January 1 – Cecil Day-Lewis is announced as the new Poet Laureate of the UK.
November 23 – Roy Fuller is elected professor of poetry at Oxford University (with 385 votes) to succeed Edmund Blunden, who unexpectedly left. Other nominees were Kathleen Raine, Enid Starkie and Yevgeni Yevtushenko.
The Arvon Foundation is established by young poets John Fairfax and John Moat in the UK to promote creative writing.
The Belfast Group, a grouping of poets in Belfast, Northern Ireland, which was started in 1963 in poetry and lapsed in 1966 when founder Philip Hobsbaum left for Glasgow, is reconstituted this year by Michael Allen, Arthur Terry, and Seamus Heaney. At various times, the group also includes Michael Longley, James Simmons, Paul Muldoon, Ciaran Carson, Stewart Parker, Bernard MacLaverty and the critic Edna Longley. Meetings are held at Seamus and Marie Heaney's house on Ashley Avenue. The group will last until 1972.
The Honest Ulsterman, a long-running Northern Ireland literary magazine, is established this year by James Simmons. It is then edited for 20 years by Frank Ormsby.
Listed by nation where the work was first published and again by the poet's native land, if different; substantially revised works listed separately:
Leonard Cohen, Selected Poems, 1956-1968
Irving Layton, The Shattered Plinths, 60 new poems.
Dennis Lee, Civil Elegies. Toronto: Anansi.
Dorothy Livesay, The Documentaries. Poems from the 1930s and 1940s, and including "Roots", a long poem
Jay Macpherson, The Boatman and Other Poems. Toronto: Oxford UP.
E. J. Pratt, Selected Poems of E. J. Pratt, Peter Buitenhuis ed., Toronto: Macmillan.
Al Purdy, Wild Grape Wine
Joe Rosenblatt, Winter of the Luna Moth. Toronto: Anansi.
W.W.E. Ross, Shapes & sounds: poems of W. W. E. Ross (with a portrait by Dennis Burton, a memoir by Barry Callaghan, and an editorial note by Raymond Souster and John Robert Colombo). (Toronto: Longman's)
Raymond Souster, Lost and Found: Uncollected Poems. Toronto: Clarke, Irwin.
Anthologies in Canada
Mary Alice Downie and Barbara Robertson, editors, The Wind Has Wings, anthology of 77 Canadian poems for children
Dennis Lee, editor, T.O. Now, anthology of 13 "apprentice poets living in Toronto"
R. ParthasarathyPoetry from Leeds ( Poetry in English ). Leeds: Oxford University Press, UK 1968.
G. S. Sharat Chandra, Bharat Natyam Dancer and Other Poems ( Poetry in English ), Calcutta: Writers Workshop, India .
Deb Kumar Das, The Eye of Autumn: An Experiment in Poetry ( Poetry in English ), Calcutta: Writers Workshop, India'
Ira De, The Hunt and Other Poems, revised edition, ( Poetry in English ), Calcutta: Writers Workshop, India (see also first edition 1961)
Gauri Deshpande, Between Births ( Poetry in English ), Calcutta: Writers Workshop, India
Indira Devi Dhanrajgir, Partings in Mimosa, Hyderabad
Guari Deshpande, Between Births ( Poetry in English ), Calcutta: Writers Workshop, India
Paul Jacob, Sonnets ( Poetry in English ), Calcutta: Writers Workshop, India
S. R. Mokashi-Punekar, P. Lal: An Appreciation( Poetry in English ), Calcutta: Writers Workshop, India
Dom Moraes, My Son's Father, autobiography
Srinavas Rayaprol, Bones & Distances( Poetry in English ), Calcutta: Writers Workshop, India
Pradip Sen, And Then the Sun, revised edition (first edition, 1960, ( Poetry in English ), Calcutta: Writers Workshop, India
Vinay K. Varma,Poppies and Ashes
Swami Vivekananda, Search of God and Other Poems, Calcutta: Advaita Ashram
Suniti Namjoshi and Sarojini Namjoshi, translators, Poems of Govindagraj, translated from Marathi, Calcutta: Writers Workshop , India
W. H. Auden:
Collected Longer Poems
Secondary Worlds, lecture given in October
Selected Poems
Dannie Abse, A Small Desperation
Kingsley Amis, A Look Round the Estate
Edward Brathwaite, Masks
Basil Bunting, Collected Poems
Charles Causley, Underneath the Water
Stewart Conn, Stoats in Sunlight
Tony Connor, Kon in Springtime
Maureen Duffy, Lyrics for the Dog Hour
D. J. Enright, Unlawful Assembly
Gavin Ewart, The Deceptive Grin of the Gravel Porters
James Fenton, Our Western Furniture
Roy Fuller, New Poems
William R. P. George - Cerddi'r Neraig
Zulfikar Ghose, Jets from Orange
Robert Graves, Poems 1965–1968
Harry Guest, Arrangements
John Heath-Stubbs, Satires and Epigrams
Adrian Henri, Tonight at Noon
John Hewitt, Northern Irish poet published in the United Kingdom, The Day of the Corncrake
Norman Jackson, Beyond the Habit of Sense
A. Norman Jeffares, A New Commentary On The Poems Of W.B. Yeats, criticism
James Kirkup, Paper Windows
George MacBeth, The Night of Stones
Norman MacCaig, Rings on a Tree
Derek Mahon, Night-Crossing, Oxford University Press
Adrian Mitchell, Out Loud
Edwin Morgan, The Second Life, his first collection and the first in Britain to be typeset by computer
Richard Murphy, The Battle of Aughrim
Ruth Pitter, Poems 1926–1966
J. H. Prynne, Kitchen Poems
Edith Anne Robertson, Translations Into the Scots Tongue of Poems By Gerard Manley Hopkins
Muriel Spark, Collected Poems Volume 1
R. S. Thomas, Not That He Brought Flowers
J. R. R. Tolkien, The Road Goes Ever On, first published in the United States 1967
Vernon Watkins, Fidelities
John Bishop, Music and Sweet Poetry, poems about music
Rodney Hall and Thomas Shapcott, editors, New Impulses in Australian Poetry
Howard Sergeant, Poetry from Africa (published in the United Kingdom), including work from Gabriel Okara (Nigeria), Gaston Bart-Williams (Sierra Leone), Kwesi Brew (Ghana) and David Rubadiri (Malawi)
Jean Sergeant and Howard Sergeant, Poems from Hospital
Joan Murray Simpson, Without Adam: The Femina Anthology of Poetry, poems by women
James Agee, The Collected Poems of James Agee, including 60 poems previously unpublished in books (posthumous)
A. R. Ammons, Selected Poems
Paul Blackburn, In. On. Or About The Premises
Gwendolyn Brooks, In the Mecca
Raymond Carver, Near Klamath
Stanley Cooperman, The Day of the Parrot and Other Poems
Robert Creeley, Pieces
Ed Dorn and Gordon Brotherston, translators, Our Word: Guerilla Poems From Latin America, Grossman
Ed Dorn, Gunslinger, Black Sparrow Press
Robert Duncan, Bending the Bow
Allen Ginsberg, T.V. Baby Poems
John Hollander, Types of Shape
LeRoi Jones and Larry Neal, editors, Black Fire, an anthology of African-American poetry
Etheridge Knight, Poems from Prison
Archibald MacLeish, The Wild Wicked Old Man and Other Poems
Rod McKuen, Lonesome Cities
Ogden Nash, There's Always Another Windmill
Howard Nemerov, The Winter Lightning: Selected Poems
Lorine Niedecker, North Central (Fulcrum Press: London)
Ned O'Gorman, The Harversters' Vase
George Oppen, Of Being Numerous
Charles Reznikoff, second Testimony collection
Kenneth Rexroth, Collected Longer Poems
Aram Saroyan, Aram Saroyan, Random House
Karl Shapiro, Selected Poems (more than 200, including 25 previously unpublished)
Mark Strand, Reasons for Moving, Canadian native published in the United States
Alice Walker, Once
Phyllis McGinley, editor, Wonders and Surprises, anthology for juveniles, including poems by Elinor Wylie, E. B. White, Langston Hughes and T. S. Eliot
Paul Carroll, editor, The Young American Poets, anthology of 54 poets
Edward Brathwaite, Masks, second part of his The Arrivants trilogy, which also includes Rights of Passage (1967) and Islands (1969), Caribbean
Kendrick Smithyman, Flying to Palmerston, Christchurch: Auckland University & Oxford University Press, New Zealand
R. Hall and T. Shapcott, editors, New Impulses in Australian Poetry, anthology, Australia
Richard Murphy, The Battle of Aughrim, Ireland
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:
Per Højholt, Turbo
Hans Jørgen Nielsen, Fra luften i munden
Thorkild Bjørnvig, Ravnen
Jean-Guy Pilon, Comme eau retenue : poèmes 1954-1963, Montréal: l'Hexagone
Yves Préfontaine, Pays sans parole
P. Albert-Birot, Poètes d'aujourd'hui (posthumous), edited by J. Follain
Marc Alyn, La Nuit majeure
J. Berthet:
Poèsiepures
Quelconqueries
J. Bancal, L'Épreuve du feu
André du Bouchet, OU LE SOLEIL
A. Bosquet, Quatre Testaments et autres poèmes
Andrée Chedid, Contre–Chant
Rene Char, Dans la pluie giboyeuse
C. Fourcade, De Lumière et de nuit
L. Foucher, Argyne et les Gypaètes, third part of a trilogy
André Frénaud, La Sainte Face
Armel Lubin, Feux contre feux
F. Millepierres, Cheval noir et cheval blanc
Raymond Queneau, Battre la campagne
G. Puel, La Lumière du jour
Denis Roche, Éros énergumène
Jean Tardieu, Le Fleuve caché
Paul Celan, Threadsuns (Fadensonnen)
A. Shlonsky, Mishiai ha-Perozdor ha-Aroch ("From the Poems of the Long Corridor")
A. Gilboa, Lichtov Siftai Yeshainim ("To Write from the Lips of the Sleepers"), Israel
Haim Gouri, Tenua le-Maga ("A Move to Touch")
A. Halfi, Mivhar Shirimx ("Selected Poems")
A. Kovner, Ahot Ketana ("Little Sister")
B. Galai, Massa Zafonah ("Northward Journey")
D. Pagis, Shirai Levi Ibn Altabban (prose), a study of the Medieval Hebrew poet's work
Listed in alphabetical order by first name:
Buddhidhari Singha, Sarasayya, a long poem published as a book; Maithili-language
Nilmani Phookan, Aru Ki Naisabda, Guwahati, Assam: Dutta Barua; India, Assamese-language
Varavara Rao (better known as "VV"), Chali Negallu or Chalinegallu ("Camp Fires"), Hanamkonda: Svecha Sahiti; India, Telugu-language
Giorgio Vigolo, La luce ricorda, collection of poems from 1923 and after
Sergio Solmi, Dal balcone
Giovanni Testori, L'amore
Giuseppe Guglielmi, Panglosse blandimentis oramentis coeteris meretriciis
Andrea Zalzotto, La beltà
Franco Fortini, Una volta per sempre
Angela Giannitrapani, Professione di poesia
Arnulf Øverland, De hundrede fioliner: Dikt i utvalg (posthumous)
Tor Obrestad, Vårt daglige brød
Arnljot Eggen, Roller og røynd
Hallvard Lie, Norsk verslære, a scholarly study on Norwegian poetry
João Cabral de Melo Neto, Complete Works
Augusto de Campos, Haroldo de Campos and Boris Schnaiderman, editors:
An anthology of modern Russian poetry from Symbolism to the present in Portuguese
Traduzir e Trovar, an anthology of translated poetry, including poetry from France, Italy and England.
Criticism and theory
Augusto de Campos, O balanço da Bossa, a study of the relationship of Brazilian popular music to "vanguardist" poetry
Luiz Costa Lima, Lira e Antilira, essays on modern Brazilian poetry
Décio Pignatari, Informação, Linguagem, Communicação, critical study of vanguardist art and mass culture
A. Tvardovski, Selected Lyrics 1959-67
Alexander Mezhirov, Лебяжий переулок ("Swan's Lane"), Russia, Soviet Union
A. Mezhov, Horseshoe
Robert Rozhdestvenski, Poem from Various Points of View
Yarlov Smelyakov, December, poems published serially in the periodical Friendship Between the Peoples last year and this year
Rafael Méndez Dorich, Cantos Rodados (Lima), Peru
Nicanor Parra, Canciones rusas, Chile
Emma Godoy, a book interpreting of "Muerte sin fin" by José Gorostiza, Mexico
Lars Forssell, a book of poetry
Johannes Edfelt, a book of poetry
Petter Bergman, a book of poetry
Lars Gustalfsson, a book of poetry
Yaykev Glatshteyn, a book of poems
Aron Tseytlin, Poems of the Holocaust and Poems of Faith
Efroyim Oyerbakh, a book of poems
I. J. Shvarts, a book of poems
Itsik Manger, a book of poems
Eliezer Grinberg, a book of poems
Rokhl Korn, a book of poems
A. Glants-Leyeles, I Do Remember (posthumous)
Malke Loker, a book of poems
Leyb Olitski, a book of poems
Avrom Lev, a book of poems
I. Manik, a book of poems
Binem Heler, a book of poems
Rivke Basman, a book of poems
Abraham Sutzkever, Square Letters and Miracles
Itsik Fefer, a book of poems
Zyame Telesin, a book of poems
Mendl Lifshits, a book of poems
Poland
Eliyohu Reyzman, a book of poems
P. Tsibulski, a book of poems (posthumous)
Nizar Qabbani, Diary of an Indifferent Woman, Syrian poet writing in Arabic
See 1968 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.
Canadian Centennial Commission poetry competition: First prize: Margaret Atwood, The Animals in That Country
Cholmondeley Award: Harold Massingham, Edwin Morgan
Eric Gregory Award: James Aitchison, Douglas Dunn, Brian Jones
Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry: Robert Graves
American Academy of Arts and Letters Gold Medal in Poetry, W. H. Auden
Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress (later the post would be called "Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress"): William Jay Smith appointed this year.
National Book Award for Poetry: Robert Bly, The Light Around the Body
Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: Anthony Hecht, The Hard Hours
Fellowship of the Academy of American Poets: Stanley Kunitz
July 2 – A. E. Stallings, American poet
Dates not known:
Nan Cohen, American poet
Jun Er, Chinese poet
Patrick McGuinness, English poet and academic
Michael Teig, American poet
Birth years link to the corresponding "[year] in poetry" article:
January 1 – Donagh MacDonagh, 55, Irish poet, playwright and judge
January 13 – William Williams (Crwys), 93, Welsh poet
January 14 – Dorothea Mackellar, 82, Australian poet and writer
January 18 – Gamel Woolsey, 72, American poet and writer, in Spain
January 20 – David Derek Stacton, 42, American novelist, historian and poet
January 25 – Yvor Winters, 67, American literary critic and poet
February 16 – Jaime Sabartés, 55, Spanish poet and longtime secretary to Pablo Picasso
March 16 – Gunnar Ekelöf, 60, Swedish poet
March 25 – Arnulf Øverland, 78, Norwegian poet
April 26 – Donald Davidson, 74, American poet, essayist, social and literary critic and author, organizer of the Nashville circle of poets called the Fugitives and an overlapping group, the Southern Agrarians
April 28 – Winfield Townley Scott, 58, American poet
May – Erik Lindegren 58, Swedish poet
May 9 – George Dillon, 62, American poet and editor
June 1 – Witter Bynner, 86, American poet, writer and scholar
June 12 – Sir Herbert Read, 74, English poet and critic of literature and art
June 14 – Salvatore Quasimodo, 66, Italian poet
November 17 – Mervyn Peake, 57, British modernist writer, artist, poet and illustrator.
December 10 – Thomas Merton, 53 (born 1915), American poet, author and Roman Catholic monk, in a freak accident in a visit to Bangkok, Thailand
December 24 – D. Gwenallt Jones, 69, Welsh poet
date not known – Eckart Peterich (born 1900), German poet
