This article presents lists of historical events related to the writing of poetry during 2004. The historical context of events related to the writing of poetry in 2004 are addressed in articles such as History of Poetry Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature (for instance, Irish or France).
April 1 — Foetry.com Web site is launched for the announced purpose of "Exposing fraudulent contests. Tracking the sycophants. Naming names." Members and visitors contribute information which links judges and prize winners in various poetry contests in attempts to document whether some contests have been rigged.February 16 — Edwin Morgan becomes Scotland's first ever official national poet, The Scots Makar, appointed by the Scottish Parliament.Jang Jin-sung defects from North Korea.Publication of remaining fragments of Sappho's Tithonus poem (6th/7th cent. BCE).Samizdat poetry magazine, founded in 1998, ceases publication.David and Helen Constantine relaunch Modern Poetry in Translation, a British journal focusing on the art of translating poetry. The magazine was originally founded in 1966 by Ted Hughes and Daniel Weissbort.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 Reading the River: Selected PoemsAlison Croggon, November Burning, VagabondM. T. C. Cronin, <More or Less Than> 1–100Luke Davies, TotemSarah Day, The Ship, winner of the 2005 Arts Queensland Judith Wright Calanthe Award; Blackheath, N.S.W.: Brandl & SchlesingerNoel Rowe, Next to NothingDipti Saravanamuttu, The ColosseumSamuel Wagan Watson, Smoke Encrypted WhispersLes Wicks, Stories of the Feet, published by Five IslandsAnthony Lawrence, editor, The Best Australian Poetry 2004, Publisher: UQPLes Murray, editor, The Best Australian Poems 2004, Publisher: Black Inc.Robert Archambeau, Home and Variations (Salt)Roo Borson, Short Journey Upriver Toward Oishida, winner of the 2004 Governor General's Award, the 2005 Griffin Poetry Prize and the 2005 Pat Lowther Award, ISBN 0-7710-1591-7, American-CanadianJon Paul Fiorentino, Hello Serotonin (Coach House Books) ISBN 978-1-55245-136-6Susan Holbrook, Good Egg Bad SeedDennis Lee, So cool. Dennis Lee ; illustrations by Maryann Kovalski. Toronto : Key Porter.Don McKay, Camber, shortlisted for the 2005 Canadian Griffin Poetry Prize (Canada)Michael Ondaatje, Vintage Ondaatje, Vintage, ISBN 978-1-4000-7744-1Ian Samuels, The Ubiquitous Big (Coach House Books) ISBN 978-1-55245-135-9Mark Truscott, Said Like Reeds or Things (Coach House Books) ISBN 978-1-55245-145-8Julia Williams, The Sink House (Coach House Books) ISBN 978-1-55245-146-5Meena Alexander, Raw Silk (Poetry in English), Evanston, Illinois: TriQuarterly Books/Northwestern University Press, by an Indian writing living in and published in the United StatesAjeet Cour and Nirupama Dutt, editors, Our Voices: An Anthology of SAARC Poetry, in various languages, with some translations into English; New Delhi: Foundation of SAARC Writers and LiteratureRukmini Bhaya Nair, Yellow Hibiscus: New and Selected Poems (Poetry in English), New Delhi: PenguinKynpham Sing Nongkynrih and Robin Ngangom, editors, Anthology of Contemporary Poetry from the Northeast, Shillong: Nehu PublishingJeet Thayil, English (Poetry in English), Penguin, Delhi and Rattapallax Press, New York, 2004. ISBN 1-892494-59-0; India, Indian poetry in EnglishMamang Dai, River Poems (Poetry in English), Kolkata: Writers WorkshopIreland
Sebastian Barry, The Pinkening Boy: New Poems New Island New Poetry,Dermot Bolger, The Chosen MomentCiarán Carson: The Midnight Court, (translation of Brian Merriman's Cúirt an Mhéan Oíche Gallery Press, 2005; Wake Forest University PressPeter Fallon, translator, The Georgics of Virgil, Oldcastle: The Gallery Press, ISBN 978-1-85235-365-0Vona Groarke, Flight and Earlier Poems, Wake Forest University Press, Winston-Salem Irish poet published in the U.S.Michael D. Higgins, An Arid SeasonWilliam Wall, Fahrenheit Says Nothing To Me, Dedalus Press, Dublin ISBN 1-904556-21-3New Zealand
Mark Pirie, Ron Riddell and Saray Torres, editors, The 2nd Wellington International Poetry Festival Anthology, Wellington: HeadworXKendrick Smithyman, Campana to Montale, Writers GroupPoets in Best New Zealand Poems
Poems from these 25 poets were selected by Robin Dudding for Best New Zealand Poems 2003, published online this year:
Carol Ann Duffy, New Selected Poems PicadorPaul Henry, The Breath of Sleeping Boys & other poems, Carreg GwalchMuriel Spark, All the PoemsCarol Ann Duffy:Out of Fashion: An Anthology of Poems, editor (contemporary poets select their favourite poem, from another time or culture, in connection with clothing), Faber and FaberOverheard on a Saltmarsh: Poets' Favourite Poems (editor) (30 contemporary poets selected their favourite children's poem to appear alongside one of their own poems; including contemporary poems by Sophie Hannah, Jackie Kay, Valerie Bloom, and Wendy Cope, as well as classic poets such as Robert Burns, John Betjeman and Edward Lear) MacmillanDon Paterson and Charles Simic, editors, New British PoetryKim Addonizio, What is this Thing Called Love (Norton)Meena Alexander, Raw Silk, Evanston, Illinois: TriQuarterly Books/Northwestern University Press, by an Indian writing living in and published in the United StatesJohn Ash, To the City (Talisman), ISBN 1-58498-037-0Wendell Berry, Given: Poems (Shoemaker & Hoard)Sophie Cabot Black, The Descent: poetry (Graywolf Press), ISBN 1-55597-406-6Charles Bukowski, Slouching Toward Nirvana: New Poems (Ecco)Tina Chang, Half-Lit Houses, Four Way BooksRita Dove, American Smooth: Poems (Norton); a New York Times "notable book of the year"Claudia Emerson, Late Wife (Louisiana State University Press)Alice Fulton, Cascade Experiment: Selected Poems (Norton)Sarah Gambito, Matadora (Alice James Book), ISBN 978-1882295487Jack Gilbert, Refusing Heaven (Alfred A. Knopf)Vona Groarke, Flight and Earlier Poems, Wake Forest University Press, Winston-Salem Irish poet published in the U.S.Beth Gylys, Spot in the Dark (Ohio State University Press), winner of The OSU Press/The Journal Award in PoetryLee Harwood, Collected PoemsAllison Hedge Coke – Rock, Ghost, Willow, Deer (memoir of poet's life)Fanny Howe, On the GroundDonald Justice, Collected Poems (Knopf); published posthumously; a New York Times "notable book of the year"Jane Kenyon, Jane Kenyon: Collected Poems (Graywolf Press), posthumousTed Kooser, Flying At Night: Poems 1965–1985 (University of Pittsburgh Press)W. S. Merwin:Migration: New and Selected Poems (Copper Canyon Press)Present CompanyMirabai, Mirabai: Ecstatic Poems translated into English by Robert Bly and Jane HirshfieldEugenio Montale, Selected Poems, translated by Jonathan Galassi, Charles Wright, and David Young from the original Italian; Oberlin College Press, ISBN 0-932440-98-3Mary Oliver:New and Selected Poems, volume twoWhy I Wake Early: New PoemsBlue Iris: Poems and EssaysLong Life: Essays and Other WritingsCarl Phillips, The Rest of Love, New York: Farrar, Straus and GirouxKay Ryan, The Niagara River (Grove Press) ISBN 0-8021-4222-2Michael Ryan, New And Selected PoemsMark Strand, Keeping Things Whole, by a Canadian native long living in and published in the United StatesTony Tost, Invisible Bride (LSU) (selected by C.D. Wright for the 2003 Walt Whitman Award)Derek Walcott, The Prodigal (Farrar, Straus & Giroux); a New York Times "notable book of the year"Rosmarie Waldrop, Blindsight (New Directions)Franz Wright, Walking to Martha's Vineyard (Knopf) (Pulitzer Prize in Poetry)Jesse Lee Kercheval, Dog AngelCriticism, scholarship and biography in the United States
Anne Waldman and Lisa Birman, editors, Civil Disobediences: Poetics and Politics in Action, essays (Coffee House Press)Mary Ann Caws, editor, Yale Anthology of Twentieth-Century French Poetry, (Yale University Press), Apollinaire and more than 100 other poets, bi-lingualThe 75 poets included in The Best American Poetry 2004, edited by David Lehman, co-edited this year by Lyn Hejinian:
Stratis Haviaras translator into English from the original Modern Greek, C.P. Cavafy, The Canon, (Athens: Hermes Publishing; reprinted by Harvard University Press in 2007), published in GreeceSeyhmus Dagtekin, La langue mordue, Publisher: Le Castor Astral; Turkish poet writing in and published in FrenchLinda Maria Baros, Le Livre de signes et d’ombres, Publisher: Éditions CheyneJean Max Tixier:Editor, La Poésie française contemporaine, anthology, publisher: CogitoEditor, Joyaux au sud / Juvaere din sud, traduit du roumain, anthology, publisher: CogitoLe temps des mots, publisher: Pluie d'étoiles éditionsDenise Desautels, editor, Mémoires parallèles, choix et présentation de Paul Chamberland, Montréal, Le Noroît (anthology)In each section, listed in alphabetical order by first name:
K. Satchidanandan, Sakshyangal, ("Witness")P. P. Ramachandran, Randay Murichathu, Thrissur: Current BooksRaghavan Atholi, Maunasilakalude Pranayakkurippukal, Calicut: Avvaiyar BooksAjeet Cour and Nirupama Dutt, editors, Our Voices: An Anthology of SAARC Poetry, in various languages, with some translations into English; New Delhi: Foundation of SAARC Writers and LiteratureJiban Narah, Suna mor Phul Koli, Guwahati, Assam: Banlata; Indian, Assamese-languageMalathi Maithri, Viduthalaiyai Ezhuthuthal ("Writing Liberation"), Nagercoil: Kalachuvadu Pathippagam; Tamil-languageNatyanubhava, Bikaner: Vagdevi Prakashan, ISBN 81-87482-49-4, anthology; Hindi-languageNirendranath Chakravarti, Mayabi Bondhon, Kolkata: Dey's Publishing; Bengali-languageSachin Ketkar, Bhintishivaicya Khidkitun Dokavtana, Mumbai: Abhidhanantar Prakashan; Marathi-languageTarannum Riyaz, editor, Biswin Sadi Mein Khwateen ka Urdu Adab ("Anthology of Twentieth Century Women's Writing in Urdu"), poetry, fiction and nonfiction anthology; New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi, ISBN 81-260-1620-5; Urdu-languageSrijato, Udanta Sawb Joker ("All Those Flying Jokers"), Bengali-languageVeerankutty, Manthrikan ("Wizard"), Kottayam: DC Books; Malayalam-languagePoland
Julia Hartwig, Bez pozegnania ("No Farewells"), 96 pages; Warsaw: Sic! ISBN 83-88807-60-9Ryszard Krynicki, Kamień, szron ("Stone, Rime"); Kraków: Wydawnictwo a5Ewa Lipska, Gdzie indziej, ("Somewhere else"); Kraków: Wydawnictwo literackieTadeusz Różewicz, Wyjście ("Exit"), Wrocław: Wydawnictwo DolnośląskieTomasz Różycki:Dwanaście stacji ("Twelve Stations"), a book-length poem, awarded the 2004 Kościelski Prize; Kraków: ZnakWiersze, containing all the poems from Różycki's first four poetry books, Warsaw: Lampa i Iskra BożaChristoph Buchwald, general editor, and Michael Lentz, guest editor, Jahrbuch der Lyrik 2005 ("Poetry Yearbook 2005"), publisher: Beck; anthology; GermanyKlaus Høeck, Hsieh, publisher: Gyldendal; DenmarkRahman Henry, Aundhokarbela, publisher: BALAKA, Chittagong. BangladeshTomas Tranströmer, The Great Enigma (Den stora gåtan), publisher: Albert Bonniers förlag; SwedenALS Gold Medal: Laurie Duggan, Mangroves, University of Queensland PressC. J. Dennis Prize for Poetry: Judith Beveridge, Wolf NotesDinny O'Hearn Poetry Prize: Totem by Luke DaviesGrace Leven Prize for Poetry: Luke Davies, Totem, Allen & UnwinKenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry: Pam Brown, Dear Deliria: New & Selected PoemsMary Gilmore Prize: David McCooey, Blister Pack; Michael Brennan, Imageless WorldGerald Lampert AwardArchibald Lampman AwardAtlantic Poetry PrizeCanadian Parliamentary Poet Laureate: Pauline Michel (until 2006)Governor General's Awards: See 2004 Governor General's AwardsGriffin Poetry Prize Canadian: Anne Simpson, LoopGriffin Poetry Prize International, in the English Language: August Kleinzahler, The Strange Hours Travelers KeepPat Lowther AwardPrix Alain-GrandboisShaunt Basmajian Chapbook AwardNew Zealand
Prime Minister's Awards for Literary Achievement:Montana New Zealand Book Awards First-book award for poetry: Cliff Fell, The Adulterer's Bible, Victoria University PressCholmondeley Award: John Agard, Ruth Padel Lawrence Sail, Eva SalzmanEric Gregory Award: Nick Laird, Elizabeth Manuel, Abi Curtis, Sophie Levy, Saradha SoobrayenForward Poetry Prize Best Collection: Kathleen Jamie, The Tree House (Picador)Forward Poetry Prize Best First Collection: Leontia Flynn, These Days (Jonathan Cape)Scots Makar (equivalent of a poet laureate to represent and promote poetry in Scotland) named on February 16: Edwin MorganOrange Prize for Fiction: Andrea Levy, Small IslandQueen's Gold Medal for Poetry: Hugo WilliamsT. S. Eliot Prize (United Kingdom and Ireland): George Szirtes, ReelWhitbread Award for poetry: Michael Symmons Roberts, "Corpus"Aiken Taylor Award for Modern American Poetry, Henry TaylorAgnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize awarded to Aaron Smith for Blue on Blue GroundAML Award for poetry to John Talbot for The Well-Tempered TantrumAndrés Montoya Poetry Prize awarded to Sheryl Luna for Pity the Drowned HorsesBernard F. Connors Prize for Poetry, Jeremy Glazier, "Conversations with the Sidereal Messenger"Bobbitt National Prize for Poetry, B.H. Fairchild for Early Occult Memory Systems of the Lower MidwestBrittingham Prize in Poetry, John Brehm, Sea of FaithFrost Medal: Richard HowardMacArthur Fellowship: C.D. WrightNational Book Award for poetry: Jean Valentine, Door in the Mountain: New and Collected Poems, 1965–2003Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress: Ted Kooser appointedPoet Laureate of Virginia: Rita Dove, two year appointment 2004 to 2006Pulitzer Prize for poetry: Franz Wright, Walking to Martha's Vineyard (ISBN 0-375-41518-1)Robert Fitzgerald Prosody Award: Timothy SteeleRuth Lilly Poetry Prize: Kay RyanWallace Stevens Award: Mark StrandWhiting Awards: Catherine Barnett, Dan Chiasson, A. Van JordanWilliam Carlos Williams Award: Anthony Butts, Little Low Heaven, Judge: Lucie Brock-BroidoFellowship of the Academy of American Poets: Jane HirshfieldAwards and honors in other nations
One of Pakistan's highest civilian honors, the Hilal-e-Imtiaz, awarded to Ahmed Faraz, an Urdu-language poet, for his literary achievementsBirth years link to the corresponding "[year] in poetry" article:
January 4 – Jeff Nuttall, 70 (born 1933), English poet, publisher, actor, painter, sculptor, jazz trumpeter, and social commentatorJanuary 8 – Norman Talbot (born 1936), AustralianJanuary 29 – Janet Frame, 79, English novelist who wrote poetry all her life; she published one collection, The Pocket Mirror, in 1967.February 17 – Bruce Beaver (born 1928), AustralianMarch 3 – Pedro Pietri 59, Puerto Rican/American poetMarch 12 – Cid Corman, 79, American poet, translator and editorAugust 29 – Donald Allen, influential editor, publisher, and translator of contemporary American literature who edited The New American Poetry 1945-1960, an influential book republished in 1990.September 16 – Virginia Hamilton Adair, 91, American poetOctober 20 – Anthony Hecht, American poetDecember 2 – Mona Van Duyn (born 1921), American poetDecember 8 – Jackson Mac Low, American poetDecember 26 – Ishigaki Rin 石垣りん (born 1920), Japanese poet, employee of the Industrial Bank of Japan, sometimes called "the bank teller poet"date not known – Mary Elizabeth Frye (born 1905), American housewife, florist, author of the poem "Do not stand at my grave and weep" 
