Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature (for instance, Irish or France).
April – First issue of o•blék: a journal of language arts (pronounced "oblique") is published, founded by Peter Gizzi who co-edits it with Connell McGrath. The magazine stops publishing in 1993.October 16 – Charles Bukowski, fictionalised as alter ego Henry Chinaski, becomes the subject of the film Barfly starring Mickey Rourke released today.October – Tony Harrison's poem v. is broadcast in a filmed version on Channel 4 television in the United Kingdom.Joseph Brodsky, a Russian exile who has become a United States citizen, resigns his membership in the American Academy of Arts and Letters in protest over the honorary membership of the Russian poet Evgenii Evtushenko, regarded by Brodsky as a Soviet "yes man".In his 'Notes on the New Formalism', Dana Gioia writes: "the real issues presented by American poetry in the Eighties will become clearer: the debasement of poetic language; the prolixity of the lyric; the bankruptcy of the confessional mode; the inability to establish a meaningful aesthetic for new poetic narrative and the denial of a musical texture in the contemporary poem. The revival of traditional forms will be seen then as only one response to this troubling situation."The Dolmen Press in Portlaoise, Ireland, founded in 1951 to provide a publishing outlet for Irish poetry, ceases operations after the death of founder Liam Miller.Listed by nation where the work was first published and again by the poet's native land, if different; substantially revised works listed separately:
Patrick Lane, Selected PoemsIrving Layton, Fortunate Exile. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart. ISBN 0-7710-4947-1.Irving Layton, Final Reckoning: Poems, 1982-1986. Oakville, Ontario: Mosaic Press.Dennis Lee, The Difficulty of Living on Other Planets. Toronto: Macmillan.Gwendolyn MacEwen, Afterworlds. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart. ISBN 978-0-7710-5428-0Don McKay, Sanding Down the Rocking Chair on a Windy NightRaymond Souster, The Eyes of Love. Ottawa: Oberon Press.George Woodcock:Beyond the Blue Mountains, An Autobiography, Markham: Fitzhenry & Whiteside, CanadaNorthern Spring: The Flowering of Canadian Literature, Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre, scholarshipKeki Daruwalla, Landscapes ( Poetry in English ), Delhi: Oxford University PressDom Moraes, Collected Poems 1957-1987 ( Poetry in English ) Jayanta Mahapatra, Selected Poems ( Poetry in English ), New Delhi: Oxford University PressBruce King, editor, Modern Indian Poetry in English - Historical Perspective (first edition), Delhi: Oxford University Press (anthology)Ireland
Ciarán Carson: The Irish for No, including "Cocktails", Oldcastle: The Gallery Press Wake Forest University Press, Irish poet published in the United Kingdom and the United StatesMichael Coady, Oven Lane, Oldcastle: The Gallery Press, ISBN 978-1-85235-020-8Paul Durcan, Going Home to Russia, Belfast: The Blackstaff PressEamon Grennan, What Light There Is, including "Totem" and "Four Deer", Oldcastle: The Gallery PressMichael Hartnett, A Necklace of Wrens, including "Sneachta Gealai '77" and "Moonsnow '77", Oldcastle: The Gallery PressSeamus Heaney, The Haw Lantern, Faber & Faber, Northern Ireland native at this time living in the United StatesThomas Kinsella, Out of Ireland, Irish poet published in the United KingdomPaul Muldoon, Meeting the British, including "Something Else", Faber and Faber, Irish poet published in the United KingdomTom Paulin, Fivemiletown, Northern Irish poet published in the United KingdomNew Zealand
Fleur Adcock (New Zealand poet who moved to England in 1963), The Faber Book of 20th Century Women's Poetry, edited by Fleur Adcock. London and Boston: Faber and FaberJanet Charman, 2 Deaths in 1 Night: Poems, Auckland: New Women's PressAllen Curnow, Look Back Harder: Critical Writings 1935–1984 (Auckland University Press), edited by Peter Simpson, criticismKendrick Smithyman, Are You Going to the Pictures?Ian Wedde, Driving into the Storm: Selected Poems, New ZealandAnthologies in New Zealand
Murray Edmond and Mary Paul, editors, The New PoetsV. O'Sullivan, editor, Anthology of 20th Century New Zealand Poetry, anthology, third editionMark Williams, Caxton Press Anthology of New Zealand PoetryPeter Ackroyd, The Diversions of Purley, and Other PoemsFleur Adcock (New Zealand poet who moved to England in 1963), The Faber Book of 20th Century Women's Poetry, edited by Fleur Adcock. London and Boston: Faber and FaberAlan Brownjohn, The Old Flea-PitCiarán Carson: The Irish for No, Gallery Press, Wake Forest University Press, Irish poet published in the United KingdomDavid Constantine, MadderCarol Ann Duffy, Selling ManhattanGavin Ewart, Late PickingsU. A. Fanthorpe, A Watching BriefJames Fenton, Partingtime Hall (written with John Fuller, 1987), Viking / Salamander Press, comical poems,Elaine Feinstein, Badlands, HutchinsonPhilip Gross, Cat's WhiskerTony Harrison, Anno Forty-TwoSeamus Heaney, The Haw Lantern, Faber & Faber, Northern Ireland native at this time living in the United StatesJohn Heath-Stubbs, Cat's Parnassus, Aldgate Press, ISBN 1-870841-00-XKathleen Jamie, The Way We LiveP. J. Kavanagh, PresenceThomas Kinsella, Out of Ireland, Irish poet published in the United KingdomBlake Morrison, The Ballad of the Yorkshire RipperAndrew Motion, Natural CausesPaul Muldoon, Meeting the British, Irish poet published in the United KingdomSean O'Brien, The Frighteners (Bloodaxe)Tom Paulin, Fivemiletown, Northern Ireland poet published in the United KingdomFiona Pitt-Kethley, Private PartsRuth Pitter, A Heaven to FindPeter Porter, The Automatic OraclePeter Redgrove:In the Hall of the Saurians, shortlisted for the Whitbread Prize for Poetry in 1987The Moon Disposes: Poems 1954-1987Carol Rumens, Plato ParkC. H. Sisson, God Bless Karl MarxR.S. Thomas, Welsh AirsAnthony Thwaite, Letter from TokyoCharles Tomlinson, The ReturnJohn Wain, Open CountryCriticism, scholarship and biography in the United Kingdom
Elaine Feinstein, A Captive Lion: The Life of Marina Tsvetayeva, HutchinsonA.R. Ammons, Sumerian VistasMaya Angelou, Now Sheba Sings the SongGloria Anzaldúa, Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza, autobiography, poetry, political, historical and cultural analysisJohn Ashbery, April GalleonsMarvin Bell, New and Selected Poems, AthenaeumGwendolyn Brooks, BlacksAmy Clampitt, Archaic FigureJorie Graham, The End of BeautySeamus Heaney, The Haw Lantern, Faber & Faber, Northern Ireland native at this time living in the United StatesPaul Hoover, The FiguresSalma Khadra Jayyusi, editor, Modern Arabic Poetry: An Anthology, Columbia University PressLincoln Kirstein, The Poems of Lincoln Kirstein (Atheneum) ISBN 0-689-11923-2Harry Mathews, a collectionRobert McDowell, Quiet MoneyWilliam Meredith, Partial Accounts: New and Selected Poems (winner of the 1988 Pulitzer Prize)George Frederick Morgan, Poems: New and Selected, University of Illinois PressMary Oliver, Provincetown (limited edition with woodcuts by Barnard Taylor)Gregory Orr, a collectionOctavio Paz, Collected Poems, 1957–1987, English translation from SpanishEzra Pound and Louis Zukofsky, Pound/Zukofsky: Selected Letters of Ezra Pound and Louis Zukofsky, edited by Barry Ahearn (Faber & Faber)W.D. Snodgrass, Selected Poems: 1957-1987Rosmarie Waldrop, The Reproduction of Profiles (New Directions)Theodore Weiss, a collectionC.K. Williams, Flesh and BloodJay Wright, Selected PoemsStephen Yenser, The Consuming Myth: The Work of James Merrill, criticism, scholarshipEdward Brathwaite, X/Self, JamaicaLes Murray, The Daylight Moon, AustraliaKlaus Høeck, Blackberry Winter, with Asger Schnack,; publisher: Gyldendal; DenmarkKlaus Rifbjerg, Byens tvelys ("Twilight of the City"), DenmarkSøren Ulrik Thomsen, New PoemsJean Royer:Depuis l'amour: Poème, Montréal: l'Hexagone / Paris: La Table raseLe Québec en poésie, Saint-Laurent: LacombeLa poésie québécoise contemporaine (anthologie), Montréal: l'Hexagone/Paris: La Découverte; anthologyYves Bonnefoy:Ce qui fut sans lumièreRécits en rêveAbdellatif Laabi, translator, Autobiographie du voleur de feu, translated from the original Arabic of Abdelwahab al-Bayati into French; Paris: Unesco/Actes SudListed in alphabetical order by first name:
Chandrakanta Murasingh, Haping Garingo Chibuksa Ringo, Agartala: Shyamlal Debbarma, Kokborok Sahitya Sanskriti Samsad; India, Kokborok-languageJayant Kaikini, Shravana Madhyahna, Sagar, Karnataka: Akshara Prakashana, Indian, Kannada-languageK. Satchidanandan, Ivanekkoodi, ("Him, too"); Malayalam-languageNirendranath Chakravarti, Ghumiye Porar Aage, Kolkata: Ananda Publishers; Bengali-languageRituraj, Surat Nirat, Jaipur: Panchscheel Prakashan; Hindi-languageVasant Abaji Dahake, Shubha-vartaman; Marathi-languageJuliusz Erazm Bolek, Miniatury; PolandChristoph Buchwald, general editor, and Jürgen Becker, guest editor, Luchterhand Jahrbuch der Lyrik 1987/88 ("Luchterhand Poetry Yearbook 1987/88"), publisher: Luchterhand Literaturverlag; anthology; GermanyOdysseus Elytis, Κριναγόρας ("Krinagoras"), GreeceNdoc Gjetja, Poezi ("Poetry"); AlbaniaHamid Ismailov, Сад ("Garden") Uzbek languageCzesław Miłosz, Kroniki ("Chronicles"); Paris: Instytut Literacki; PolandNizar Qabbani, Love Shall Remain, Sir, Syrian, Arabic-languageM. Swales, editor, German Poetry, anthology with poems in GermanMaire Mhac an tSaoi, An Cion go Dti Seo, including "Caoineadh" and "Ceathruinti Mhaire Ni Ogain", Gaelic-language, IrelandC. J. Dennis Prize for Poetry: Lily Brett, The Auschwitz PoemsKenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry: Philip Hodgins, Blood and BoneMary Gilmore Prize: Jan Owen - Boy with TelescopeGerald Lampert AwardArchibald Lampman AwardSee 1987 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.Pat Lowther AwardCholmondeley Award: Wendy Cope, Matthew Sweeney, George SzirtesCommonwealth Prize for Poetry: Edward Brathwaite of JamaicaEric Gregory Award: Peter McDonald, Maura Dooley, Stephen Knight, Steve Anthony, Jill Maughan, Paul MundenAgnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize: David Rivard, TorqueAiken Taylor Award for Modern American Poetry: Howard NemerovAML Award for poetry to Robert A. Christmas for "Self-Portrait as Brigham Young"Frost Medal: Robert Creeley / Sterling BrownPoet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress: Richard WilburPulitzer Prize for Poetry: Rita Dove, Thomas and BeulahRuth Lilly Poetry Prize: Philip LevineWhiting Awards: Mark Cox, Michael RyanWilliam Carlos Williams Award: Alan Shapiro, Happy HourFellowship of the Academy of American Poets: Josephine Jacobsen and Alfred CornBirth years link to the corresponding "[year] in poetry" article:
January 14 – Ewart Milne, 83 (born 1903), Irish poet and radicalFebruary 22 – Glenway Wescott, 85 (born 1901), American novelist and poet, from a strokeJune 22 – John Hewitt, 79 (born 1907), Irish poetAugust 23 – Samar Sen, 70 (born 1916), Bengali poet and journalistSeptember 11 – Ladislav Stehlík (born 1908), Czech poet, writer and painterSeptember 16 – Howard Moss, 65 (born 1922), poetry editor of The New Yorker, from a heart attackNovember 6 – John Logan (born 1923), American poetNovember 29 – Gwendolyn MacEwen, 46 (born 1941) Canadian poet and novelist, alcohol-relatedDecember 29 – Jun Ishikawa 石川淳 pen name of Ishikawa Kiyoshi, Ishikawa, 88 (born 1899), Japanese, Showa period modernist author, translator and literary criticAlso – Vaughan Morgan (born 1907), New Zealand shepherd-poet 
