May 23 — C. P. Cavafy's poem "Ithaka" is read at the funeral of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis by her longtime companion, Maurice Tempelsman.October 6 — First annual National Poetry Day in the United Kingdom, established by William Sieghart.October 31 (Halloween) — 15,000 copies of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven" are distributed free at public libraries. In Austin, Texas, someone from the local coroner's office and someone from a local tax department gives a "death and taxes" reading of the poem.Allen Ginsberg sells his papers to Stanford University for $1 million.Wyn Cooper's "All I Wanna Do" is put to music by Sheryl Crow who makes it the United States' No. 1 hit rock tune.Welsh poet Tony Curtis becomes Professor of Poetry at the University of Glamorgan.Poetry Canada Review folds, the publication was founded in 1978 by Clifton Whiten in order to publish and review poetry from across Canada.Dorothy Parker's poems are featured in Mrs. Parker and the Vicious CircleIn the film Four Weddings and a Funeral, directed by Mike Newell, W. H. Auden's "Stop all the clocks" is read as a eulogy. "[I]t so moved audiences that Random House published a slender paperback with "Funeral Blues" plus nine other Auden poems in a hot-selling edition of forty thousand copies."Pablo Neruda's 1952 stay in a villa owned by Italian historian Edwin Cerio on the island of Capri is depicted in a fictionalized version this year the popular film Il Postino ("The Postman"). Neruda is treated worshipfully in the film.Listed by nation where the work was first published and again by the poet's native land, if different; substantially revised works listed separately:
Robert Adamson Waving to Hart CraneJennifer Harrison: Michelangelo’s Prisoners, winner of the 1995 Anne Elder Award for first book of poetry; North Fitzroy: Black PepperLes Murray:Collected Poems, Port Melbourne, William Heinemann AustraliaTranslations from the Natural WorldDavid Rowthbaum, New and Selected Poems (1945-93)Christian Bök, Crystallography ISBN 978-1-55245-119-9Roo Borson, Night Walk, ISBN 0-19-541082-3 (nominated for a Governor General's Award) American-CanadianMargaret Christakos, Other Words for Grace (Stratford, Ontario: Mercury Press)George Elliott Clarke, Lush Dreams, Blue Exile: Fugitive Poems 1978–1993. Lawrencetown Beach, Nova Scotia: Pottersfield, ISBN 0-919001-83-1 CanadaDon Domanski, Stations of the Left Hand (nominated for a Governor General's Award)Cherie Geauvreau, Even the Fawn Has Wings, a first collectionGary Geddes, Girl by the WaterRalph Gustafson, Tracks in the SnowEvelyn Lau, In the House of SlavesTim Lilburn, Moosewood Sandhills, winner of the Canadian Authors Association Award for Poetry, CanadaA. F. Moritz:MahoningPhantoms in the ArkSusan Musgrave, Forcing the NarcissusP. K. Page, Hologram: A Book of Glosas, poems in 14th-century Spanish stanzaic formJohn Pass, Radical Innocence (ISBN 1-55017-107-0) CanadianAl Purdy, Naked with Summer in Your MouthLinda Rogers, Hard Candy, including "Wrinkled Coloratura", winner of the new Stephen Leacock AwardJoe Rosenblatt, Beds and Consenting DreamersStephen Scobie, GospelFrancis Sparshott, The Hanging Gardens of EtobicokeGeorge Woodcock, George Woodcock's Introduction to Canadian Poetry, Toronto: ECW PressImtiaz Dharker, Postcards from God ( Poetry in English ), Viking PenguinEunice de Souza, Selected and New Poems ( Poetry in English ), St Xavier's College, Department of English Publication, Mumbai.E.V. Ramakrishnan, A Python in A Snake Park, New Delhi: Rupa and Co., ISBN 81-7167-194-2Sudeep Sen:Mount Vesuvius in Eight Frames, New York City: White Swan Books; Leeds: Peepal Tree, ISBN 0-948833-91-2South African Woodcut, New York City: White Swan Books; Leeds: Peepal Tree, ISBN 0-948833-90-4C. P. Surendran, Gemini II, New Delhi: Penguin (Viking)Robin Ngangom, Time's Crossroads, Hyderabad: Orient Longman Ltd, ISBN 0-86311-456-3Ruth Vanita, A Play of Light: Selected Poems ( Poetry in English ), New Delhi: Penguin IndiaIreland
Eavan Boland, In a Time of Violence, including "Anna Liffey", "The Black Lace Fan My Mother Gave Me", "The Latin Lesson" and "Midnight Flowers", Carcanet PressVona Groarke, Shale, Oldcastle: The Gallery PressMichael Hartnett, Selected and New Poems, including "Bread", "I have exhausted the delighted range ...", "For My Grandmother, Bridget Halpin", "A Farewell to English", "Lament for Tadgh Cronin's Children" and "The Man who Wrote Yeats, the Man who Wrote Mozart", Oldcastle: The Gallery PressMedbh McGuckian:Venus and the Rain, revised edition (first edition 1984), Oldcastle: The Gallery PressCaptain Lavender, including "Porcelain Bells", Oldcastle: The Gallery PressPaula Meehan, Pillow Talk, including "Laburnum", Oldcastle: The Gallery PressEiléan Ní Chuilleanáin, The Brazen Serpent, including "The Real Thing" and "Saint Margaret of Cortona", Oldcastle: The Gallery PressTom Paulin, Walking a Line, including "The Lonely Tower", Faber and Faber, Irish poet published in the United KingdomNew Zealand
Fleur Adcock (New Zealand poet who moved to England in 1963) translator, Hugh Primas and the Archpoet, Cambridge, England, and New York: Cambridge University PressLauris Edmond, Selected Poems, 1975-1994, Wellington: Bridget Williams BooksMichele Leggott, DIA, Auckland: Auckland University Press; winner of the New Zealand Book Award for PoetryHone Tuwhare, Deep River Talk, 140 poems from 10 previous collectionsFleur Adcock (New Zealand poet who moved to England in 1963) translator, Hugh Primas and the Archpoet, Cambridge, England, and New York: Cambridge University PressEavan Boland, In a Time of ViolenceAlan Brownjohn, In the Cruel ArcadeGerry Cambridge, The Dark Gift and Other Poems, St. Inan's Press (16 pages; "I used to produce this tiny pamphlet from my breast pocket at poetry readings, and announce I would read from my complete and unexpurgated works", Cambridge wrote on his website.)William Cookson, editor, Agenda – An Anthology 1959-1993, Carcanet Press, ISBN 978-1-85754-069-7Carol Ann Duffy:Editor, Anvil New Poets Volume 2 Penguin (anthology), sources also give 1995 and 1996 as publication yearSelected Poems PenguinHelen Dunmore, Recovering a BodyPaul Durcan Give Me Your HeadJames Fenton, Out of Danger, Penguin; Farrar Straus Giroux; winner of the Whitbread Prize for PoetryElaine Feinstein, Selected Poems, CarcanetRoy Fisher, Birmingham RiverPhilip Gross, I.D.Adrian Henri, Not Fade AwaySelma Hill, Trembling Hearts in the Bodies of DogsKathleen Jamie, The Queen of ShebaAlan Jenkins, HarmElizabeth Jennings, Familiar SpiritsThomas Kinsella, From Centre CityPeter Levi, The Rags of TimeMedbh McGuckian, Captain LavenderDerek Mahon, The Yaddo LetterGlyn Maxwell, Mick Imlah and Peter Reading, Penguin New Poets 3, ISBN 978-0-14-058742-5Andrew Motion, The Price of EverythingPaul Muldoon:The Annals of ChileThe Prince of QuotidianTom Paulin, Walking a LinePeter Porter, Millennial FablesCraig Raine, History: The Home MoviePeter Redgrove, My Father's TrapdoorsPeter Scupham, The ArkJon Silkin, WatersmeetC. H. Sisson, What and WhoSir Stephen Spender, DolphinsAnthony Thwaite, The Dust of the WorldHugo Williams, Dock Leaves, Faber and FaberCriticism, scholarship and biography in the United Kingdom
John Heath-Stubbs, Hindsights : An AutobiographyKim Addonizio, The Philosopher's Club (BOA Editions)A. R. Ammons, The North Carolina PoemsMaya Angelou, The Complete Collected Poems of Maya AngelouJohn Ashbery, And the Stars Were ShiningTed Berrigan, Selected PoemsSophie Cabot Black, The Misunderstanding of Nature, (Graywolf Press) received the Poetry Society of America Norma Farber First Book Award, ISBN 1-55597-190-3Rosellen Brown, Cora Fry's Pillow BookRussell Edson, The Tunnel: Selected Poems of Russell EdsonJane Hirshfield, The October PalaceEdward Hirsch, Earthly MeasuresJohn Hollander, Animal PoemsAndrew Hudgins, The Glass HammerGalway Kinnell, Imperfect Thirst (Houghton Mifflin)Kenneth Koch:On the Great Atlantic Rainway: Selected Poems, 1950-1988, New York: KnopfOne Train: Poems, New York: KnopfJames McMichael, Each in a Place ApartRobert Pinsky, translation of Dante's InfernoWendy Rose, Bone DanceMary Jo Salter, Sunday SkatersPatti Smith, Early WorkRosmarie Waldrop, A Key Into the Language of America (New Directions Publishers)Criticism, scholarship and biography in the United States
Louise Glück, Proofs & Theories, with pieces on George Oppen, John Berryman, Robinson Jeffers, and Stanley KunitzIan Hamilton, editor, The Oxford Companion to Twentieth-century Poetry in English, New York: Oxford University PressJanet Malcolm, The Silent Woman, a study of Sylvia PlathMary Oliver, A Poetry HandbookCarl Woodring, editor, Columbia History of British Poetry, New York: Columbia University PressDouglas Messerli, editor, From the Other Side of the Century: A New American Poetry, 1960-1990, including American and Canadian poets; Sun and Moon Press (Messerli's own imprint) ISBN 978-1-55713-131-7Carolyn Forché, Against Forgetting: Twentieth-Century Poetry of WitnessJane Hirshfield, editor, Women in Praise of the Sacred: Forty-Three Centuries of Spiritual Poetry by WomenPaul Hoover, editor, Postmodern American Poetry (Norton) The introduction identifies the use of postmodern with its early mention by Charles Olson, and identifies the field chosen as experimental poetry from after 1945; about 20 short essays on poetics also includedE. Ethelbert Miller, In Search of Color Everywhere, including almost 150 African-American poetsPoems from these 75 poets were in The Best American Poetry 1994 edited by David Lehman, guest editor A. R. Ammons:
Vinay Dharwadker and A. K. Ramanujan, editors, The Oxford Anthology of Modern Indian Poetry, Delhi: Oxford University PressListed by nation where the work was first published and again by the poet's native land, if different; substantially revised works listed separately:
Naja Marie Aidt, Det tredje landskap ("The Third Landscape"), third volume of a poetic trilogy which started with Sålænge jeg er ung ("As Long as I’m Young") 1991, and included Et Vanskeligt mode ("A Difficult Encounter") 1992Benny Andersen, Denne kommen og gåenKatrine Marie Guldager, Dagene skifter hænder, ("The Days Change Hands"); DenmarkLundbye, Lundbyes dyrefablerPia Tafdrup, TerritorialsangOle Wivel, IrisBernlef, Vreemde wilToon Tellegen, Tijger onder de slakkenLeonard Nolens, Honing en AsRobert Melançon, L'Avant-printemps à MontréalÉdouard Glissant, Poèmes completsDurs Grünbein, Falten und FallenJürgen Kolbe, a book of poetryRobert Gernhardt, a book of poetryCriticism, scholarship, and biography in Germany
Erich Mühsam, Tagebücher, 1910-1924 (posthumous)Haim Gouri, Ha-Ba Aharai ("Poems"), IsraelListed in alphabetical order by first name:
Jiban Narah, O’ Mor Dhuniya Kapou Phul, Guwahati, Assam: Students’ Store; Assamese-languageJoy Goswami Pagli Tomar Songe, winner of the Sahitya Akademi Award in 2000; Kolkata: Ananda Publishers, ISBN 81-7756-148-0; Bengladeshi-languageK. Satchidanandan, Malayalam-language:Desatanam, ("Going Places")Kochiyile Vrikshangal, Kozhikode, Kerala: Mulberry Publications; Malayalam-language poet, critic and academicK. Siva Reddy, Ajeyam, Hyderabad: Jhari Poetry Circle, Telugu-languageNilmani Phookan, Sagartalir Sankha, Selected Poems edited by Hiren Gohain, Guwahati, Assam: Lawyers’ Book Stall; Assamese-languageNirendranath Chakravarti, Chollisher Dinguli, Kolkata: Ananda Publishers, Kolkata; Bengali-languageRajendra Kishore Panda, Bodhinabha ("The Bodhi-Sky"), Cuttack: Bharat Bharati; in Oraya and in EnglishTeji Grover, Lo Kaha Sanbari, New Delhi: National Publishing House, ISBN 81-214-0537-8; Hindi-languageThangjam Ibopishak Singh, Bhoot Amasung Maikhum ("The Ghost and Mask"), Imphal: Writer’s Forum; Meitei languagePoland
Stanisław Barańczak, Podroz zimowa ("Journey in Winter"), Poznan: a5Juliusz Erazm Bolek, Serce błyskawicyEwa Lipska, Stypendisci czasu, ("Time's Scholarship Winners"); Wroclaw: Wydawnictwo DolnoslaskieBronisław Maj, Światło ("Light"); Cracow: ZnakEugeniusz Tkaczyszyn-Dycki, Młodzieniec o wzorowych obyczajachCzesław Miłosz, Na brzegu rzeki ("Facing the River"); Kraków: ZnakAdam Zagajewski, Ziemia ognista ("Land in Flames"), Poznañ: A5Matilde Camus, Ronda de azules ("Blue avenue")Mario Benedetti, Inventario dos (1985-1994) ("Inventory Two (1985-1994)"), published in Madrid, UruguayJosé Emilio Pacheco, El silencio de la luna, MexicoFrancisco Hernández, El infierno es un decir, MexicoOctavio Paz. Obras completas, MexicoKatarina Frostenson, TankarnaAnn Jäderlund, Mörker mörka mörkt kristallerArne Johnsson, Faglarnas eldhuvudenCriticism, scholarship and biography in Sweden
Lars Huldén, Carl Michael Bellman, on the 18th-century poetOlof Lagercrantz, In Jag bor i en annan värld men du bor ju i samma, about the author's friendship with poet Gunnar EkelöfLars Gustafsson, Ett minnespalats. Vertikala memoarer., a memoirYlva Eggehorn, Kvarteret Radiomottagaren, a memoir of her childhoodHugo Claus, Gedichten 1948-1993, FlemishWang Xiaoni, Fangzhu Shenzhen ("Exile in Shenzhen"), ChinaYi Sha, Esi de shiren ("Poets Starved to Death"), ChinaC. J. Dennis Prize for Poetry: Robert Gray, Certain ThingsDinny O'Hearn Poetry Prize: The Monkey's Mask by Dorothy PorterKenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry: Barry Hill, Ghosting William BuckleyMary Gilmore Prize: Aileen Kelly - Coming Up for LightGerald Lampert AwardArchibald Lampman AwardSee 1994 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.Pat Lowther AwardPrix Alain-GrandboisCholmondeley Award: Ruth Fainlight, Gwen Harwood, Elizabeth Jennings, John MoleEric Gregory Award: Julia Copus, Alice Oswald, Steven Blyth, Kate Clanchy, Giles GoodlandForward Poetry Prize (United Kingdom, Best Collection): Alan Jenkins, Harm (Chatto & Windus)Forward Poetry Prize (United Kingdom, Best First Collection): Kwame Dawes, Progeny of Air (Peepal Tree)T. S. Eliot Prize (United Kingdom and Ireland): Paul Muldoon, The Annals of ChileWhitbread Award for poetry: James Fenton, Out of DangerAgnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize: Jan Beatty, Mad RiverAiken Taylor Award for Modern American Poetry: Wendell BerryAML Award for poetry to Pamela Porter Hamblin for "Magi"Bernard F. Connors Prize for Poetry: Stewart James, "Vanessa", and (separately) Marilyn Hacker, "Cancer Winter"Bobbitt National Prize for Poetry: A. R. Ammons, GarbageNational Book Award for poetry (United States): James Tate, A Worshipful Company of FletchersPulitzer Prize for Poetry: Yusef Komunyakaa, Neon Vernacular: New and Selected PoemsRuth Lilly Poetry Prize: Donald HallWallace Stevens Award inaugurated with first award this year: W. S. MerwinWhiting Awards: Mark Doty, Wayne Koestenbaum, Mary SwanderWilliam Carlos Williams Award: Cyrus Cassells, The Mud ActorFellowship of the Academy of American Poets: David FerryNew Zealand
Montana Book Award for Poetry: Bill Manhire, ed., 100 New Zealand PoemsNew Zealand Book Award for Poetry: Andrew Johnston, How to TalkNorway: Brague Prize: Sigmund Mjelve for Omrade aldri fastlagtBirth years link to the corresponding "[year] in poetry" article:
January 1 – Chaganti Somayajulu (born 1915), Indian, Tegulu-language short-story writer and poetFebruary 20 — Rolf Jacobsen, 86 (born 1907), Norwegian modernist poetMarch 9 — Charles Bukowski, 73 (born 1920), American poet and novelist, of leukemiaMarch 29 — Lynda Hull, 49 (born 1955), American poet, in an automobile accidentMay 24 — John Wain, 69 (born 1925), English poet, novelist and critic, of a strokeJuly 5 — Jack Clemo, 78 (born 1916), English poet of CornwallSeptember 10 — Amy Clampitt, 74, American poet, of ovarian cancerDecember 12 — Donna J. Stone, 61 (born 1933), American poet and philanthropist, of heart failuredate not known — Rhoda Bulter (born 1929), Scottish poet of Shetland 