March – at a dinner celebrating Robert Frost's 85th birthday, the critic Lionel Trilling gives some brief remarks about Frost's poetry and "permanently changed the way people think about his subject", according to critic Adam Kirsch. Trilling says that Frost had been long viewed as a folksy, unobjectionable poet, "an articulate Bald Eagle" who gave readers comfortable truths in traditional meter and New England dialect in such schoolbook favorites such as "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" and "The Road Not Taken"; but was instead was "a terrifying poet" not so much like Longfellow as Sophocles, "who made plain ... the terrible things of human life." Trilling is severely criticized at the time, but his view will become widely accepted in the following decades.May 18–24 – Nikita Khrushchev, Soviet Union, head of state, in an extemporaneous speech at the Congress of Soviet Writers, calls for indulgence towards "deviationist" writers. At the same conference, the poet Alexis Surkov again condemns writing "hostile to socialist realism and denounces fellow poet Boris Pasternak as acting in a way that is "treacherous and unworthy of a Soviet writer". A liberalizing trend in the state's treatment of its writers is evident. Surkov, the subject of intense criticism himself, resigned from the congress, and at some point in the year attacks against Pasternak ceased.November 11 – Release in the United States of the short film Pull My Daisy, written and narrated by Jack Kerouac and starring poets of the Beat Generation Allen Ginsberg, Peter Orlovsky and Gregory Corso.December – "The Poetry Society" episode of Hancock's Half Hour is broadcast on BBC radio, satirizing artistic pretensions.In the United States, "Those serious new Bohemians, the beatniks, occupied with reading their deliberately undisciplined, protesting verse in night clubs and hotel ballrooms, created more publicity than poetry", wrote Harrison M. Hayford, a professor of American Literature at Northwestern University. "Meanwhile back on the campus, the 'square' poets were turning more and more to a controlled verse, much of it good enough to survive the pointed charge of academicism." Non-beat, off-campus poets almost routinely displayed "simple competence in the handling of complex forms", he wrote in Encyclopædia Britannica's Britannica Book of the Year 1960, which covered 1959.Literary critic M.L. Rosenthal coins the term "confessional" as used in Confessional poetry in "Poetry as Confession", an article appearing in the September 19 issue of The Nation. Rosenthal's article reviewed the poetry collection Life Studies by Robert Lowell. The review was later collected in Rosenthal's book of selected essays and reviews, Our Life In Poetry, published in 1991The chairmanship of The Group, a grouping of British poets, passes to Edward Lucie-Smith this year when Philip Hobsbaum left London to study in Sheffield. The meetings continue at his house in Chelsea, and the circle of poets expands to include Fleur Adcock, Taner Baybars, Edwin Brock, and Zulfikar Ghose; others including Nathaniel Tarn circulate poems for comment.Carl Sandburg, poet and historian, lectures at the U.S. fair and exposition in Moscow.After twenty years, John Crowe Ransom steps down as editor of The Kenyon Review, which he founded.The journal Canadian Literature is founded by George Woodcock at the University of British Columbia.The British poetry magazine Agenda is founded by William Cookson and Ezra Pound.Aldous Huxley turns down the offer of a knighthood.In France, the centenary of the death of Marceline Desbordes-Valmore is commemorated.Listed by nation where the work was first published and again by the poet's native land, if different; substantially revised works listed separately:
Ronald Bates, The Wandering WorldRalph Gustafson, The Penguin Book of Canadian Verse, anthology Robert Finch, Acis in Oxford and Other Poems. Governor General's Award 1961.George Johnston, The Cruising AukIrving Layton:A Red Carpet for the Sun,. Governor General's Award 1959.Laughter in the MindJay Macpherson, * A Dry Light & The Dark Air. Toronto: Hawkshead Press.Nissim Ezekiel, The Third ( Poetry in English ), Bombay: Strand Bookshop;Keshav Malik, The Lake Surface and Other Poems ( Poetry in English ), New Delhi: Surge PublicationsK. P. Budhey, Chant and Incense, Nagpur: Kusum BudheyPrithwindra N. Mukherjee, A Rose-Bud's Song ( Poetry in English ), Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo AshramP. Lal and K. Raghavendra Rao, editors, Anglo-Indian Poetry, anthology, Delhi: KavitaPatricia Beer, The Loss of the Magyar, a first book of poemsEdwin Bronk, An Attempt at Exorcism, Northwood, Middlesex: Scorpion PressGeorge Mackay Brown, Loaves and FishesRobert Graves, Collected Poems, the fourth versionJames Harrison, Catchment Area, a first book of poems Geoffrey Hill, For the Unfallen: Poems 1952–1958P. J. Kavanagh, For the UnfallenLaurence Lerner, Domestic Interior, a first book of poems Christopher Logue, SongsLouis MacNeice, Eighty-Five PoemsJames Michie, Possible Laughter, a first book of poems I. A. Richards, Goodbye Earth, a first book of poems by a longtime criticAnne Ridler, A Matter of Life and DeathRex Taylor, Poems, a first book of poemsVernon Watkins, Cypress and AcaciaEdwin Muir, editor, New Poets 1959, an anthology including work by Iain Crichton Smith, Karen Gershon and Christopher LevensonGuy Butler, A Book of South African VerseW. H. Auden, Selected PoetryJoseph Payne Brennan, The Dark Returners (collects a handful of poems as filler to the short fiction)Hayden Carruth, the Crow and the Heart, New York: MacmillanLouis O. Coxe, The Wilderness, and Other PoemsBabette Deutsch, Coming of AgeRobert Duncan, Selected Poems, San Francisco: City Lights BooksWilliam Everson (also known as "Brother Antoninus"), The Crooked Lines of God, University of Detroit PressJohn Fandel, Testament, and Other PoemsJean Garrigue, A Water Walk by Villa d'EsteBarbara Gibbs, The Green ChapelAllen Ginsberg, Kaddish, written about his mentally-ill motherRamon Guthrie, graffiti, New York: MacmillanDonald Hall, Dark HousesEdwin Honig, The Gazebos: Forty-One Poems, Clarke & WayBarbara Howes, Light and DarkLangston Hughes, Selected PoemsJack Kerouac, Mexico City BluesKenneth Koch, Ko, or a Season on EarthDenise Levertov, With Eyes at the Back of Our Heads, New York: New DirectionsRobert Lowell, Life Studies, a book on his family and on his own life that reflected stylistic changes that seemed more in line with the popular openness of Beat and Confessional poetryJames Merrill, The Country of a Thousand Years of Peace, and Other Poems"W. S. Merwin, translation, The Poem of the Cid, London: Dent (American edition, 1962, New York: New American Library)Marianne Moore, O to Be a DragonVladimir Nabokov, PoemsOgden Nash, Verses from 1929 OnNed O'Gorman, The Night of the HammerHyam Plutzik, Apples From ShinarEzra Pound, Thrones: 96–109 de los cantaresCharles Reznikoff, Inscriptions: 1944-1956, self-publishedTheodore Roethke, Words for the WindDelmore Schwartz, Summer Knowledge: New and Selected Poems 1938-1958, Garden City, New York: DoubledayLouis Simpson, A Dream of Governors, Middletown, Connecticut: Wesleyan University PressW. D. Snodgrass, Heart's NeedleGary Snyder, RiprapRuth Stone, In an Iridescent Time, New York, New York: Harcourt, Brace and CompanyMay Swenson, A Cage of SpinesDavid Wagoner, A Place to StandReed Whittemore, The Self-Made ManRichard Wilbur, Advice to a Prophet and Other Poems, New York: Reynal and HitchcockJames Wright, Saint Judas, Middletown, Connecticut: Wesleyan University PressLouis Zukofsky, A 1-12, published by Cid Corman's Origin PressCriticism, scholarship and biography in the United States
Richard Ellmann, James Joyce, biography, winner of the National Book Award in 1960Hugh Kenner (Canadian writing and published in the United States):The Art of Poetry, criticismThe Invisible Poet: T. S. Eliot (revised edition in 1969), criticismFrank Collymore, Collected Poems, BarbadosM. K. Joseph, The Living Countries, New ZealandE. H. McCormick, New Zealand Literature, a Survey, acholarship, New ZealandChris Wallace-Crabbe, The Music of Division, Sydney: Angus & Robertson, AustraliaListed 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:
Louis Aragon, ElsaYves Bonnefoy, L'ImprobableAimé Césaire, Ferrements, Martinique poet published in FranceEdmond Jabès, Je batis ma demeure, poemès 1943–1957Michel Deguy, MeurtrièresPatrice de La Tour du Pin, Le Second JeuHenri Michaux, Paix dans les brisements, about his experiences taking mescalineSaint-John Perse, Chronique, Marseilles: Cahiers du SudBoris Vian, Je voudrais creverAnthologies in France
Roger Caillois and Jean Clarence Lambert, editors, Trésor de la poésie universelleMax Pol Fouchet, De L'Amour au voyage, anthologie thématique de la poésie françaisePaul Valéry wrote the preface to the new edition this year of Anthologie des poètes de la N. R. F.Les poèmes de l'année 1959
Alain Bosquet and Pierre Seghers, editors, Les poèmes de l'année 1959, with poems by:
Criticism, scholarship and biography in France
Correspondance de Stéphane Mallarmé (1862–1871)Maurice Beaulieu, Il fait clair de glaiseOlivier Marchand, Crier que je visFernand Ouellet, Séquences de l'AileCriticism, scholarship and biography in French Canada
Editor not known, La Poésie et nous, a collection of essays on poetryL. Ben-Amitai, AhalibaLeah Goldberg, Mukdam Umeuhar ("Early and Late")Abraham Halfi, ka-Almonin ba-Geshem ("As the Unknown in the Rain")Yeshurun Keshet, Hayim Genuzim ("Hidden Life")Shimshon Meltzer, Or Zorua, ("Scattered Light")Yonathan Ratush, ZelaZalmen Shneur, a 10-volume collection of his poemsM. S. Ben-Meir, Zel Utzlil ("Shadow and Sound"), posthumousA. S. Schwartz, Shirim ("Poems"), posthumousListed in alphabetical order by first name:
Agyeya (pen name of Sachchidananda Vatsyayan), editor, Teesra Saptak, an anthology of seven poets, including Kunwar Narain), Bhratiya Jnanpith, ISBN 81-263-0822-2; Hindi-languageHarumal Isardas Sadarangani, Ruba'ivun; Sindhi-languageM. Gopalakrishna Adiga, Bhumigita; Kannada-languageMaria Luisa Spaziani, Luna lombardaEditor not known, Nuovi poeti, an anthology of Italian poetry since 1945Salvatore Quasimodo, editor, Poesia italiana del dopoguerra, an anthology of Italian poetry since 1945Santos Chocano, Poesía de Santos ChocanoRafael Maya, Navegación nocturnaPablo Neruda, Estravagario (Chile)Octavio Paz, La estación violentaValdelomar, Obra poéticaP. Félix Restrepo, prologue and epilogue, Poemas de Colombia, published by the Colombian Academy, with biographical notes by Carlos López NarváezAntonio de Undurraga, editor, Atlas de la poesía de Chile, including poetry from Guillermo Blest Gana and Luis Merino ReyesCriticism, scholarship and biography in Latin America
Raúl Leiva, Imagen de la poesía mexicana contemporánea, concerning 29 poetsGabriel Celaya, Cantata en Aleixandre, verse variations on themes of Vicente Aleixandre, published as a book by the literary magazine Papeles de sSon ArmadansB. Y. Bialostotsky, a book of poetryM. Daych, a book of poetryE. Korman, a book of poetryH. Leyvik, Lider tsum eybikn ("Songs to the Eternal")Efrayim Oyerbakh, a book of poetryY. Tsvi Shargel, a book of poetryMário Cesariny, Nobilíssima Visão (Portugal)Odysseus Elytis, To Axion Esti — It Is Worthy (Greece)Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry: Francis CornfordConsultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress (later the post would be called "Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress"): Richard Eberhart appointed this year.National Book Award for Poetry: Theodore Roethke, Words for the WindPulitzer Prize for Poetry: Stanley Kunitz, Selected Poems 1928-1958Bollingen Prize: Theodore RoethkeFellowship of the Academy of American Poets: Louise BoganPremio de la Crítica in poetry (Spain): Blas de OteroCanada: Governor General's Award, poetry or drama: Red Carpet for the Sun, Irving Layton.Death years link to the corresponding "[year] in poetry" article:
July 23 – Carl Phillips, American writer and poetOctober 1 – Brian P. Cleary, American humorist, poet and authorAlso:Dermot Bolger, Irish author, playwright and poetRobert Crawford, Scottish poet and literary scholarPeter Gizzi, American poetPaul Henry, Welsh poetLaura Lush, Canadian poetBirth years link to the corresponding "[year] in poetry" article:
January 3 – Edwin Muir, 72 (born 1887), Scottish poet, novelist and translatorFebruary 20 – Zalman Shneur, 72, Hebrew-Yiddish poet and authorFebruary 23 – Luis Palés Matos, Puerto Rican poet, of a heart attackApril 4 – Sarah Cleghorn, 83April 8 – Kyoshi Takahama 高浜 虚子, pen name of Kiyoshi Takahama (born 1874), Japanese, Shōwa period poet; close disciple of Masaoka ShikiJune 9 – Ryuko Kawaji 川路柳虹, pen-name of Kawaki Makoto (born 1888), Japanese, Showa period poet and literary criticJune 23 – Boris Vian, 39, French writer, poet, singer, and musicianJuly 6 – George Grosz (born 1893), German artist and poet, died from falling down a flight of stairs after a night drinkingAugust 5 – Edgar Guest, 79, American poet known as the "poet of the people"August 21 – Denis Devlin (born 1908) Irish modernist poet and career diplomatSeptember 16 – Roger-Arnould Rivière, 29, French poet, suicideSeptember 18 – Benjamin Péret, 60, French poet and SurrealistDecember 27 – Alfonso Reyes, 70, Mexican poet, and writer 
