September 16 – Chilean poet Víctor Jara, having been detained four days earlier as a political prisoner in Estadio Chile and tortured during the 1973 Chilean coup d'état, is shot and killed. His last poem Estadio Chile is preserved in memories and scraps of paper retained by fellow detainees.
Canadian poet and author, Michael Ondaatje adapts his 1970 book of poetry, The Collected Works of Billy the Kid, into a play which this year is first produced in Stratford, Ontario; it will appear in New York in 1974 and in London, England in 1984.
White Pine Press founded in Buffalo, New York. The publisher is a nonprofit organization putting out poetry, fiction, essays, and literature in translation.
The journal L'éphémère a French journal founded in 1966, ceased publication this year; poets associated with it include Yves Bonnefoy, Jacques Dupin and André du Bouchet
Listed by nation where the work was first published and again by the poet's native land, if different; substantially revised works listed separately:
John Tranter:
Red Movie and other poems, Angus & Robertson
The Blast Area, Gargoyle Poets number 13, Makar Press
Chris Wallace-Crabbe:
Selected Poems, Sydney: Angus & Robertson
Vinyl record: Chris Wallace-Crabbe Reads From His Own Verse, St.Lucia
Alfred Bailey, Thanks for a Drowned Island.
Earle Birney:
The Bear on the Delhi Road: selected poems. London: Chatto & Windus.
what's so big about GREEN?. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart.
Shirley Gibson, I Am Watching
John Glassco, Montreal. Montreal: DC Books.
Irving Layton, Lovers and lesser Men. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart.
Dorothy Livesay, Nine Poems of Farewell. Windsor, ON: Black Moss Press.
Eli Mandel, Crusoe: Poems Selected and New
Miriam Mandel, Lions at Her Face. Edmonton: White Pelican Publications.
John Metcalf (ed.), The Speaking Earth, anthology
Michael Ondaatje, Rat Jelly, Toronto: Coach House Press
Al Purdy, Sex and Death
F. R. Scott, The Dance Is One. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart.
Raymond Souster, The Colour of the Times. Ten Elephants on Yonge Street. Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson.
Raymond Souster and Richard Woollatt, eds. Sights and Sounds. Toronto: Macmillan.
Doris Huestis Speirs, Exercise for Psyche
Mervyn Morris, The Pond, Jamaica
Andrew Salkey (ed.), Breaklight, Doubleday, anthology
Dennis Scott, Uncle Time, Jamaica
Derek Walcott, Another Life, St. Lucia
Kamala Das:
The Old Playhouse and Other Poems, New Delhi: Orient Longman
Alphabet of Love, New Delhi: Orient Paper Backs
Richard L. Bartholomew, Poems, Calcutta: Writers Workshop, India .
Brooks Frederick, Rocket to the Moon, Calcutta: Writers Workshop, India
Alokeranjan Das Gupta, Poems, Calcutta: Dialogue Pub.
A. K. Ramanujan, Speaking of Siva, Penguin
Ireland
Patric Dickinson, A Wintering Tree, Irish poet published in the United Kingdom
Seamus Heaney, a book of poetry, Northern Ireland native published in the United Kingdom
Thomas Kinsella:
Selected Poems 1956–1968, including "Chrysalides"
New Poems 1973, including "Notes from the Land of the Dead"
Paul Muldoon, New Weather, Northern Irish native published in the United Kingdom
New Zealand
James K. Baxter, Two Obscene Poems, posthumous,
Alan Brunton, Messengers in Blackface, work by a New Zealand poet published in the United Kingdom
Allen Curnow, An Abominable Temper & Other Poems
Winston Curnow (ed.), Essays on New Zealand Literature, Auckland: Heinemann Educational Books (scholarship)
Keith Sinclair, The Firewheel Tree
Dannie Abse, Funland, and Other Poems
Peter Ackroyd, London Lickpenny
Martin Booth, Coronis, including the long poem, "On the Death of Archdeacon Broix
Edwin Brock, a book of poetry
Alan Brunton, Messengers in Blackface, work by a New Zealand poet published in the United Kingdom
Cal Clothier, Behind Heslington Hall
Tony Curtis, Walk Down a Welsh Wind, Welsh
Patric Dickinson, A Wintering Tree, Irish poet published in the United Kingdom
Carol Ann Duffy, Fleshweathercock
Lawrence Durrell, Vega, and Other Poems
D. J. Enright, The Terrible Shears
Elaine Feinstein, The Celebrants and Other Poems, Hutchinson
Michael Fried, Powers
Roy Fuller, Tiny Tears
Geoffrey Grigson, Sad Grave of an Imperial Mongoose
Michael Hamburger, Ownerless Earth
Seamus Heaney, a book of poetry, Northern Irish native published in the United Kingdom
Ted Hughes, Prometheus on his Crag
Thomas Kinsella, a book of poetry Irish poet published in the United Kingdom
Geoffrey Holloway, To Have Eyes
Michael Longley, An Exploded View
George MacBeth, Shrapnel
Edwin Morgan, From Glasgow to Saturn
Pete Morgan, The Grey Mare Being the Better Steed
Paul Muldoon, New Weather, Northern Irish native published in the United Kingdom
Brian Patten, The Unreliable Nightingale
Peter Redgrove, a book of poetry
Alan Ross, The Taj Express
Anne Ridler, a book of poetry
Carol Rumens, A Strange Girl in Bright Colours
Vernon Scannell, The Winter Man
Michael Schmidt, It Was My Tree
Sydney Tremayne, Selected and New Poems
Derek Walcott, Another Life
Philip Larkin, The Oxford Book of Twentieth Century English Verse anthology of poets from the British Isles or who spent time there, ISBN 0-19-812137-7
Jon Silkin (ed.), Poetry of the Committeed Individual
John Bishop and Virginia Broadbent (eds), London Between the Lines
Howard Sergeant (ed.), African Voices
Frank Bidart, Golden State
Robert Bly, Sleepers Joining Hands
Joseph Payne Brennan, A Sheaf of Snow Poems
Joseph Brodsky: Poems, Ann Arbor, Michigan: Ardis Russian-American
Victor Hernandez Cruz, Mainland
Irving Feldman, Lost Originals
Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Open Eye, Open Heart
Allen Ginsberg, The Fall of America
John Logan, The Anonymous Lover, including "New Poem" and "Heart to Heart Talk with My Liver"
Robert Lowell:
The Dolphin, containing 103 new poems
History, containing 360 poems, including more than 80 new ones and many revised
For Lizzie and Harriet, 67 old poems, all revised
W. S. Merwin, Writings to an Unfinished Accompaniment, New York: Atheneum
Joyce Carol Oates, Angel Fire
George Quasha, Somapoetics
Adrienne Rich, "Rape"
Muriel Rukeyser, Breaking Open
Patti Smith, Witt
Mark Strand, The Story of Our Lives, Canadian native living in and published in the United States
Alice Walker, Revolutionary Petunias and Other Poems
George Quasha & Jerome Rothenberg, (eds.) America a Prophecy: A New Reading of American Poetry from Pre-Columbian Times to the Present (Random House/Viking)
Ronald Gross & George Quasha, (eds.) Open Poetry: Four Anthologies of Expanded Poems (Simon & Schuster)
Listed by nation where the work was first published and again by the poet's native land, if different; substantially revised works listed separately:
Michel Bealieu:
Variables
Pulsions
Yves-Gabriel Brunet, Poésies I, collected poems from 1958 to 1962
Gilles Constantineau, Nouveaux Poèmes
Roland Giguère, La Main au feu, collected poems from 1949 to 1968
Gilbert Langevin:
Les Ecrits de Zéro Legel
Novembre
Raymond LeBlanc, Cri de terre
Luc Racine, Le Pays saint
Conseil international des femmes, Anthologie de la poésie féminine mondiale, Saint-Germain-des-Prés
Jean Daive, Fut bâti, about the author's friendship with Paul Celan; part memoir, part prose-poem; Gallimard
Michel Deguy, Tombeau de du Bellay
Georges-Emmanuel Clancier, Peut-Être une demeure
Jean Loisy, Le Double Jeu
Katia Granoff Méditerranée
Eugene Guilleveic, Inclus
Edmond Jabès, (El, ou le drier livre)
Michel Leiris, Haut-mal
François Pradelle, Les Naïves Amours
Denis Roche, Le Mécrit
Pierrette Sartin, Le Destin accepté
Philippe Soupault, Poèmes et Poésies: 1917–1973, publisher: Grasset
Wolf Biermann, a communist living in East Germany, he could only publish these works in the West:
Für meine Genossen
Deutschland: ein Wintermärchen, long satirical poem on the division of Germany
West Germany, Austria, Switzerland
Peter Huchel, Gezähte Tage
Marie Luise Kaschnitz, Kein Zauberspruch
Eric Fried, Die Freiheit den Mund aufzumachen
Günter Herburger, Operette
J. P. Stössel, Friedenserklärung
In each section, listed in alphabetical order by first name:
Maheswar Neog, Pracya Sasanavali
Nabakanta Barua, Mor Aru Prithivir ("Of Mine and the Earth")
Narayan Bezbarua, Punaruthan
Nilmani Phookan, Phuli Thaka Suryamukhi Phultor Phale, Guwahati, Assam: Guwahati Book Stall
Amrita Pritan, Kagaz te Kanvas, Punjabi
K. Siva Reddy, Raktam Suryudu, Hyderabad: Jhari Poetry Circle, Telugu-language
Yumlembam Ibomcha Singh, Sandrembi Thoraklo Nahum Ponjel Sabige, Imphal: V.I. Publications; Meitei language
Eugenio Montale, Diario del '71 e del '72 (poetry) Milan: Arnoldo Mondadori Editore (a private edition of 100 copies was published in 1971)
Almanacco dello Specchio for 1973, an anthology of poetry, including translated poetry
Franco Fortini, Questo muro, collected poems from 1962 to 1972
Pier Paolo Pasolini, Trasumanar e organizzar
Libero De Libero, Scempio e lusinga, collected poems written from 1930 to 1956
Marino Moretti, Le poverazze
M. Bazhan, The Spark from Uman Recollections (translated into Russian from Ukrainian), 1973
P. Brovka, We Are Children of One Mother (translated into Russian from Belarusian)
B. Istru, Pain of a Shadow (translated into Russian from Moldavian)
R. Margiani, From the Book of Brotherhood (translated into Russian from Georgian)
S. Orlov, Loyalty
José Carlos Becerra, El otoño recorre las islas, collected poetry from 1960 to 1970, edited by José Emilio Pacheco and Gabriel Zaid
Alfonso Calderón, Isla de los Bienaventurados ("Island of the Blessed"), Chile
Matilde Camus, Bestiario poético ("Poetic Book of Aaimals")
Ernesto Cardenal, Canto nacional, Nicaragua
Rosario Castellanos, "Valium 10"
Rafael Méndez Dorich, Globos cautivos, posthumously published (Lima), Peru
Enrique Fierro, Mutaciones, Uruguay
Ulalume González de León, Plagio, Uruguay
Alvaro Mutis, Summa de magroll el Gaviero, Colombia
José Miguel Oviedo, Estos trece
José Emilio Pacheco, Irás y no volverás, Mexico
Justo Jorge Padrón, Mar de la noche
Gabriel Zaid, Práctica mortal, Mexico
Ruy de Moura Belo, Portugal:
País possível ("The Possible Country"), consisting of a single, long poem, Pequena História Trágico-Trerrestre ("Brief Tragi-Terrestrial History")
Transporte no tempo ("Borne through Time")
Odysseus Elytis, The Trills Of Love (Τα Ρω του Έρωτα), Greece
Klaus Høeck, Rejse l-V, publisher: Grevas; Denmark
See 1973 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.
Cholmondeley Award: Patric Dickinson, Philip Larkin
Eric Gregory Award: John Beynon, Ian Caws, James Fenton, Keith Harris, David Howarth, Philip Pacey
Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry: John Heath-Stubbs
Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress (later the post would be called "Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress"): Daniel Hoffman appointed this year.
American Academy of Arts and Letters Gold Medal in Poetry, John Crowe Ransom
Bollingen Prize: James Merrill
National Book Award for Poetry: A. R. Ammons, Collected Poems, 1951-1971
Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: Maxine Kumin, Up Country
Fellowship of the Academy of American Poets: W. S. Merwin
Max Jacob prize: Hubert Juin for Le Cinquième Poème
Guillaume Apollinaire prize: Marc Alyn
Grand Priz of the French Academy: André Frénaud
Grand Aigle d'Or: Eugène Guillevic
date not known:
Ben Doyle (pen name: "Ben Dollar")
Duo Yu, Chinese
Sonnet L'Abbé, Canadian
Paul Vermeersch, Canadian
Birth years link to the corresponding "[year] in poetry" article:
March 26 – Noël Coward, 73, English actor, playwright, poet and composer of popular music, of a heart attack
May 20 – Charles Brasch, 63, New Zealand poet, literary editor, and arts patron
June 4 – Arna Bontemps, 70 (born 1902), American poet and member of the Harlem Renaissance, of a heart attack
August 17 – Conrad Aiken, 84, of a heart attack
September 2 – J. R. R. Tolkien, 81, English novelist, poet and academic
September 16 – Víctor Jara, 40, Chilean writer, poet and Communist politician, by political murder
September 23 – Pablo Neruda, 69, Chilean writer, poet and Communist politician, from leukemia
September 28 – W. H. Auden, 66, English poet, often cited as one of the most influential of the century
October 17 – Ingeborg Bachmann (born 1926) Austrian poet and author
November 22 – Ramon Guthrie, 77,
November 23 – Francis Webb, 48, Australian poet
November 24 – John G. Neihardt (born 1881), American author and poet
December 14 – Josef Magnus Wehner, 82 (born 1891), German poet and playwright
December 30 – Vagaland, pen name of Thomas Alexander Robertson, 64 (born 1909), Shetland Scottish poet
date not known – Kenneth Allott, Welsh poet, academic, and authority on Matthew Arnold
