April – National Poetry Month established by the Academy of American Poets as a way to increase awareness and appreciation of poetry in the United States.November 11 – A memorial to John Betjeman is unveiled in Poets' Corner of Westminster Abbey by Lady Wilson.Listed by nation where the work was first published and again by the poet's native land, if different; substantially revised works listed separately:
Raewyn Alexander, Fat, Auckland: PenguinRobert Gray, LineationsJennifer Harrison: Cabramatta/Cudmirrah (Black Pepper)Les Murray:Late Summer FiresSubhuman Redneck Poems, Carcanet and Sydney, Duffy & Snellgrove winner of the 1996 T. S. Eliot PrizePeter Porter, editor, The Oxford book of Modern Australian Verse, Melbourne: Oxford University PressPhilip Salom: Feeding the Ghost. (Penguin) ISBN 978-0-14-058692-3Roo Borson, Water Memory, ISBN 0-7710-1589-5 American-CanadianCyril Dabydeen, editor, Another Way to Dance: Contemporary Asian Poetry from Canada and the United States, Toronto: TSARKristjana Gunnar, Exiles Among YouDennis Lee, Nightwatch: New and Selected Poems, 1968-1996Sylvia Legris:ash petals (chapbook)Circuitry of VeinsSteve McCaffery, The Cheat of WordsGeorge McWhirter, A Staircase for All SoulsErin Mouré, Search ProceduresJanis Rapoport, After ParadiseJoe Rosenblatt, The Voluptuous Gardener. (new poetry and selected drawings from Carleton University Art Gallery permanent collection) Beach Holme Press.Stephen Scobie, Taking the Gate: A Journey Through ScotlandRaymond Souster, Close to Home. Ottawa: Oberon Press.Keki N. Daruwalla, A Summer of Tigers ( Poetry in English ), Delhi: Oxford University PressKamala Das, My Story, New Delhi: Sterling Publishers; autobiographyIreland
Pat Boran, The Shape of Water (Dedalus), IrelandCiaran Carson, Opera Et Cetera, Oldcastle: Gallery Press, ISBN 978-1-85235-188-5Seán Dunne, Time and the Island, Oldcastle: Gallery Press, ISBN 978-1-85235-181-6Seamus Heaney, The Spirit LevelThomas McCarthy, The Lost Province, Anvil Press, LondonUlick O'Connor, Poems of the Damned, a translation of Les Fleurs du mal from the original French of Charles BaudelaireBernard O'Donoghue, Gunpowder, Irish poet living in and published in the United KingdomNew Zealand
James K. Baxter, posthumous, Cold Spring : Baxter's Unpublished Early Collection, edited by Paul Millar, Auckland: Oxford University PressAlan Brunton, Romaunt of Glossa: a saga, Bumper BooksAlistair Campbell, Pocket: Collected Poems, Christchurch: Hazard PressAllen Curnow, New and Collected Poems 1941-1995Maurice Gee, Loving WaysBill Manhire:My SunshineSheet Music: Poems 1967-1982John Agard and Grace Nichols, A Caribbean Dozen: A Collection of Poems, London: Walker Books (children's book)James Berry, Playing a DazzlerCiarán Carson: Opera Et Cetera, Bloodaxe, Wake Forest University Press, Irish poet published in the United KingdomCarol Ann Duffy:Salmon - Carol Ann Duffy: Selected Poems, Salmon PoetryEditor, with Trisha Rafferty, Stopping for Death, Viking (anthology)T. S. Eliot, Inventions of the March Hare: Poems 1909-1917, early unpublished verse that the author had said he never wanted published; edited by Christopher Ricks; posthumousSeamus Heaney, The Spirit Level Faber & Faber; Northern Ireland poet published in the United KingdomJohn Heath-Stubbs, Galileo's SaladTobias Hill, Midnight in the City of ClocksGrace Nichols, Sunris (no "e" in the title), London: Virago PressBernard O'Donoghue, Gunpowder, Irish poet living in and published in the United KingdomIona Opie, editor, My Very First Mother Goose, a collection of nursery rhymesAlice Oswald, The Thing in the Gap-Stone Stile, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-282513-5Craig Raine, Clay: Whereabouts UnknownPeter Reading, Collected Poems 1985–1996Peter Redgrove:Assembling a GhostThe Book of Wonders: The Best of Peter Redgrove's Poetry, edited by Jeremy RobinsonIain Sinclair, editor, Conductors of Chaos: A Poetry Anthology, anthology of poets associated with or seen as precursors to the British Poetry Revival; PicadorBenjamin Zephaniah, Propa PropagandaCriticism, scholarship, and biography in the United Kingdom
Anthony Cronin, Samuel Beckett: The Last Modernist (London: HarperCollins), one of The New York Times "notable books of the year" for 1997, when it was published in the United States (Irish poet and scholar published in the United Kingdrom)Elizabeth Alexander, Body of LifeA.R. Ammons, Brink RoadVirginia Hamilton Adair, Ants on the Melon, the author's first book of poems, at age 83Joseph Brodsky: So Forth : Poems, New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux Russian-AmericanRaymond Carver, All of Us: The Collected PoemsJuliana Chang, editor, Quiet Fire: A Historical Anthology of Asian American poetry, 1892-1970, New York: The Asian American Writers' WorkshopEd Dorn, High West RendezvousRobert Fagles, translator, The Odyssey, from the original Ancient Greek of HomerDonald Hall, The Old Life, four short poems, a long poem and three elegiesRobert Hass, Sun Under Wood, lyric poemsLouise Glück, MeadowlandsHaim Gouri, Milim Be-Dami Holeh Ahavah ("Words in My Love-Sick Blood"), selected poems in English translation Detroit: Wayne State University Press, ISBN 0-8143-2594-7 Paul Henry, Captive Audience, SerenMark Jarman and David Mason, editors, Rebel Angels: 25 Poets of the New FormalismRonald Johnson, ARK (Albuquerque: Living Batch Press & University of New Mexico Press)Kenneth Koch, The Art of Poetry, Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Press (criticism)Maxine Kumin, Connecting the DotsJames McMichael, The World at Large: New and Selected Poems, 1971-1996W. S. MerwinEditor, Lament for the Makers: A Memorial Anthology, Washington: CounterpointTranslator, Pieces of Shadow: Selected Poems of Jaime SabinesThe Vixen: Poems, New York: KnopfRobert Pinsky, The Figured Wheel: New and Collected Poems, 1966-1996James Reiss, The Parable of FirePatti Smith, The Coral SeaGary Snyder, Mountains and Rivers Without EndBrian Swann, editor, Wearing the Morning Star: Native American Song-Poems, New York: Random HouseHenry Taylor, Understanding Fiction: Poems 1986-1996C. K. Williams, The VigilPoems from these 75 poets were in The Best American Poetry 1996, edited by David Lehman, guest editor Adrienne Rich:
Sir Muhammad Iqbal, Bang-i-Dara (The Call Of The Marching Bell), a philosophical poetry book in Urdu; M.A.K. Khalil translation into English of the 1923 workListed by language or nation where the work was first published and again by the poet's native land, if different; substantially revised works listed separately:
Abd al-Wahhab Al-Bayyati, "The Dragon", IraqBooks of poetry by:in Egypt: Muhammad Salih (poet), Rif'at Sallam, Imad Abu-Salih, and Muhammad Mutawalliin Lebanon: Yahya Jabir, 'Abduh Wazin, and Bassam Hajjarin Syria: Nuri al-Jarrahin Morocco: 'Abd al-Latif Lu'abi, Muhammad Binnis, M. Bin Talhah, Mahdi Khuraif, and Tiraibaq AhmadNaja Marie Aidt, Huset overforNiels Frank, TabernakelKatrine Marie Guldager, Blank, publisher: GyldendalKlaus Høeck, Skovene (døden), publisher: GyldendalPer Højholt, Anekdoter, the end of the author's Praksis series in poetry and proseKlaus Rifbjerg, LeksikonSøren Ulrik Thomsen; Denmark:Det skabtes vaklen: Arabesker ("The Shaking of Creation"), poetry"En dans på gloser, ("Dancing Attendance on the Word,"), critical essaysDenise Desautels, «Ma joie», crie-t-elle ("'My joy', she cried"), illustrated with drawings by Francine Simonin, Montréal: Le NoroîtSuzanne Jacob, Les écrits de l'eau, Montréal: l'HexagoneSerge Patrice Thibodeau, Traversée du désertSwitzerland, in French
Markus Hediger, Ne retournez pas la pierre, Editions de l'Aire, VeveyMichel Butor, A la frontièreBertrand Degott, Éboulements et TaillisClaude Esteban, Sur la dernière lande, FourbisMichel Houellebecq, Le Sens du combat, poèmes, FlammarionAbdellatif Laabi, Le Spleen de Casablanca. La Différence, Paris, Moroccan author writing in French and published in FranceDominique Pagnier, La Faveur de l'obscuritéEsther Tellermann, PangeiaJoël Vernet, Totems de sableChristoph Buchwald, general editor, Michael Brown and Michael Buselmeier, guest editors, Jahrbuch der Lyrik 1996/97 ("Poetry Yearbook 1996/97"), publisher: Beck; anthologySarah Kirsch, Bodenlos, winner of the Büchner-PreisInge Müller, Irgendwo: noch einmal möcht ich sehn, poetry, prose, diary, edited and with commentary by Ines GeipelBert Papenfuss-Gorek, Berliner Zapfenstreich: Schnelle EingreifsgesängeOry Bernstein, Zman shel aherim ("Temps des autres")Roni Somek, Gan eden le-orez ("Rice Paradise")Avner Treinin, Ma`a lot Ahaz ("The Dial of Ahaz")Nathan Zach, Mikhevan she`ani baSviva ("Because I'm Around")Listed in alphabetical order by first name:
Amarjit Chandan, Beejak, Navyug, New Delhi; Punjabi-languageGagan Gill, Andhere men Buddha, New Delhi: Rajkamal Prakashan, New Delhi, 1996, Bharatiya Jnanpith; Hindi-languageJiban Narah, Tumi Poka Dhanar Dore, Guwahati, Assam: Puthiniketan; Indian, Assamese-languageKedarnath Singh, Bagh, Delhi: Bharatiya Jnanpith; Hindi-languageK. Satchidanandan, Malayalam; Malayalam-languageNilmani Phookan, Cheena Kavita, Guwahati, Assam: Students’ Store, Assamese-languageRaghavan Atholi, Kandathi, Thrissur: Current Books; Malayalam-languageSaleel Wagh, Nivadak Kavita, Pune: Time and Space Communications; Marathi-languageVasant Abaji Dahake, Shunah-shepa; Marathi-languageEugenio Montale, Diario postumo: 66 poesie e altre, edited by Annalisa Cima; publisher: MondadoriMaria Luisa Spaziani, I fasti dell’orticaAndrea Zanzotto, MeteoSergio Badilla Castillo, Nordic Saga Monteverdi Editions. 1996, Santiago de Chile.Erling Aadland, Poetisk tenkning i Rolf Jacobsens lyrikk, analysis of the verse of Rolf Jacobsen; criticismInger Hagerup, a book of poetryGunvor Hofmo, Samlede diktSigmund Mjelve, a book of poetryPoland
Stanisław Barańczak, Poezja i duch uogolnienia. Wybor esejow 1970-1995 ("Poetry and the Spirit of Generalization: Selected Essays"), criticism; Kraków: ZnakUrszula Koziol, Wielka pauza (“The Great Pause”)Ryszard Krynicki, Magnetyczny punkt. Wybrane wiersze i przeklady ("The Magnetic Point: Selected Poems and Translations"); Warsaw: CiSEwa Lipska, Wspólnicy zielonego wiatraczka. Lekcja literatury z Krzysztofem Lisowskim ("Partners of the Green Fan: Literature Lesson with Krzysztofem Lisowskim"), selected poems, Kraków: Wydawnictwo literackieCzeslaw Milosz:Legendy nowoczesnoshci (“Legends of Modernity”), wartime essays and wartime correspondence with Jerzy AndrzejewskiCóz to za goshcia mielishmy ("What a Guest We Had"), a biography of his friend, the late poet Anna SwirszczynskaTadeusz Różewicz, Zawsze fragment. Recycling ("Always a Fragment: Recycling"), Wrocław: Wydawnictwo DolnośląskieWisława Szymborska: Widok z ziarnkiem piasku ("View with a Grain of Sand"), the author was the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature this yearJan Twardowski, Rwane prosto z krzaka ("Torn Straight From the Bush") Warsaw: PIWYevgeny Yevtushenko, "Trinadtsat" ("The Thirteen"), a long poem alluding to "Dvenadtsat" ("The Twelve") by Aleksandr Blok, about the Russian RevolutionBooks of poetry were published by Bella Akhmadulina, Sergey Biryukov, Oleg Chukhontsev, Arkady Dragomoshchenko, Vladimir Gandelsman, Sergey Gandlevsky, Yelena Kabysh, Svetlana Kekova, Aleksandr Kushner, Ilya Kutik, Aleksey Parshchikov, Dmitry Prigov, Lev Rubinshtein, Yelena Shvarts, Genrikh Sapgir, Vladimir Sokolov, and Andrey VoznesenskyMatilde Camus, Reflexiones a medianoche ("Midnight thoughts")Lars Gustafsson, Variationer över ett tema av SilfverstolpeGunnar D. Hansson, AB NeanderthalLukas Moodysson, SouvenirGöran Sonnevi, Mozarts tredje hjärnaJesper Svenbro, Vid budet att Santo Bambino di Aracœli slutligen stulits av maffianTomas Tranströmer, SorgegondolenYoysef Bar-El, Di shire fun Yankev Fridman ("The Poetry of Yankev Fridman"), criticismYoysef Kerler and Boris Karlov (poet), Shpigl-ksav ("Mirror-writing"); the authors are father and son; IsraelYitskhok Niborski, Vi fun a pustn fas ("As Though out of an Empty Barrel"); IsraelHadasa Rubin, Rays nisht op di blum ("Don't Tear Up the Flower"); IsraelYankev Tsvi Shargel, Tsum eygenem shtern ("To My Own Star"); translations and original poems; IsraelGerrit Komrij, Kijken is bekeken worden; NetherlandsWang Huairang, Zhongguoren: buguide ren ("Chinese: A People Not on Its Knees"), ChinaKrystyna Rodowska, Na dole płomień W górze płomień, PolandTadeusz Różewicz, Zawsze fragment, PolandHilmi Yavuz, Çöl (“Desert”); TurkeyAwards and honors
Nobel prize: Wislawa SzymborskaC. J. Dennis Prize for Poetry: Peter Bakowski, In the Human NightKenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry: Eric Beach, Weeping for Lost BabylonMary Gilmore Prize: Morgan Yasbincek - Night ReversingGerald Lampert AwardArchibald Lampman AwardSee 1996 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.Pat Lowther AwardPrix Alain-GrandboisCholmondeley Award: Elizabeth Bartlett, Dorothy Nimmo, Peter Scupham, Iain Crichton SmithEric Gregory Award: Sue Butler, Cathy Cullis, Jane Griffiths, Jane Holland, Chris Jones, Sinéad Morrissey, Kate ThomasForward Poetry Prize Best Collection: John Fuller, Stones and Fires (Chatto & Windus)Forward Poetry Prize Best First Collection: Kate Clanchy, Slattern (Chatto & Windus)Orange Prize for Fiction: Helen Dunmore, A Spell of WinterQueen's Gold Medal for Poetry: Peter RedgroveT. S. Eliot Prize (United Kingdom and Ireland): Les Murray, Subhuman Redneck PoemsWhitbread Award for poetry and for book of the year (United Kingdom): Seamus Heaney, The Spirit LevelAgnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize: Helen Conkling, Red Peony NightAML Award for poetry to Leslie Norris for Collected PoemsBernard F. Connors Prize for Poetry: John Voiklis, "The Princeling's Apology", and (separately) Sarah Arvio, "Visits from the Seventh"Bobbitt National Prize for Poetry: Kenneth Koch, One TrainNational Book Award for poetry: Hayden Carruth, Scrambled Eggs & WhiskeyPulitzer Prize for Poetry: Jorie Graham: The Dream of the Unified FieldRuth Lilly Poetry Prize: Gerald SternWallace Stevens Award: Adrienne RichWhiting Awards: Brigit Pegeen Kelly, Elizabeth Spires, Patricia StoraceFellowship of the Academy of American Poets: Jay WrightAwards and honors elsewhere
Denmark:Golden Laurels: Henrik NordbrandtCritics' Prize: Per HøjholtJapan: Sakutaro Hagiwara Prize in Poetry: Masao Tsuji for Haikai Tsuji shu ("Poems of Haikai Tsuji")Spain: Cervantes Prize: José García NietoTurkey: President's Award: Cahit KülebiBirth years link to the corresponding "[year] in poetry" article:
January 28 – Joseph Brodsky, 55 (born 1940), a Russian-American poet and essayist who won the Nobel Prize in Literature (1987) and was chosen Poet Laureate of the United States (1991–1992), of a heart attackFebruary 11 – Amelia Rosselli, 66 (born 1950), Italian poet and ethnomusicologist, from suicide, on the same date Sylvia Plath killed herself.March 18 – Odysseus Elytis, GreekApril 13 – George Mackay Brown, 74, Scottish poet, author and dramatistMay 8 – Larry Levis, 49, American poet, of a heart attackMay 11 – Sam Ragan (born 1915), American poet, journalist; North Carolina Poet Laureate, 1982–1996August 18 – Geoffrey Dearmer, 103, British poetSeptember 25 – Mina Loy, 83, artist, poet, Futurist, actorNovember 24 – Sorley MacLean, 85, ScottishDecember 10 – Dorothy Porter, 54, Australian poetDecember 14 – Gaston Miron, 68 CanadaDate not known:Haermann Kesten (born 1900), GermanTom Rawling (born 1916), English poet and anglerConstance Urdang, American poet and novelist, wife of Donald Finkel 
