
Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: Stanley Kunitz, Selected Poems 1928-1958
Bollingen Prize: E.E. Cummings
Fellowship of the Academy of American Poets: Robinson Jeffers
Harper's Eugene F. Saxton Fellowship; Conrad Hilberry
Huntington Hartford Foundation Award: Robert Frost
Jewish Book Council's Harry Kovner Memorial poetry awards: I.J. Schwartz for contributions to Yiddish poetry; Aaron Zeitlin for Bein Ha-Esh Yeha-Yesha
Yale Series of Younger Poets award: William Dickey for Of the Festivity
American Academy of Arts and Letters
American Academy of Arts and Letters Gold Medal in Poetry: Conrad Aiken
Marjorie Peabody Waite Award: Dorothy Parker
Levinson prize: Stanley Kunitz
Oscar Blumenthal prize: Siydney Goodsir Smith
Eunice Tiejens prize: Mona Van Duyn
Bess Hokin prize: Charles Tomlinson
Union League Civic and Arts Foundation prize: Jean Garrigue
Vachel Lindsay prize : Hayden Carruth
Harriet Monroe Poetry Prize: Stanley Kunitz
Shelley Memorial Award: Kenneth Rexroth
Alexander Droutzkoy Memorial gold medal: Robert Frost
Walt Whitman Award: James E. Miller, Jr.
Reynolds Lyric Award: John Fandel
William Rose Benet Memorial Award: Robert A. Wallace
Edna St. Vincent Millay Award: Robert Penn Warren
Poetry Chap-Book Award: Arthur Waley
Emily S. Hamblen Memorial award: Sir Geoffrey Keynes for The Complete Writings of William Blake
Arthur Davison Ficke Memorial award: Ulrich Trobetzkoy
Laura Speyer Memorial award: Mary A. Winter
Borestone Mountain Poetry Award: John Hall Wheelock, Poems Old and New
Grand Prix Littéraire de la Ville de Paris: Maurice Fonbeure for poetry
Grand Prix de Poésie de l'Académie française: Mme. Gérard d'Houville
Mondadori, Viareggio poetry prize (Italy): S. Quasimodo, La terra impareggiabile
Canada: Governor General's Award, poetry or drama: A Suit of Nettles, James Reaney
Death years link to the corresponding "[year] in poetry" article:
January 5 – Harold Rhenisch, Canadian poet
April 15:
Anne Michaels, Canadian poet and novelist
Benjamin Zephaniah, British dub poet
November 27 – Andrew Waterhouse (suicide 2001), English poet and environmentalist
Also:
Jill Battson, Canadian poet
Lionel Fogarty, Australian poet and political activist
Subodh Sarkar, Bengali poet, writer, editor and academic in India
Margaret Smith, American poet, musician and artist
Birth years link to the corresponding "[year] in poetry" article:
January 3 – Gerald William Bullett, 64, English author and critic
March 13 – Vallathol Narayana Menon (born 1878), Indian, Malayalam language poet
March 24 – Seamus O'Sullivan (born 1879), Irish
May 5 – James Branch Cabell, 79, whose 52 books included poetry, of a cerebral hemorrhage (to help people remember the pronunciation of his name, he composed the ditty, "Tell the rabble my name is CA-bell.")
June 10 – Angelina Weld Grimke (born 1880), African American lesbian journalist and poet
June 28 (disputed) – Alfred Noyes, English poet (born 1880) according to some sources, he died on June 25, but others, including Encyclopædia Britannica give June 28)
September 11 – Robert W. Service, 84 (born 1874), Scots-Canadian poet who wrote The Cremation of Sam McGee
October 29 – Zoë Akins, 72, American poet and dramatist who won the 1935 Pulitzer Prize for her drama version of Edith Wharton's The Old Maid
November 12 – Masamune Atsuo 正宗敦夫 (born 1881), Japanese poet and academic
December 20 – Sir John Collings Squire, British poet, writer, historian and influential literary editor
Also:
Emil Barth (poet) (born 1900), German
Francis Carco, French poet and novelist
Yves Gérard le Dantec, French
