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 Poems
Jennifer Harrison, Dear B (Black Pepper)
Frieda Hughes, Wooroloo, English-born Australian poet, originally published in United States by Harper Flamingo
John Leonard, editor, Australian Verse: An Oxford Anthology, Melbourne: Oxford University Press (anthology)
Philip Salom, New and Selected Poems. (Fremantle Arts Centre) ISBN 978-1-86368-218-3
John Tranter, Late Night Radio, Polygon Press
Chris Wallace-Crabbe, Whirling, Oxford: Oxford University Press
Gary Barwin, Outside the Hat, (Coach House Books) ISBN 978-1-55245-030-7
Stephen Cain, dislexicon (Coach House Books) ISBN 978-1-55245-027-7
Anne 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 Moon
Louis Dudek, The Poetry of Louis Dudek. Ottawa: The Golden Dog.
Paul Dutton, Aurealities, (Coach House Books) ISBN 978-0-88910-414-3
Michael Holmes, Satellite Dishes from the Future Bakery, (Coach House Books) ISBN 978-1-55245-004-8
Sylvia Legris, Iridium Seeds
Dorothy Livesay, Archive for Our Times: Previously Uncollected and Unpublished Poems of Dorothy Livesay, Irvine Dean ed.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 0-375-40559-3
E. 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 Press
Kwame Dawes, editor, Wheel and Come Again: An Anthology of Reggae Poetry, Fredericton, New Brunswick: Goose Lane
Arvind Krishna Mehrotra, The Transfiguring Places ( Poetry in English ), Ravi Dayal, New Delhi, ISBN 81-7530-019-1
K. Satchidanandan, How to go to the Tao Temple, Har-Anand Publications, New Delhi.
Dilip Chitre, The Mountain, Pune: Vijaya Chitre
Ireland
Dermot Bolger, Taking my Letters Back: New and Selected Poems, Dublin: New Island Books
Ciaran Carson:
The Alexandrine Plan, Oldcastle: The Gallery Press, ISBN 978-1-85235-218-9
The Twelfth of Never, Oldcastle: The Gallery Press, ISBN 978-1-85235-235-6
Peter Fallon, News of the World, Oldcastle: The Gallery Press, ISBN 978-1-85235-214-1
New Zealand
Raewyn Alexander, Concrete, Auckland: Penguin
Alan Brunton, Moonshine, Bumper Books
Roger Robinson and Nelson Wattie, editors, The Oxford Companion to New Zealand Literature, Melbourne; Auckland: Oxford University Press
Ciarán Carson: The Alexandrine Plan, (adaptations of sonnets by Baudelaire, Mallarmé, and Rimbaud); Gallery :Press, Wake Forest University Press
Carol Ann Duffy, The Pamphlet, Anvil Press Poetry
Paul Farley, The Boy from the Chemist is Here to See You
Seamus Heaney:
Audenesque, Maeght
Translator, Beowulf
Opened 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 1999
Paul Henry, The Milk Thief, Seren
Ted 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, Phedre
Jackie Kay, Off Colour United Kingdom
Peter Levi, Reed Music
Kevin MacNeil, Love and Zen in the Outer Hebrides, Scottish poet published in Scotland
Andrew Motion, Selected Poems 1976–1997
Paul Muldoon, Hay
Carol Rumens, Holding Pattern
Jo Shapcott, My Life Asleep
Jon Stallworthy, Rounding the Horn
Simon Armitage and Robert Crawford, editors, Penguin Book of Poetry from Britain and Ireland Since 1945, Viking, ISBN 978-0-670-86829-2
Sean O'Brien, editor, The Firebox: Poetry in Britain and Ireland after 1945 (Picador), anthology
Lloyd Searwar, editor, They Came in Ships: An Anthology of Indo-Guyanese Prose and Poetry,Leeds: Peepal Tree
Criticism, scholarship and biography in the United Kingdom
Sean O'Brien, The Deregulated Muse: Essays on Contemporary British and Irish Poetry (Bloodaxe), criticism
John Heath-Stubbs, The literary essays of John Heath-Stubbs, edited by A.T. Tolley
Michael Schmidt, Lives of the Poets, London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson
John 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"
Wakefulness
Renée Ashley, The Various Reasons of Light
Ted Berrigan, Great Stories of the Chair
Henri Cole, The Visible Man
Billy Collins, Picnic, Lightning (ISBN 0-8229-4066-3)
Fanny Howe, Q
Deborah Garrison, A Working Girl Can't Win: And Other Poems, (Random House); a New York Times "notable book of the year"
Lee Harwood, Morning Light
Kenneth 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 Press
The Folding Cliffs: A Narrative, a "novel-in-verse" New York: Knopf
Michael 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 print
Carl Phillips, From the Devotions
Marie Ponsot, The Bird Catcher, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award and finalist for the 1999 Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize
Frederick 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 States
Patti Smith, Patti Smith Complete
James 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 Prize
Keith 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, scholarship
Kenneth Koch, Making Your Own Days: The Pleasures of Reading and Writing Poetry, New York: Scribner
Eric L. Haralson, editor, Encyclopedia of American Poetry: The Nineteenth Century, Chicago and London: Fitzroy Dearborn
Mary Oliver, Rules for the Dance: A Handbook for Writing and Reading Metrical Verse
Barbara Tran, Monique T. D. Truong, and Luu Truong Khoi, editors, Watermark: Vietnamese American Poetry & Prose, New York: Asian American Writers' Workshop
Poets in The Best American Poetry 1998
Poems 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: Gyldendal
Honeymoon, publisher: Gyldendal
Inger Christensen, Samlede digte ("Collected Poems")
Olivier Barbarant, Odes dérisoires et quelques autres un peu moins, publisher: Editions Champ Vallon, ISBN 978-2-87673-272-8
Salah Stetie, Fievre et guerison de l'icone
Jean-Michel Maulpoix, Domaine public
Listed in alphabetical order by first name:
Amarjit Chandan, Chhanna, Navyug, New Delhi; Punjabi-language
Anamika, Anushtup, Delhi: Kitab Ghar; Hindi-language
Gagan Gill, Yah Akanksha Samay Nahin, New Delhi: Rajkamal Prakashan, New Delhi, 1998, Bharatiya Jnanpith; Hindi-language
K. Satchidanandan, Apoornam, ("Imperfect"); Malayalam-language
Kynpham Sing Nongkynrih, Ban Sngewthuh ia ka Poitri ("Understanding Poetry"), Shillong: Gautam Brothers; Khasi-language
Mallika Sengupta; Hindi-language:
Meyeder Aa Aaa Ka Kha, Kolkata: Prativas Publication
Translator, Akaler Madhye Saras, translation from the original Hindi of Kedarnath Singh, Kolkata: Sahitya Akademi
Manushya Puthiran, Itamum Iruppum, Nagercoil: Kalachuvadu Pathipagam, Tamil language
Prathibha Nandakumar, Kavadeyata ("Game of Cowry"), Bangalore: Kannada Sangha, Christ College
Raghavan Atholi, Mozhimattam, Kottayam: Sahitya Pravarthaka Cooperative Society (SPCS)
Rajendra Bhandari, Kshar/Akshar ("Perishable/ Imperishable"), Gangtok, Sikkim: Jana Paksha Prakashan; Nepali-language
Varavara Rao (better known as "VV"), Aa Rojulu ("Those Days"), Hyderabad: Akruti Printers
Poland
Stanisław Barańczak, Chirurgiczna precyzja ("Surgical Precision"), Krakow: a5
Zbigniew Herbert:
89 wierszy, ("89 Poems"), Kraków: a5
Epilog burzy ("Epilogue to a Storm"), Wrocław: Wydawnictwo Dolnośląskie
Ewa Lipska:
Godziny poza godzinami ("Hours Beyond Hours"), selected poems, Warsaw: PIW
Życie zastępcze, Kraków: Wydawnictwo literackie
Jan Twardowski:
Bóg prosi o miłość - Gott fleht um Liebe, Krakow, Poland: Wydawnictwo Literackie
Niebo w dobrym humorze, Warsaw: PIW
Adam Zagajewski, Trzej aniołowie, Three Angels (sic) Kraków: Wydawnictwo Literackie
Dejan Stojanović, Krugovanje: 1978–1987 (Circling), Second Edition, Narodna knjiga, Alfa, Beograd
Matilde 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; anthology
Ndoc Gjetja, Dhjata ime ("My Testament"); Albania
Haim Gouri Ha-Shirim ("The Poems"), in two volumes by an Israeli writing in Hebrew
Chen 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, Italy
Rahman Henry, Banbhojoner Moto Aundhokar ( Darkness as Picnic is), Bengali
C. J. Dennis Prize for Poetry: Coral Hull, Broken Land
Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry: No awards were presented this year
Mary Gilmore Prize: Lucy Dougan, Memory Shell
Atlantic Poetry Prize
Gerald Lampert Award
Giller Prize for Canadian Fiction: Alice Munro: The Love of a Good Woman
Pat Lowther Award
Prix Alain-Grandbois
Shaunt Basmajian Chapbook Award
New 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 Press
Cholmondeley Award: Roger McGough, Robert Minhinnick, Anne Ridler, Ken Smith
Eric Gregory Award: Mark Goodwin, Joanne Limburg, Patrick McGuinness, Kona Macphee, Esther Morgan, Christiania Whitehead, Frances Williams
Forward 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 Murray
T. 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 Us
Aiken Taylor Award for Modern American Poetry: X.J. Kennedy
American Academy of Arts and Letters Gold Medal for Drama: Horton Foote
American Academy of Arts and Letters: Robert Fagles elected a member of the Literature Department
American 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 Drawings
Bernard 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, Desire
National Book Award for poetry: Gerald Stern, This Time: New and Selected Poems
Poet Laureate of Virginia: Joseph Awad, two year appointment 1998 to 2000
Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: Charles Wright, Black Zodiac
Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize: W.S. Merwin
Wallace Stevens Award: A. R. Ammons
William Carlos Williams Award: John Balaban, Locusts at the Edge of Summer: New and Selected Poems, Judge: Robert Phillips
Whiting Awards: Nancy Eimers, Daniel Hall, James Kimbrell, Charles Harper Webb, Greg Williamson
Fellowship of the Academy of American Poets: Charles Simic
Birth years link to the corresponding "[year] in poetry" article:
January 23 — John Forbes, 47 (born 1915), Australian poet
February 8 — Enoch Powell, 85 (born 1912), British MP from 1950 to 1987, classicist and poet
March 23 — Hilda Morley, 81 (born 1916), American poet, after a fall
April 19 — Octavio Paz, 84 (born 1914), Mexican writer, poet, diplomat and winner of the 1990 Nobel Prize in Literature
April 21 — Ivan Chtcheglov, 65 (born 1933), French political theorist, activist and poet
April 30 — Nizar Qabbani, 75 (born 1923), Syrian diplomat, poet and publisher of Arabic poetry
May 29 — Philip O'Connor, 81 (born 1916), English writer and surrealist poet
June 25 — John Malcolm Brinnin, 81 (born 1916), American poet and critic
July 1 — Martin Seymour-Smith, 70 (born 1928), English poet, critic and biographer
July 14 — Miroslav Holub, 75 (born 1923), Czech poet and immunologist
July 28 — Zbigniew Herbert, 73 (born 1924), influential Polish poet, essayist and moralist
August 26 — Ryūichi Tamura 田村隆, 75 (born 1923), Japanese Shōwa period poet, essayist and translator of English-language novels and poetry
October 25 – Dick Higgins, 60 (born 1938), English-born poet, composer and early Fluxus artist with ties to the Language poets
October 28 — Ted Hughes, 68 (born 1930), English poet, Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom since 1984
Date not known
Aimee Joan Grunberger, 44, American poet, of cancer
Michalis Katsaros (born 1919), Greek poet
