Samizdat poetry magazine founded in Chicago (it will run until 2004).Skanky Possum poetry magazine founded in Austin, Texas.Tony Harrison's film-poem Prometheus is released in the United Kingdom.John Montague named the first Irish professor of poetry.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 Gray, New Selected PoemsJennifer Harrison, Dear B (Black Pepper)Frieda Hughes, Wooroloo, English-born Australian poet, originally published in United States by Harper FlamingoJohn Leonard, editor, Australian Verse: An Oxford Anthology, Melbourne: Oxford University Press (anthology)Philip Salom, New and Selected Poems. (Fremantle Arts Centre) ISBN 978-1-86368-218-3John Tranter, Late Night Radio, Polygon PressChris Wallace-Crabbe, Whirling, Oxford: Oxford University PressGary Barwin, Outside the Hat, (Coach House Books) ISBN 978-1-55245-030-7Stephen Cain, dislexicon (Coach House Books) ISBN 978-1-55245-027-7Anne Carson, Autobiography of Red: A Novel in Verse (Knopf); a New York Times "notable book of the year"Margaret Christakos, The Moment Coming (Oakville: ECW)Don Domanski, Parish of the Psychic MoonLouis Dudek, The Poetry of Louis Dudek. Ottawa: The Golden Dog.Paul Dutton, Aurealities, (Coach House Books) ISBN 978-0-88910-414-3Michael Holmes, Satellite Dishes from the Future Bakery, (Coach House Books) ISBN 978-1-55245-004-8Sylvia Legris, Iridium SeedsDorothy Livesay, Archive for Our Times: Previously Uncollected and Unpublished Poems of Dorothy Livesay, Irvine Dean ed. Vancouver: Arsenal Pulp Press.Michael Ondaatje, Handwriting, Toronto: McClelland & Stewart; New York: Knopf, 1999 ISBN 0-375-40559-3E. J. Pratt, Selected Poems of E. J. Pratt, Sandra Djwa, W.J. Keith, and Zailig Pollock ed. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.Allan Forrie, Patrick O'Rourke, and Glen Sorestad, editors, In the Clear: A Contemporary Canadian Poetry Anthology, Saskatoon: Thistledown PressKwame Dawes, editor, Wheel and Come Again: An Anthology of Reggae Poetry, Fredericton, New Brunswick: Goose LaneArvind Krishna Mehrotra, The Transfiguring Places ( Poetry in English ), Ravi Dayal, New Delhi, ISBN 81-7530-019-1K. Satchidanandan, How to go to the Tao Temple, Har-Anand Publications, New Delhi.Dilip Chitre, The Mountain, Pune: Vijaya ChitreIreland
Dermot Bolger, Taking my Letters Back: New and Selected Poems, Dublin: New Island BooksCiaran Carson:The Alexandrine Plan, Oldcastle: The Gallery Press, ISBN 978-1-85235-218-9The Twelfth of Never, Oldcastle: The Gallery Press, ISBN 978-1-85235-235-6Peter Fallon, News of the World, Oldcastle: The Gallery Press, ISBN 978-1-85235-214-1New Zealand
Raewyn Alexander, Concrete, Auckland: PenguinAlan Brunton, Moonshine, Bumper BooksRoger Robinson and Nelson Wattie, editors, The Oxford Companion to New Zealand Literature, Melbourne; Auckland: Oxford University PressCiarán Carson: The Alexandrine Plan, (adaptations of sonnets by Baudelaire, Mallarmé, and Rimbaud); Gallery :Press, Wake Forest University PressCarol Ann Duffy, The Pamphlet, Anvil Press PoetryPaul Farley, The Boy from the Chemist is Here to See YouSeamus Heaney:Audenesque, MaeghtTranslator, BeowulfOpened Ground: Poems 1966-1996, Faber & Faber; in the United States, published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux; a New York Times "notable book of the year" for 1999Paul Henry, The Milk Thief, SerenTed Hughes:Birthday Letters, (Farrar, Straus & Giroux); a verse chronicle of the author's relationship with Sylvia Plath, his late wife; a New York Times "notable book of the year"Translator, PhedreJackie Kay, Off Colour United KingdomPeter Levi, Reed MusicKevin MacNeil, Love and Zen in the Outer Hebrides, Scottish poet published in ScotlandAndrew Motion, Selected Poems 1976–1997Paul Muldoon, HayCarol Rumens, Holding PatternJo Shapcott, My Life AsleepJon Stallworthy, Rounding the HornSimon Armitage and Robert Crawford, editors, Penguin Book of Poetry from Britain and Ireland Since 1945, Viking, ISBN 978-0-670-86829-2Sean O'Brien, editor, The Firebox: Poetry in Britain and Ireland after 1945 (Picador), anthologyLloyd Searwar, editor, They Came in Ships: An Anthology of Indo-Guyanese Prose and Poetry,Leeds: Peepal TreeCriticism, scholarship and biography in the United Kingdom
Sean O'Brien, The Deregulated Muse: Essays on Contemporary British and Irish Poetry (Bloodaxe), criticismJohn Heath-Stubbs, The literary essays of John Heath-Stubbs, edited by A.T. TolleyMichael Schmidt, Lives of the Poets, London: Weidenfeld and NicolsonJohn Ashbery:The Mooring of Starting Out: The First Five Books of Poetry (Ecco) collection of the poet's work from 1956 to 1972; a New York Times "notable book of the year"WakefulnessRenée Ashley, The Various Reasons of LightTed Berrigan, Great Stories of the ChairHenri Cole, The Visible ManBilly Collins, Picnic, Lightning (ISBN 0-8229-4066-3)Fanny Howe, QDeborah Garrison, A Working Girl Can't Win: And Other Poems, (Random House); a New York Times "notable book of the year"Lee Harwood, Morning LightKenneth Koch, Straits: Poems, New York: Knopf William Logan, Vain Empires: Poems, (Penguin, paper); a New York Times "notable book of the year"W. S. Merwin:Translator, East Window: The Asian Translations, translated poems from earlier collections, Port Townsend, Washington: Copper Canyon PressThe Folding Cliffs: A Narrative, a "novel-in-verse" New York: KnopfMichael Palmer, The Lion Bridge: Selected Poems 1972-1995 (New Directions), first retrospective of Palmer's work selected by the author himself reprinting much work that had gone out of printCarl Phillips, From the DevotionsMarie Ponsot, The Bird Catcher, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award and finalist for the 1999 Lenore Marshall Poetry PrizeFrederick Seidel Going Fast: Poems, (Farrar, Straus & Giroux); a New York Times "notable book of the year"Mark Strand, Blizzard of One: Poems, (Knopf); a New York Times "notable book of the year"; by a Canadian native long living in and published in the United StatesPatti Smith, Patti Smith CompleteJames Tate, Shroud of the Gnomes: Poems, (Ecco); a New York Times "notable book of the year"Richard Tayson, The Apprentice of Fever, winner of the 1997 Stan and Tom Wick Poetry PrizeKeith and Rosmarie Waldrop, Well Well Reality (The Post-Apollo Press)Criticism, scholarship and biography in the United States
Laurence Breiner, An Introduction to West Indian Poetry, Cambridge University Press, scholarshipKenneth Koch, Making Your Own Days: The Pleasures of Reading and Writing Poetry, New York: ScribnerEric L. Haralson, editor, Encyclopedia of American Poetry: The Nineteenth Century, Chicago and London: Fitzroy DearbornMary Oliver, Rules for the Dance: A Handbook for Writing and Reading Metrical VerseBarbara Tran, Monique T. D. Truong, and Luu Truong Khoi, editors, Watermark: Vietnamese American Poetry & Prose, New York: Asian American Writers' WorkshopPoems from these 75 poets were in The Best American Poetry 1999, general editor David Lehman, guest editor John Hollander:
Listed by nation where the work was first published and again by the poet's native land, if different; substantially revised works listed separately:
Klaus Høeck; Denmark:Hjem, publisher: GyldendalHoneymoon, publisher: GyldendalInger Christensen, Samlede digte ("Collected Poems")Olivier Barbarant, Odes dérisoires et quelques autres un peu moins, publisher: Editions Champ Vallon, ISBN 978-2-87673-272-8Salah Stetie, Fievre et guerison de l'iconeJean-Michel Maulpoix, Domaine publicListed in alphabetical order by first name:
Amarjit Chandan, Chhanna, Navyug, New Delhi; Punjabi-languageAnamika, Anushtup, Delhi: Kitab Ghar; Hindi-languageGagan Gill, Yah Akanksha Samay Nahin, New Delhi: Rajkamal Prakashan, New Delhi, 1998, Bharatiya Jnanpith; Hindi-languageK. Satchidanandan, Apoornam, ("Imperfect"); Malayalam-languageKynpham Sing Nongkynrih, Ban Sngewthuh ia ka Poitri ("Understanding Poetry"), Shillong: Gautam Brothers; Khasi-languageMallika Sengupta; Hindi-language:Meyeder Aa Aaa Ka Kha, Kolkata: Prativas PublicationTranslator, Akaler Madhye Saras, translation from the original Hindi of Kedarnath Singh, Kolkata: Sahitya AkademiManushya Puthiran, Itamum Iruppum, Nagercoil: Kalachuvadu Pathipagam, Tamil languagePrathibha Nandakumar, Kavadeyata ("Game of Cowry"), Bangalore: Kannada Sangha, Christ CollegeRaghavan Atholi, Mozhimattam, Kottayam: Sahitya Pravarthaka Cooperative Society (SPCS)Rajendra Bhandari, Kshar/Akshar ("Perishable/ Imperishable"), Gangtok, Sikkim: Jana Paksha Prakashan; Nepali-languageVaravara Rao (better known as "VV"), Aa Rojulu ("Those Days"), Hyderabad: Akruti PrintersPoland
Stanisław Barańczak, Chirurgiczna precyzja ("Surgical Precision"), Krakow: a5Zbigniew Herbert:89 wierszy, ("89 Poems"), Kraków: a5Epilog burzy ("Epilogue to a Storm"), Wrocław: Wydawnictwo DolnośląskieEwa Lipska:Godziny poza godzinami ("Hours Beyond Hours"), selected poems, Warsaw: PIWŻycie zastępcze, Kraków: Wydawnictwo literackieJan Twardowski:Bóg prosi o miłość - Gott fleht um Liebe, Krakow, Poland: Wydawnictwo LiterackieNiebo w dobrym humorze, Warsaw: PIWAdam Zagajewski, Trzej aniołowie, Three Angels (sic) Kraków: Wydawnictwo LiterackieDejan Stojanović, Krugovanje: 1978–1987 (Circling), Second Edition, Narodna knjiga, Alfa, BeogradMatilde Camus, Fuerza creativa ("Creative strength")Christoph Buchwald, general editor, and Marcel Beyer, guest editor, Jahrbuch der Lyrik 1998/99 ("Poetry Yearbook 1998/99"), publisher: Beck; anthologyNdoc Gjetja, Dhjata ime ("My Testament"); AlbaniaHaim Gouri Ha-Shirim ("The Poems"), in two volumes by an Israeli writing in HebrewChen Kehua, Yinwei siwang er jingying de fanfu shipian ("Engaging in a Complicated Poetry for the Sake of Death ") Chinese (Taiwan)Maria Luisa Spaziani, La traversata dell'oasi, ItalyRahman Henry, Banbhojoner Moto Aundhokar ( Darkness as Picnic is), BengaliC. J. Dennis Prize for Poetry: Coral Hull, Broken LandKenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry: No awards were presented this yearMary Gilmore Prize: Lucy Dougan, Memory ShellAtlantic Poetry PrizeGerald Lampert AwardGiller Prize for Canadian Fiction: Alice Munro: The Love of a Good WomanPat Lowther AwardPrix Alain-GrandboisShaunt Basmajian Chapbook AwardNew Zealand
Prime Minister's Awards for Literary Achievement:Montana New Zealand Book Awards (no award given in poetry category this year) First-book award for poetry: Kapka Kassabova, All Roads Lead to the Sea, Auckland University PressCholmondeley Award: Roger McGough, Robert Minhinnick, Anne Ridler, Ken SmithEric Gregory Award: Mark Goodwin, Joanne Limburg, Patrick McGuinness, Kona Macphee, Esther Morgan, Christiania Whitehead, Frances WilliamsForward Poetry Prize Best Collection: Ted Hughes, Birthday Letters (Faber and Faber)Forward Poetry Prize Best First Collection: Paul Farley, The Boy from the Chemist is Here to See You (Picador)Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry: Les MurrayT. S. Eliot Prize (United Kingdom and Ireland): Ted Hughes, Birthday Letters (Faber and Faber)Whitbread Award for poetry and for book of the year: Ted Hughes, Birthday Letters (Faber and Faber)Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize: Shara McCallum, The Water Between UsAiken Taylor Award for Modern American Poetry: X.J. KennedyAmerican Academy of Arts and Letters Gold Medal for Drama: Horton FooteAmerican Academy of Arts and Letters: Robert Fagles elected a member of the Literature DepartmentAmerican Book Award: Angela Y. Davis, "Blues Legacies and Black Feminism: Gertrude "Ma" Rainey, Bessie Smith, and Billie Holiday"American Book Award: Allison Hedge Coke, "Dog Road Woman", Coffee House Press "American Book Award 1998"AML Award for poetry to Alex Caldiero for Various Atmospheres: Poems and DrawingsBernard F. Connors Prize for Poetry: Sherod Santos, "Elegy for My Sister", and (separately) Neil Azevedo, "Caspar Hauser Songs"Bobbitt National Prize for Poetry: Frank Bidart, DesireNational Book Award for poetry: Gerald Stern, This Time: New and Selected PoemsPoet Laureate of Virginia: Joseph Awad, two year appointment 1998 to 2000 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: Charles Wright, Black ZodiacRuth Lilly Poetry Prize: W.S. MerwinWallace Stevens Award: A. R. AmmonsWilliam Carlos Williams Award: John Balaban, Locusts at the Edge of Summer: New and Selected Poems, Judge: Robert PhillipsWhiting Awards: Nancy Eimers, Daniel Hall, James Kimbrell, Charles Harper Webb, Greg WilliamsonFellowship of the Academy of American Poets: Charles SimicBirth years link to the corresponding "[year] in poetry" article:
January 23 — John Forbes, 47 (born 1915), Australian poetFebruary 8 — Enoch Powell, 85 (born 1912), British MP from 1950 to 1987, classicist and poetMarch 23 — Hilda Morley, 81 (born 1916), American poet, after a fallApril 19 — Octavio Paz, 84 (born 1914), Mexican writer, poet, diplomat and winner of the 1990 Nobel Prize in LiteratureApril 21 — Ivan Chtcheglov, 65 (born 1933), French political theorist, activist and poetApril 30 — Nizar Qabbani, 75 (born 1923), Syrian diplomat, poet and publisher of Arabic poetryMay 29 — Philip O'Connor, 81 (born 1916), English writer and surrealist poetJune 25 — John Malcolm Brinnin, 81 (born 1916), American poet and criticJuly 1 — Martin Seymour-Smith, 70 (born 1928), English poet, critic and biographerJuly 14 — Miroslav Holub, 75 (born 1923), Czech poet and immunologistJuly 28 — Zbigniew Herbert, 73 (born 1924), influential Polish poet, essayist and moralistAugust 26 — Ryūichi Tamura 田村隆, 75 (born 1923), Japanese Shōwa period poet, essayist and translator of English-language novels and poetryOctober 25 – Dick Higgins, 60 (born 1938), English-born poet, composer and early Fluxus artist with ties to the Language poetsOctober 28 — Ted Hughes, 68 (born 1930), English poet, Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom since 1984Date not knownAimee Joan Grunberger, 44, American poet, of cancerMichalis Katsaros (born 1919), Greek poet 