Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature (for instance, Irish or France).
March 4 — Ronald Reagan, President of the United States, publicly recites from memory lines from Robert W. Service's The Cremation of Sam McGee (1907)December 18 — Pforzheimer Collection of the works of Percy Bysshe Shelley and his circle donated to the New York Public LibraryJohn Montague becomes the first occupant of the Ireland Chair of PoetryDissident Russian poet Dmitri Prigov is arrested by the K.G.B for distributing his samizdat poetry and briefly confined in a psychiatric hospital before being freed after protests by other poets such as Bella AkhmadulinaNew American Writing, an annual literary magazine concentrating on poetry, is founded in ChicagoEnglish poet Wendy Cope's Making Cocoa for Kingsley Amis is a best-sellerListed by nation where the work was first published and again by the poet's native land, if different; substantially revised works listed separately:
Don Domanski, Hammerstroke CanadaLouis Dudek, Zembla´s Rocks. Montreal: Véhicule Press, 1986.Archibald Lampman, The Story of an Affinity, D.M.R. Bentley ed. (London, ON: Canadian Poetry Press). ISBN 978-0-921243-00-7Irving Layton, Dance With Desire: Love Poems. Toronto:McClelland & Stewart.Dennis Lee, editor, The New Canadian Poets (anthology)Dorothy Livesay, The Self-Completing Tree: Selected Poems. Victoria: Porcepic.Gwendolyn MacEwen, The Man with Three Violins. HMS Press (Toronto) ISBN 0-919957-83-8Anne Marriott, Letters from Some Island: New Poems, Oakville, ON: Mosaic Press.Michael Ondaatje:All along the Mazinaw: Two Poems (broadside), Canadian published in the United States; Milwaukie: Woodland PatternTwo Poems, Woodland Pattern, MilwaukieRaymond Souster, It Takes All Kinds. Ottawa: Oberon Press,Wilfred Watson, Collected Poems (introduction by Thomas Peacocke)Jayanta Mahapatra, Dispossessed Nests ( Poetry in English ), Jaipur: Nirala PublicationsVikram Seth, The Golden Gate: A Novel in VerseSuniti Namjoshi, Flesh and Paper, (with Gillian Hanscombe), Jezebel Tapes and Books, Devon, ISBN 1-870240-00-6 and Ragweed, ISBN 0-920304-64-8V. K. Gokak, editor, The Golden Treasury of Indo-Anglian Poetry, New Delhi: Sahitya Academy; anthologyNiranjan Mohanty, editor, The Golden Voices: Poets from Orissa Writing in English, Berhampur University: Poetry Publications; anthologyIreland
Eavan Boland, The Journey, and Other Poems, Irish poet published in the United KingdomDermot Bolger, Internal ExilesSeamus Heaney, Clearances, Cornamona Press, Northern Irish native at this time living in the United StatesAlan Moore (poet) Opia, Anvil Press Poetry, ISBN 0-85646-161-X, Irish poet published in the United KingdomPaul Muldoon, Selected Poems 1968–1983, including "Lunch with Pancho Villa", "Cuba", "Anseo", "Gathering Mushrooms", "The More a Man Has the More a Man Wants", Faber and Faber, Irish poet published in the United KingdomEiléan Ní Chuilleanáin: The Second Voyage, Dublin: The Gallery PressFrank Ormsby, A Northern Spring, including "Home", Oldcastle: The Gallery PressJames Simmons, Poems 1956–1986, including "One of the Boys", "West Strand Visions" and "From the Irish", Oldcastle: The Gallery PressNew Zealand
Fleur Adcock (New Zealand poet who moved to England in 1963):Hotspur: a ballad, Newcastle upon Tyne: Bloodaxe Books (New Zealand poet who moved to England in 1963)The Incident Book, Oxford and New York: Oxford University PressAlan Brunton, New Order, New York:Red Mole, work by a New Zealand poet in the United StatesAllen Curnow, The Loop in Lone Kauri Road: Poems 1983–1985Lauris Edmond, Seasons and CreaturesCilla McQueen, Wild SweetsLes Murray, editor, Anthology of Australian Religious Poetry, Melbourne, Collins Dove (new edition, 1991)Norman Simms, Silence and Invisibility: A Study of the New Literature from the Pacific, Australia, and New Zealand, scholarshipDannie Abse, Ask the Bloody HorseFleur Adcock (New Zealand poet who moved to England in 1963):The Incident Book, Oxford and New York: Oxford University PressSelected Poems, Oxford and New York : Oxford University PressEavan Boland, The Journey, and Other Poems, Irish poet published in the United KingdomCharles Causley, Early in the MorningJack Clemo, A Different DrummerTony Connor, Spirits of PlaceWendy Cope, Making Cocoa for Kingsley AmisKevin Crossley-Holland, WaterslainCarol Ann Duffy, Thrown VoicesHelen Dunmore, The Sea SkaterElaine Feinstein, Badlands, HutchinsonRoy Fuller, Outside the CanonSeamus Heaney: Clearances, Cornamona Press, Northern Ireland native at this time living in the United StatesAdrian Henri, Collected PoemsTed Hughes, Flowers and InsectsGeorge MacBeth, The Cleaver GardenEdwin Morgan, From the Video BoxGrace Nichols, Whole of a Morning SkyFiona Pitt-Kethley, Sky Ray LollyPeter Reading, StetE. J. Scovell, Listening to Collared DovesPenelope Shuttle, The Lion From RioJon Silkin, The Ship's PastureJohn Stallworthy, The Anzac SonataR.S. Thomas, Experimenting with an AmenAbdullah al-Udhari, editor and translator, Modern Poetry of the Arab World, Penguin, anthologyA.R. Ammons, The Selected Poems: Expanded EditionRalph Angel, Anxious LatitudesGwendolyn Brooks, The Near-Johannesburg Boy and Other PoemsAlan Brunton, New Order, New York:Red Mole, work by a New Zealand poet in the United StatesRaymond Carver, UltramarineHenri Cole, The Marble QueenLawrence Ferlinghetti, Over All the Obscene BoundariesAlice Fulton, PalladiumMarilyn Hacker, Love, Death and the Changing of the SeasonsSeamus Heaney: Clearances, Cornamona Press, Northern Ireland native at this time living in the United StatesJohn Hollander, In Time and PlacePaul Hoover, Nervous Songs, (L'Epervier Press)Jane Kenyon, The Boat of Quiet HoursLi-Young Lee, RoseMary Oliver, Dream WorkMichael Ondaatje:All along the Mazinaw: Two Poems (broadside), Canadian published in the United States; Milwaukie: Woodland PatternTwo Poems, Woodland Pattern, MilwaukieCarl Rakosi, Collected Poems published by the National Poetry FoundationVikram Seth, The Golden Gate: A Novel in VerseRosmarie Waldrop, Streets Enough to Welcome Snow (Station Hill)Philip Dacey and David Jauss, editors of the New Formalist anthology, Strong Measures: Contemporary American Poetry in Traditional FormsRon Silliman, editor, In the American Tree, anthology of Language poetsPaula Burnett, Penguin Book of Caribbean Verse, anthologyDerek Walcott, Collected Poems, St. Lucia native living in the United StatesJørgen Gustava Brandt, Giv dagen dit lys ("Give the Day Your Light")Niels Frank, Digte i kim, DenmarkChristian Graugaard, Kan jeg købe dine øjnes blå dans ("Can I Buy Your Eyes Blue Dance")Kama Sywor Kamanda, Chants de brumes, Congo native writing in FrenchAbdellatif Laabi, L'Écorché vif. L'Harmattan, Paris, Moroccan author writing in and published in FranceJean Royer, Le chemin brûlé, Montréal: l'Hexagone; CanadaMarie Uguay, Poèmes (contains Signe et rumeur, L'Outre-vie, and Autoportraits) French-Canada (posthumously published)Listed in alphabetical order by first name:
Nirendranath Chakravarti, Jabotiyo Bhalobashabashi, Kolkata: Proma Prokashoni; Bengali-languageRajendra Bhandari, Yee shabdaharu: yee harafharu ("These Words: These Lines"), Gangtok, Sikkim: Jana Paksha Prakashan; Nepali-languageSitanshu Yashaschandra, Jatayu, Mumbai and Ahmedabad: R R Sheth & Co.; Gujarati-languageNamdeo Dhasal, Gandu Bagicha Marathi-languageVaravara Rao (better known as "VV"), Bhavishyathu Chitrapatam or Bhavishyattu Chitrapatam ("Portrait of the Future"), Vijayawada: Vijayakrishna Printers; Telugu-languageMehr Lal Soni Zia Fatehabadi, Naram garam hawain (The soft Warm Air) - published posthumously by R.K.Sehgal, Bazm-e-Seemab, J 5/21, Rajouri Garden, New Delhi.Poland
Stanisław Barańczak, Atlantyda i inne wiersze z lat 1981-85 ("Atlantis and Other Poems"), London: PulsJuliusz Erazm Bolek, NagoErnest Bryll, Adwent ("Advent"), LondonEwa Lipska, Utwory wybrane ("Selected Work"), Kraków: Wydawnictwo literackieBronisław Maj:Album rodzinny ("Family Album"); Cracow: Oficyna LiterackaZaglada świętego miasta ("Destruction of the Holy City"); London: PulsZmęczenie ("Fatigue"); Cracow: ZnakPiotr Sommer, Czynnik lirycznyJan Twardowski, Nie przyszedłem pana nawracać. Wiersze z lat 1937- 1985 ("I Did Not Come to Convert You: Poems From the Years 1937-1985"), Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Archidiecezji WarszawskiejMario Benedetti, Preguntas al azar ("Random Questions"), UruguayChristoph Buchwald, general editor, and Elke Erb, guest editor, Luchterhand Jahrbuch der Lyrik 1986 ("Luchterhand Poetry Yearbook 1986"), publisher: Luchterhand Literaturverlag; anthologyMatilde Camus, Sin teclado de fiebre ("Without a fever keyboard"), SpainOsman Durrani, editor, German Poetry of the Romantic Era (with poetry in German), anthology, Leamington Spa, England: Oswald, Wolf and Berg (publisher)Nizar Qabbani, Poems Inciting Anger, Syrian poet writing in ArabicMaria Luisa Spaziani, La stella del libero arbitrio, ItalyWisława Szymborska: Ludzie na moście ("People on the Bridge"), PolandAndrei Voznesensky, The Ditch: A Spiritual Trial, prose and poetry primarily about a 1941 German massacre of 12,000 Russians in the Crimea and the looting of their mass graves in the 1980s by Soviet citizens. Addressing a topic long suppressed by the Soviet government, the work made clear that most of the victims were Jews, and it implied this was why Soviet authorities tolerated the grave robbing. Russian-language work published in the Soviet Union.Wang Xiaoni, Wode shixuan ("My Selected Poems"), ChinaC. J. Dennis Prize for Poetry: Rhyll McMaster, Washing the Money and John A. Scott, St. ClairKenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry: Robert Gray Selected Poems 1963-83Mary Gilmore Prize: Stephen Williams - A Crowd of VoicesGerald Lampert AwardArchibald Lampman AwardSee 1986 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.Pat Lowther AwardDorothy Livesay Poetry Prize - Poetry Hotel, Joe RosenblattCholmondeley Award: Lawrence Durrell, James Fenton, Selima HillEric Gregory Award: Mick North, Lachlan Mackinnon, Oliver Reynolds, Stephen RomerQueen's Gold Medal for Poetry: Norman MacCaigAgnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize: Robley Wilson, Kingdoms of the OrdinaryAML Award for poetry to Dennis Marden Clark for "Sunwatch"Bernard F. Connors Prize for Poetry: John Koethe, "Mistral"Frost Medal: Allen Ginsberg / Richard EberhartPoet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress appointed: Robert Penn WarrenPulitzer Prize for Poetry: Henry Taylor, The Flying ChangeRuth Lilly Poetry Prize: Adrienne RichWhiting Awards: John Ash, Hayden Carruth, Frank Stewart, Ruth StoneFellowship of the Academy of American Poets: Irving Feldman and Howard MossFateme Ekhtesari, Persian poet and midwifeBirth years link to the corresponding "[year] in poetry" article:
January 4 – Christopher Isherwood (born 1904), English-born American novelist and poetJanuary 9 – W. S. Graham (born 1918), Scottish poetJanuary 12 – Bob Kaufman, at 60 (born 1925), American Beat poet, of emphysemaMarch 4 – Elizabeth Smart, at 72 (born 1913), Canadian poet and novelistMarch 8 – Kersti Merilaas, at 72 (born 1913), Estonian poet, translator and author of children's fictionMarch 30 – John Ciardi, at 69 (born 1916), American poet, translator, and etymologist, of a heart attackApril 15 – Jean Genet, at 75 (born 1910), French novelist, playwright, poet, essayist and political activistApril 21 – Salah Jahin, also spelled "Salah Jaheen" صلاح جاهين (born 1930), Egyptian, Arabic-language poet, lyricist, playwright and cartoonistJune 24 – Rex Warner (born 1905), English classicist, author, poet and translatorJuly 13 – Brion Gysin, at 70 (born 1916), English painter, writer, sound poet, and performance artistAugust 19 – Mehr Lal Soni Zia Fatehabadi, at 73 (born 1913), Urdu poet, essayist, critic, biographerAugust 20 – Milton Acorn, at 63 (born 1923), Canadian poet, writer, and playwright, of heart disease and diabetesAugust 31 – Elizabeth Coatsworth, at 93 (born 1893), American author of children's fiction and poetryNovember 10 – Laurence Collinson (born 1925), Australian playwright, actor, poet, journalist and secondary school teacher, in LondonDecember 8 – Henry Reed, at 72 (born 1914), English poet, translator, radio playwright and journalistAlso:Atul Chandra Hazarika (born 1903), Indian, writing in Assamese; poet, dramatist, children's story writer and translator; called "Sahitycharjya" by an Assamese literary societyAudrey Longbottom (born c. 1922), Australian 