March 23 – German-born writer Assia Wevill, a mistress of English poet Ted Hughes (and ex-wife of Canadian poet David Wevill), gasses herself and their daughter at her London home.FIELD magazine founded at Oberlin College.Charles Bukowski quits his day job as a Post Office clerk in Los Angeles to embark on a writing career after being promised a $100 stipend from Black Sparrow Press. He said at the time: "I have one of two choices — stay in the post office and go crazy ... or stay out here and play at writer and starve. I decided to starve."Howard Nemerov named Edward Mallinckrodt Distringuished University Professor of English and Distinguished Poet in Residence at Washington University in St. Louis, posts which he will hold until his death in 1991.The Kenyon Review is closed by Kenyon College after 30 years; it will be restarted by the college in 1979Sir Arthur Bliss writes a cantata "The world is charged with the grandeur of God", from Gerard Manley Hopkins' sonnet of the same first line.Louise Bogan retires after 38 years as poetry critic for The New Yorker.Tish literary magazine, founded in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, in 1961 and published intermittently thereafter, prints its last issue. Poets associated with the magazine included Frank Davey, Fred Wah, George Bowering, and, briefly, bpNichol when he lived in Vancouver.First issue of poetry magazine The Lace Curtain founded and edited by Michael Smith and Trevor Joyce under their New Writers Press imprint in Dublin. It will publish six issues until 1978Alexander Tvardovsky, editor of Novy Mir, a Soviet literary magazine, is under attack this year and threatened with dismissal for "spreading cosmopolitan ideas", for "mocking the Soviet peoples' most sacred feelings" and for "denigrating Soviet patriotism". He responds that he was the "real patriot" and was opposed to "reactionary, nationalistic, neo-Slavophil" literary currentsListed by nation where the work was first published and again by the poet's native land, if different; substantially revised works listed separately:
Milton Acorn, I've Tasted My BloodEarle Birney. The poems of Earle Birney: a New Canadian Library selection. (New Canadian library original N06.) Toronto: McClelland and Stewart.George Bowering, The Gangs of KosmosPhyllis Gotlieb, Ordinary, MovingRalph Gustafson, Ixion's WheelIrving Layton, Selected Poems. Wynne Francis ed. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart.Irving Layton, The Whole Bloody Bird: Obs, Aphs & Pomes. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart.Gwendolyn MacEwen, The Shadow MakerTom Marshall, The Silences of FireAlden Nowlan, The Mysterious Naked ManMichael Ondaatje, The Man with Seven Toes, Toronto: Coach House PressRaymond Souster, So Far So Good: Poems, 1938/1968. Ottawa: Oberon Press.Miriam Waddington, Say YesP. Lal, editor, Modern Indian Poetry in English: An Anthology and Credo, Calcutta, Writers Workshop, India, anthology (second, expanded edition, 1971, however, on page 597 of the second edition, an "editor's note" states contents "on the following pages are a supplement to the first edition" and is dated "1972")Daisy Aldan, editor, Poems of India; New York, United States.W. H. Auden, City Without WallsAlan Bold, A Perpetual Motion MachineAlan Brownjohn, Sandgrains on a TrayBasil Bunting, Collected PoemsCharles Causley, Figure of 8Barry Cole, MoonsearchDonald Davies, Essex Poems 1963–67Douglas Dunn, Terry StreetJames Fenton, Put Thou Thy Tears Into My Bottle, poetryPadraic Fiacc, Northern Irish poet published in the United Kingdom:By the Black Stream(edited) The Wearing of the BlackRoy Fisher, Collected PoemsThom Gunn, Poems 1950–1966David Harsent, A Violent CountrySeamus Heaney, Northern Irish poet published in the United Kingdom:Door into the Dark, Faber & FaberA Lough Neagh Sequence, PhoenixAdrian Henri, Tonight at NoonJohn Hewitt, Northern Irish poet published in the United Kingdom, Collected Poems, 1932-1967Molly Holden, To Make me GrieveAnselm Hollo, The CoherencesElizabeth Jennings, The Animals' ArrivalTom Leonard, Scottish dialect poet, Six Glasgow PoemsLaurence Lerner, SelvesChristopher Logue, NumbersMichael Longley, No Continuing CityHugh MacDiarmid, pen name of Christopher Murray Grieve, A Clyack-SheafRoger McGough, WatchwordsBrian Patten, Notes to the Hurrying ManJ. H. Prynne, The White StonesIain Crichton Smith, From Bourgeois LandJon Stallworthy, Root and BranchEdward Storey, North Bank NightDavid Sutton, Out on a LimbCharles Tomlinson, The Way of a WorldSydney Tremayne, The Turning SkyVernon Watkins, Uncollected Poems, introduction by Kathleen Raine; Welsh poet, posthumousKenneth White, translator, Selected Poems, translated from the original French of André Breton; publisher: Jonathan CapeChildren of Albion: Poetry of the Underground in Britain, edited by Michael Horovitz, was the first anthology to present a wide-ranging selection of the new British Poetry Revival movement. Poems from these writers were included in it:
W. H. Auden, City without WallsTed Berrigan, Peace: BroadsideJohn Berryman:The Dream Songs (New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux)His Toy, His Dream His Rest (New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux)Elizabeth Bishop, The Complete Poems (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux)Paul Blackburn, Two New PoemsLouise Bogan, The Blue EstuariesLucille Clifton, Good Times, selected as one of the year's best books by The New York TimesRobert Creeley, PiecesEd Dorn:Gunslinger: Book II, Black Sparrow PressThe Midwest Is That Space Between the Buffalo Statler and the Lawrence Eldridge, T. WilliamsThe Cosmology of Finding Your Spot, CottonwoodTwenty-four Love Songs, Frontier PressEd Dorn and Gordon Brotherston, translators, Jose Emilio Pacheco, Tree Between Two Walls, Black Sparrow PressLeRoi Jones, editor, Black Magic: Poetry, 1961-1967Hugh Kenner, The Invisible Poet: T. S. Eliot (revised from the 1959 edition), Canadian writing and published in the United States (criticism)James Merrill, The Fire ScreenW. S. Merwin:Animae, San Francisco: KayakTranslator, Transparence of the World, poems by Jean Follain, New York: Atheneum (reprinted in 2003, Port Townsend, Washington: Copper Canyon Press)Translator, Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair by Pablo Neruda; London: Cape (reprinted in 2004 with an introduction by Christina Garcia, New York: Penguin Books)Translator, Voices: Selected Writings of Antonio Porchia, Chicago: Follett (reprinted in 1988 and 2003, Port Townsend, Washington: Copper Canyon Press)Vladimir Nabokov, Poems and Problems, ISBN 0-07-045724-7Lorine Niedecker, T & G: Collected Poems, 1936-1966Ron Padgett, Great Balls of Fire, Holt, Rinehart & WinstonCharles Reznikoff, By the Well of Living & Seeing and The Fifth Book of the MaccabeesAram Saroyan, Pages, Random HouseJames Schuyler, Freely EspousingCharles Simic, Jim Harrison, George Quasha, Dan Gerber, J.D. Reed, Five Blind Men, (Sumac Press)Gary Snyder, Smokey the Bear SutraLouis Zukofsky, in collaboration with his wife, Celia, publishes an experimental Latin translation CatullusJames K. Baxter, Rock Woman, New ZealandCharles Brasch: Not Far Off: Poems, Christchurch: Caxton Press, New ZealandEdward Brathwaite, Islands, third part of his The Arrivants trilogy, which also includes Rights of Passage (1967) and Masks (1968), CaribbeanSam Hunt, From Bottle Creek: Selected Poems 1967–69 New ZealandDonagh MacDonagh, A Warning to Conquerors, IrelandLes Murray, The Weatherboard Cathedral, AustraliaWole Soyinka, Poems from Prison (Nigeria)Derek Walcott, The Gulf, CaribbeanListed by nation where the work was first published and again by the poet's native land, if different; substantially revised works listed separately:
André Major, Poèmes pour durerPierre Chatillon, Soleil de bivouacJean-Guy Pilon:Comme Eau retenue (Paris), a republishing of all of his previous books of poems in one volumeSaisons pour la continuelle, Paris: SeghersGuy Robert, five books of poemsJean Royer, Nos corps habitables, Sillery: Éditions de l'ArcAndré Saint-Germain, Sens uniqueGemma Tremblay, Les Seins gorgésLouis Aragon, Les ChambresM. Beguey, La Rose ardenteG. Belloni, La Route du feuLuc Bérimont, Un Feu vivantM. Berry, IsabellePhilippe Chabaneix, Les matins et les soirsRené Char, La Pluie giboyeuseAndrée Chedid:Contre-chatSeul le VisageMichel Deguy, FigurationsP. Dumaine, InscriptionsJacques Dupin, L'embrasurePierre Emmanuel, pen name of Noël Mathieu, Notre PèreGérard Genette, Figures II, one of three volumes of a work of critical scholarship in poetics – general theory of literary form and analysis of individual works — the Figures volumes are concerned with the problems of poetic discourse and narrative in Stendhal, Flaubert and Proust and in Baroque poetry (see also Figures I 1966, Figures III 1972)Eugene Guilleveic, VilleR. Houdelot, Amour en profil perduPhilippe Jaccottet:LeçonsL'Entretien des muses, a prose account of poetry writingEdmond Jabès, ElyaMichel Leiris, Note sans mémoire, GallimardLoys Masson, La Croix de rose rouge (posthumous)Saint-John Perse, Chanté par celle qui fut là [...], Paris: privately printed by Robert BlanchetRaymond Queneau, Fendre les flotsJean-Claude Renard, La Braise et la RivièreS. de Ricard, Les Chemins perdusRobert Sabatier won the Grand Prix de Poésie for:Les Poisons délectablesLes Châteaux des millions d'annéesAnthologies
Marc Alyn, editor, La Nouvelle Poésie françaiseJ. Loisy, editor, Un Certain Choix de poèmesHilde Domin, editor, Doppelinterpretationen: Das zeitgenössische deutsche Gedicht zwischen Autor und Leser, Frankfurt and Bonn: Athenaum (scholarship)H. Lamprecht, editor, Deutschland, Deutschland: Politische Gedichte, anthologyAlbrecht Schöne, Über politische Lyrik im 20. Jahrhundert, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht (scholarship)P.Naveh, editor, Lol Shirai Yaakov Frances, the works of a seventeenth-century Italian Hebrew poetRachel u-Michtaveha, Shirai Rachel u-Michtaveha (posthumous)A. Broides, Mivhar ShirimD. Chomsky, ba-Et u-VeonaK. A. Bertini, Bakbuk Al Pnai ha-MayimY. Amichai, Ahshav be-RaashY. Mar, Panim le-Kan (posthumous)D. Ravikovich, ha-Sefer ha-ShelishiN. Stuchkoff, compiler, Otzar ha-Safa ha-Ivrit (United States)G. Churgin, Ojkai Mahshava (United States)R. Ben-Yosef, (An American Jew living in Israel) Derech EretzListed in alphabetical order by first name:
Devarakonda Balagangadhara Tilak, Amrutham Kurisina ratri, ("The Night When Nectar Rained"); Telugu-language, posthumously published, it became the author's best-known work, called a "milestone in modern Telugu" by Sisir Kumar DasNirendranath Chakravarti; Bengali-language:Kolkata,r Jishu, Kolkata: Aruna ProkashoniNirendranath Chakravarti, Nokhotro Joyer Jonno, Kolkata: Surabhi ProkashoniThangjam Ibopishak Singh, Apaiba Thawai ("The Hovering Soul"), Imphal: Naharol Sahitya Premee Samiti; Meitei languageGuido Ceronetti, Poesie, frammenti, poesie separateGiuseppe Favati, ControbuioAlbino Pierro, Eccò 'a morte ("Why Death?"), in the Tursi language (Lucania)Miguel de Unamuno, edited by Roberto Paoli, Poesie, scholarly survey of his verse, with a selection of his Spanish poems with Italian translationsPaal Brekke, editor, Norsk lyrikk nå (anthology of Norwegian poetry of the 1960s)Tarjei Vesaas, collected poemsGeorg Johannesen, collected poemsPoland
Edward Balcerzan – Granica na momentStanisław Grochowiak - Nie było lataZbigniew Herbert – NapisTadeusz Różewicz - RegioGregório de Matos (1633–1696), edited by James Amado, Obras CompletasDécio Pignatari, Exercicio FindoRuy de Moura Belo, Homem de palavra[s] ("A Man of [His] Word[s]")Evgeni Vinokurov, Selected PoemsVladimir Sokolov, Snow in SeptemberKonstantin Vanshenkin, ExperienceAleksandr Tvardovsky, Lyrical PoemsAndrei Voznesensky, "I Can't Write" a poem published in Phoenix, a broadsheet newspaperRobert Rozhdestvenski, Poem About Different Points of View, a long poem published in YunostMatilde Camus:Voces (Voices)Vuelo de estrellas (Stars flight)Octavio Paz, Ladera EsteR. Bonifaz Nuño, El ala del tigreRosario Castellanos, Materia memorableCarlos Pellicer, AntologíaEfraín Huerta, a collectionM. Michelena, a collectionM. Guardia, a collectionGabriel Zaid, a book of new poetryHomero Aridjis, a book of new poetryM. A. Montes de Oca, a book of new poetryJuan Bañuelos, a book of new poetryJosé Emilio Pacheco, a book of new poetryJorge Luis Borges:Nueva antología personalElogio de las sombrasA. Pizarnik, Extracción de la piedra de la locuraF. Urondo, AdolecerPablo Neruda, Fin de mundoLuis Cardoza y Aragón, Dibujos de ciego (Guatemala)Ernesto Cardenal, Homenaje a los indios americanos (Nicaragua)P. A. Cuadra, Poesía escogida (Nicaragua)César Velejo, Obra poética completa (Peru)Roque Dalton, Taberna y otros lugares (El Salvador)Lars Norén, RevolverMajken Johansson, OmtalElsa Grave, Vid nödlägeReidar Ekner, Andhämtning, builderAvrom Sutskever, Poems from the Dead SeaChaim Grade, On My Way to YouMoyshe Knaphcys, a new collectionLeyb Morgentory, a new collectionKh. L. Fuks, a new collectionI. Emiot, a new collectionL. Kusman, a new collectionJ. A. Rontsh, a new collectionM. M. Shafir, a new collectionPoet Yankev Glatshteyn in an essay, said the poet should be a spokesman for his generation, and his poetry should be a poetry of involvement.Inger Christensen, it (det, later translated into English by Susanna Nied); DenmarkSyed Shamsul Haque, Boishekhe Rochito Ponktimala ("Verses of Boishakh") and Birotihin Utsob ("The ceaseless festival"), Bengali published in East PakistanKurt Marti, Leichenreden (Switzerland) in German, a collection of humorous verse variations of death notices and conventional funeral orations.Kirsten Thorup, Love from Trieste; DenmarkSee 1969 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.Bollingen Prize: John Berryman and Karl ShapiroCholmondeley Award: Derek Walcott, Tony HarrisonEric Gregory Award: Gavin Bantock, Jeremy Hooker, Jenny King, Neil Powell, Landeg E. WhiteQueen's Gold Medal for Poetry: Stevie SmithNational Book Award for Poetry: John Berryman, His Toy, His Dream, His RestPulitzer Prize for Poetry: George Oppen: Of Being NumerousFellowship of the Academy of American Poets: Richard Eberhart and Anthony HechtStephanie Bolster, Canadian poetAnthony Butts, American poetMatthias Goritz, German poetRanjit Hoskote, Indian poetHauke Huckstadt, German poetDavis McCombs, American poetC. Dale Young, American poetBirth years link to the corresponding "[year] in poetry" article:
February 19 – Kazimierz Wierzynski, 74, Polish poetMarch 12 – André Salmon, 87, French poet, critic and novelistMarch 25 – Max Eastman, 86, American poet and editorApril 22 – Rolfe Humphries, 74, American poet, of emphysemaMay 4 – Sir Osbert Sitwell, 76, English writer, of a heart attackMay 26 – Henry Rago, 53, American poet and editor of PoetryJuly 11 – Guilherme de Almeida, 78, "prince of Brazilian poetry"July 23 – Floyd Bell, 82, of a heart ailmentJuly 27 – Vivian de Sola Pinto, 73, British poet, memoirist, literary critic and historianOctober 21 – Jack Kerouac, 47, influential American Beat Generation poet, writer and novelist, of internal hemorrhage and cirrhosisAlso:Loys Masson (born 1915), French poetW. R. Rodgers (born 1909), Irish poet, essayist, book reviewer, radio broadcaster, script writer, lecturer, teacher and Presbyterian minister 