Immediately after the September 11 attacks in the United States, W. H. Auden's "September 1, 1939" was read (with many lines omitted) on National Public Radio and widely circulated and discussed for its relevance to recent events. On September 19, Amiri Baraka read his poem "Somebody Blew Up America?" at a poetry festival in New Jersey.December 9–10 — Professor John Basinger, 67, performed, from memory, John Milton's Paradise Lost at Three Rivers Community-Technical College in Norwich, Connecticut, a feat that took 18 hours.American computer hacker Seth Schoen wrote DeCSS haiku as one of a number of artworks intended to demonstrate that source code should be accorded the privileges of freedom of speech.In The Best American Poetry 2001, poet and guest editor Robert Hass wrote, "There are roughly three traditions in American poetry at this point: a metrical tradition that can be very nervy and that is also basically classical in impulse; a strong central tradition of free verse made out of both romanticism and modernism, split between the impulses of an inward and psychological writing and an outward and realist one, at its best fusing the two; and an experimental tradition that is usually more passionate about form than content, perception than emotion, restless with the conventions of the art, skeptical about the political underpinnings of current practice, and intent on inventing a new one, or at least undermining what seems repressive in the current formed style. [...] At the moment there are poets doing good, bad, and indifferent work in all these ranges." Critic Maureen McLane said of Hass' description that "it's hard to imagine a more judicious account of major tendencies."The appointment of Billy Collins as Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress generated a protest in which Anselm Hollo was elected "anti-laureate" in a contest run by Robert Archambeau (the influential online POETICS list at the University of Buffalo served as the main forum).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 Mulberry Leaves: New & Selected Poems 1970–2001Les Murray, Conscious & Verbal, shortlisted for the 2002 International Griffin Poetry PrizePhilip Salom, A Cretive Life. (sic.) (Fremantle Arts Centre) ISBN 978-1-86368-300-5Chris Wallace-Crabbe, By and Large, Manchester: Carcanet; and Sydney; Brandl and SchlesingerBruce Andrews, Lip Service (Coach House Books) ISBN 978-1-55245-063-5Louise Bak, Tulpa (Coach House Books) ISBN 978-1-55245-083-3Gary Barwin, Raising Eyebrows (Coach House Books) ISBN 978-1-55245-094-9Christian Bök, Eunoia, winner of the 2002 Canadian Griffin Poetry Prize (Coach House Books) ISBN 978-1-933368-15-3George Elliott Clarke:Execution Poems: The Black Acadian Tragedy of George and Rue. Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Gaspereau Press, ISBN 1-894031-48-2 CanadaBlue. Vancouver: Polestar, ISBN 1-55192-414-5Victor Coleman, Honeymoon Suite/Letter Drop, illustrations by David Bolduc, (Coach House Books) ISBN 978-1-55245-096-3Diane Keating, The Year One: New and Selected PoemsKaren MacCormack, At Issue (Coach House Books) ISBN 978-1-55245-093-2Steve McCaffery:Seven Pages Missing Volume 1 (Coach House Books) ISBN 978-1-55245-049-9Seven Pages Missing Volume 2: Selected Ungathered Work (Coach House Books) ISBN 978-1-55245-051-2Roy Miki, Surrender winner of the 2002 Governor General's Award for poetryW. Mark Sutherland, Code X (Coach House Books) ISBN 978-1-55245-075-8Sharon Thesen, editor, The New Long Poem Anthology, Burnaby, British Columbia: TalonbooksDaniel Wincenty, Words of Wisdom from a Man Claiming to be Fred Rogers (Coach House Books) ISBN 978-1-55245-067-3Imtiaz Dharker, I Speak for the Devil ( Poetry in English ), first foreign edition brought out from United Kingdom by Bloodaxe (first India edition: Penguin Books India, 2003)Ranjit Hoskote, The Sleepwalker's Archive ( Poetry in English ), Mumbai: Single FileArundhathi Subramaniam, On Cleaning Bookshelves ( Poetry in English ), Mumbai: Allied Publishers, ISBN 81-7764-176-XSudeep Sen, Perpetual Diary, London: Aark ArtsK. Satchidanandan, So Many Births: Three Decades of Poetry, Konarak Publishers Pvt Ltd, DelhiIreland
Pat Boran, As the Hand, the Glove (Dedalus)Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin: The Girl Who Married the Reindeer, Oldcastle: The Gallery Press, IrelandTom French (poet), Touching the Bones, Oldcastle: The Gallery Press, ISBN 978-1-85235-306-3Seamus Heaney, Electric Light, Faber & Faber; Irish poet published in the United KingdomPaul Muldoon, Poems 1968–1998 (Farrar, Straus & Giroux); a New York Times "notable book of the year"; Irish poet living in the United StatesAidan Murphy (poet), Looking in at Eden, New Island Books, ISBN 978-1-902602-47-9New Zealand
Alistair Campbell, Maori Battalion: a poetic sequence, Wellington: Wai-te-ata PressAllen Curnow, The Bells of Saint Babel's, a winner of the Montana New Zealand Book AwardsLeigh Robert Davis:The Book of Hours, Auckland: Jack BooksGeneral Motors, Auckland: Jack BooksLauris Edmond, Selected Poems 1975–2000, edited by K. O. Arvidson, Wellington: Bridget Williams Books, posthumousBill Manhire, Collected PoemsCilla McQueen, Axis, Otago University PressPaul Millar, Spark to a Waiting Fuse: James K. Baxter’s Correspondence with Noel Ginn 1942–1946Michael O'Leary, He Waiatanui Kia ArohaHone Tuwhare, Piggyback MoonIan Wedde, The Commonplace OdesEavan Boland, CodeCiarán Carson: The Twelfth of Never, Picador, Wake Forest University PressKate Clanchy, SlatternCarol Ann Duffy, editor, Hand in Hand: An Anthology of Love Poems, Picador (anthology); 36 poets from around the world were each invited to select a love poem written by someone of the opposite sex and appearing opposite the selecting poet's own love poemJames Fenton: A Garden from a Hundred Packets of Seed, Viking / Farrar, Straus and GirouxSeamus Heaney, Electric Light, Faber & Faber; Irish poet published in the United KingdomGeoffrey Hill, Speech! Speech!Selima Huill, BunnyElizabeth Jennings, Timely IssuesDerek Mahon, Selected Poems. PenguinAndrew Motion, Here to EternityPaul Muldoon, Vera of Las Vegas; Irish poet living in the United States and published in the United KingdomSean O'Brien, Downriver (Picador)Craig Raine, Collected Poems 1978–1999Peter Reading, [untitled]W.G. Sebald For Years Now. Short Books.Jo Shapcott, Tender TaxesHugo Williams, Curtain Call: 101 Portraits in Verse, (editor) Faber and FaberBenjamin Zephaniah, Too Black, Too StrongCriticism, scholarship and biography in the United Kingdom
Stephen Wade, editor, Gladsongs and Gatherings: Poetry and Its Social Context in Liverpool Since the 1960s, Liverpool University Press, ISBN 0-85323-727-1Keith Tuma, Anthology of Twentieth-Century British and Irish Poetry (Oxford University Press)Elaine Feinstein, Ted Hughes – The Life of a Poet, Weidenfeld & NicholsonElizabeth Alexander, Antebellum Dream BookRalph Angel, Twice Removed (Sarabande)Renée Ashley, The Revisionist's DreamBei Dao, At the Sky's Edge: Poems 1991–1996 (New Directions) ISBN 0-8112-1495-8Eavan Boland, Against Love Poetry (Norton); a New York Times "notable book of the year"Edward Brathwaite, Ancestors, Barbadan poet living in the United StatesJoseph Brodsky: Nativity Poems, translated by Melissa Green; New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, Russian-AmericanPaul Celan, translated by John Felstiner, Selected Poems and Prose of Paul Celan (Norton); a New York Times "notable book of the year"Maxine Chernoff, World: Poems 1991–2001 (Salt Publications)Billy Collins, Sailing Alone Around the Room: New and Selected Poems (Random House); a New York Times "notable book of the year" (ISBN 0-375-50380-3)W.S. Di Piero, Skirts and Slacks: Poems (Knopf); a New York Times "notable book of the year"Ed Dorn, Chemo Sábe, Limberlost Press (posthumous)Alice Fulton, Felt (Norton); a Los Angeles Times "Best Book of 2001"Seamus Heaney, Electric Light (Farrar, Straus & Giroux); a New York Times "notable book of the year"; Irish poet living in the United StatesJane Hirshfield, Given Sugar, Given SaltPaul Hoover, Rehearsal in Black, (Cambridge, England: Salt Publications)James Merrill, Collected Poems, edited by J.D. McClatchy and Stephen Yenser (Knopf); a New York Times "notable book of the year"W. S. Merwin, The Pupil, New York: KnopfPaul Muldoon, Poems 1968–1998 (Farrar, Straus & Giroux); a New York Times "notable book of the year"; Irish poet living in the United StatesAmos Oz, The Same Sea (Harcourt); a novel about sexual hanky-panky involving a man, son and several women; most of the book is in verse; the author collaborated on the translation by Nicholas de Lange); a New York Times "notable book of the year"Carl Phillips, The TetherJames Reiss, Ten Thousand Good MorningsJay Wright, Transfigurations: Collected Poems (Louisiana State University Press); a New York Times "notable book of the year"Caroline Kennedy, editor, The Best-Loved Poems of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, a hardcover New York Times best seller for 15 weeks late this year and into 2002.Michelle Yeh and N. G. D. Malmqvist, Frontier Taiwan: An Anthology of Contemporary Chinese Poetry, Columbia University PressThe Best American Poetry 2001, edited by David Lehman, co-edited this year by Robert Hass (including 75 poets)Criticism, scholarship and biography in the United States
Kate Sontag and David Graham, editors, After Confession: Poetry as Autobiography, Graywolf PressEdward Brathwaite, Ancestors, Barbadan poet living in the United StatesPamela Mordecai, Certifiable, JamaicanListed by nation where the work was first published and again by the poet's native land, if different; substantially revised works listed separately:
Edmond Robillard, Du temps que le goglu chantait, Montréal: MaximeJean Royer, Nos corps habitables: Poèmes choisis, 1984–2000, Montréal: Le NoroîtYves Bonnefoy:Le Théâtre des enfantsLe Cœur-espaceLes Planches courbesSeyhmus Dagtekin, Le verbe temps, publisher: L'Harmattan; Kurdish Turkish poet writing in and published in FranceClaude Esteban:Morceaux de ciel, presque rien, GallimardEtranger devant la porte, I. Variations, FarragoIn each section, listed in alphabetical order by first name:
Mallika Sengupta:Deoyalir Rat, Kolkata: PatralekhaAmra Lasya Amra Ladai, Kolkata: Sristi PrakashaniNirendranath Chakravarti, Kobi Cheney, Shompurno Cheney Na, Kolkata: Dey's Publishing; Bengali-languageBasudev Sunani, Asprushya, Bhubaneswar: National Institute of Social Work and Social Sciences; Oraya-languageGulzar, Triveni, New Delhi: Rupa& Co.; in both Urdu and Hindi languagesHemant Divate, Chautishiparyantachya Kavita, Mumbai: Prabhat Prakashan; Marathi-languageMalathi Maithri, Sankarabharani, Nagercoil: Kalachuvadu Pathippagam; Tamil-languageManushya Puthiran, Neeralanathu, Nagercoil: Kalachuvadu Pathipagam, Tamil languageNitin Kulkarni, Sagla Kasa Agdi Safehaina, Mumbai: Lokvangmaya Griha Prakashan; Marathi-languagePoland
Juliusz Erazm Bolek, Ars poeticaJulia Hartwig, Nie ma odpowiedzi ("There's no Answer"), 98 pages; Warsaw: Sic! ISBN 83-86056-98-3Ewa Lipska, Sklepy zoologiczne, ("Pet Shops"); Kraków: Wydawnictwo literackieTadeusz Różewicz, Nożyk profesora ("The Professor's Knife"), Wrocław: Wydawnictwo DolnośląskieTomasz Różycki, Chata uimaita ("Country Cottage"), Warsaw: Lampa i Iskra BożaJan Twardowski, Kiedy mówisz. When You Say, Kraków: Wydawnictwo Literackie, Kraków: Wydawnictwo LiterackieChristoph Buchwald, general editor, and Adolf Endler, guest editor, Jahrbuch der Lyrik 2002 ("Poetry Yearbook 2002"), publisher: Beck; anthology; GermanyKatrine Marie Guldager, Ankomst Husumgade, publisher: Gyldendal; DenmarkKlaus Høeck, In nomine, publisher: Gyldendal; DenmarkChen Kehua, Hua yu lei yu heliu ("Flowers and Tears and Rivers") Chinese (Taiwan)Jun Er, Chenmo yu xuanhua de shijie ("Quiet in a Tumultuous World"), Chinese (People's Republic of China)Rahman Henry, Circusmukhorito Graam, ( A Book of Poetry ), Bangladesh.Rie Yasumi, 平凡な兎 ("Ordinary Rabbit") and やすみりえのとっておき川柳道場 ("Senryu Dojo reserve: Fun begins at any time"), JapanC. J. Dennis Prize for Poetry: John Mateer, Barefoot SpeechDinny O'Hearn Poetry Prize: Untold Lives and Later Poems by Rosemary DobsonKenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry: Ken Taylor, AfricaMiles Franklin Award: Frank Moorhouse, Dark PalaceGerald Lampert AwardArchibald Lampman AwardAtlantic Poetry PrizeGriffin Poetry Prize (Canada): Anne Carson, Men in the Off HoursGriffin Poetry Prize (International, in the English Language): Nikolai Popov and Heather McHugh, translation of Glottal Stop: 101 Poems by Paul CelanPat Lowther AwardPrix Alain-GrandboisShaunt Basmajian Chapbook AwardNew Zealand
Prime Minister's Awards for Literary Achievement:Montana New Zealand Book Awards (no winner in poetry category this year) First-book award for poetry: Stephanie de Montalk, Animals Indoors, Victoria University PressCholmondeley Award: Ian Duhig, Paul Durcan, Kathleen Jamie, Grace NicholsEric Gregory Award: Leontia Flynn, Thomas Warner, Tishani Doshi, Patrick Mackie, Kathryn Gray, Sally ReadForward Poetry Prize (Best Collection): Sean O'Brien, Downriver (Picador)Forward Poetry Prize (Best First Collection): John Stammers, The Panoramic Lounge Bar (Picador)Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry: Michael LongleyT. S. Eliot Prize (United Kingdom and Ireland): Anne Carson, The Beauty of the HusbandWhitbread Award for poetry: Selima Hill, BunnyAgnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize awarded to Gabriel Gudding for A Defense of PoetryAiken Taylor Award for Modern American Poetry, Frederick MorganAmerican Book Award, Janet McAdams, for "The Island of Lost Luggage"Bernard F. Connors Prize for Poetry, Gabrielle Calvocoressi, for "Circus Fire, 1944"Bollingen Prize for Poetry, Louise GlückBrittingham Prize in Poetry, Robin Behn, Horizon NoteFrost Medal: Sonia SanchezNational Book Award for Poetry: Alan Dugan, Poems Seven: New and Complete PoetryPoet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress: Billy Collins appointedPoets' Prize: Philip Booth, Lifelines: Selected Poems 1950–1999Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: Stephen Dunn, Different HoursRobert Fitzgerald Prosody Award: Edward WeismillerRuth Lilly Poetry Prize: Yusef KomunyakaaWallace Stevens Award: John AshberyWhiting Awards: Joel Brouwer, Jason SommerWilliam Carlos Williams Award: Ralph J. Mills, Grasses Standing: Selected Poems, Judge: Fanny HoweFrance: Prix Goncourt for poetry: Claude Esteban, for his oeuvre as a wholeBirth years link to the corresponding "[year] in poetry" article:
January 17 – Gregory Corso (born 1930), American Beat Generation poet, of prostate cancerFebruary 25 – A. R. Ammons (born 1926), American author and poetFebruary 14 – Alan Ross (born 1922), British writer and poetFebruary 22 – Leo Connellan (born 1928), American poetMarch 23 – Louis Dudek (born 1918), Canadian poet, academic critic and publisherAugust 28 – Sansei Yamao (born 1938), Japanese poet and friend of the American poet Gary SnyderSeptember 23 – Allen Curnow (born 1911), New Zealand poet and journalistOctober 16 – Anne Ridler (born 1912), English poet and Faber and Faber editorOctober 20 – Andrew Waterhouse (born 1958), English poet and environmentalist, suicideOctober 26:Pamela Gillilan (born 1918), English poetElizabeth Jennings (born 1926), English poetNovember 18 – R. N. Currey (born 1907), English poetNovember 25 – David Gascoyne (born 1915), English poet associated with the Surrealist movementDecember 8 – Agha Shahid Ali (born 1949), Kashmiri-born English-language American poetDecember 20 – Léopold Sédar Senghor (born 1906), first President of Senegal, poet and writerDecember 27 – Ian Hamilton (born 1938), British poet, critic and magazine publisherDate not known – Bill Sewell (born 1951), New Zealand poet, German literary scholar and lawyer 