March 5: a car bomb was exploded on Mutanabbi Street in Baghdad. More than 30 people were killed and more than 100 were wounded. This locale is the historic center of Baghdad bookselling, a winding street filled with bookstores and outdoor book stalls. Named after the famed 10th century classical Arab poet, Al-Mutanabbi, it was an established street for bookselling for hundreds of years and the heart and soul of the Baghdad literary and intellectual community. On March 8, to remember the tragic event, Baghdad poets presented readings on the remains of the street. This was followed by various poetry readings around the United States commemorating the bombing of the historic center of the literary and intellectual community of Baghdad, many of the readings took place in the final weeks of August 2007.
April 17: Nikki Giovanni, a professor of English at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in the US state of Virginia, both spoke and recited poetry at the campus convocation commemorating the Virginia Tech massacre of the day before. Giovanni taught the Virginia Tech shooter Seung-Hui Cho in a poetry class. She had previously approached the department chair to have Cho taken out of her class. "We are the Hokies! We will prevail! We will prevail! We are Virginia Tech!" Giovanni said, bringing the audience to its feet and into a spontaneous cheer. Giovanni closed the ceremony with a chant poem, intoning, "We are sad today, and we will be sad for quite a while. We are not moving on. We are embracing our mourning. We are Virginia Tech... We do not understand this tragedy... No one deserves a tragedy."
August 9: Bangladeshi poet Taslima Nasreen was attacked at a book signing in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh by a crowd of protesters who shouted for her death. The attackers consisted of lawmakers and members of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen party who objected to her writings on religion and oppression of women. After the attack, India criminally charged Nasreen with "hurting Muslim feelings", punishable by up to three years in jail.
The New Yorker magazine announced that longtime poetry editor Alice Quinn was leaving and, as of November, Paul Muldoon, an Irish native and U.S. citizen, would be taking over what The Chronicle of Higher Education called "one of the most powerful positions in American poetry".
The Eagles set "An Old-Fashioned Song", a poem by John Hollander, to music (four-part harmony with guitar chords, but mostly singing it a cappella), named it "No More Walks in the Wood" after its first line. They released it on the album, "Long Road Out of Eden". The band added no words to the 21-line poem, and there are no choruses.
In Russia, the expert board for the Bunin Prize for poetry dissolved itself amid reports of interference and pressure from sponsors. A new expert board was formed and the jury awarded the prize to Andrei Dementyev.
Reality television contest Prince of Poets is launched in the United Arab Emirates.
Listed by nation where the work was first published and again by the poet's native land, if different; substantially revised works listed separately:
Judith Bishop, Event
David Brooks, Urban Elegies. Sydney: Island Press (Australia)
Lisa Gorton, Press Release
Kathryn Lomer, Two Kinds of Silence, University of Queensland Press, ISBN 978-0-7022-3612-9
David Malouf, Typewriter Music, winner of the 2008 Arts Queensland Judith Wright Calanthe Award
Les Murray, Selected Poems (Black Inc.) ISBN 978-1-86395-404-4
Dorothy Porter, El Dorado
Peter Skrznecki, Old/New World, University of Queensland Press, ISBN 978-0-7022-3586-3
Rob Walker, "phobiaphobia" (Picaro Press) ISBN 978-1-920957-35-3
Petra White, The Incoming Tide
Peter Rose, The Best Australian Poems 2007, Black Inc., ISBN 978-1-86395-417-4
Poets in Best Australian Poetry 2007
The Best Australian Poetry 2007 (ISBN 978-0-7022-3607-5), by series editors Bronwyn Lea and Martin Duwell; with 2007 guest editor John Tranter (University of Queensland Press), published work by these 40 poets:
Joanne Arnott, Mother Time
Margaret Atwood, The Door
Yvonne Blomer, A Broken Mirror, Fallen Leaf
Nicole Brossard, Notebook of Roses and Civilization, translated by Erin Moure (Coach House Books) ISBN 978-1-55245-181-6
Lorna Crozier, The Blue Hour of the Day
Don Domanski, All Our Wonder Unavenged (Brick Books), ISBN 978-1-894078-58-0, winner of the Governor General's Book Award
Patrick Friesen, Earth's Crude Gravities
Paul Haines, edited by Stuart Broomer, Secret Carnival Workers (Coach House Books) ISBN 978-0-9783426-0-9
Brian Henderson, Nerve Language
Sarah Lang, Work of Days (Coach House Books) ISBN 978-1-55245-189-2
Dennis Lee:
The Bard of the Universe. Kentville, NS: Gaspereau Press.
Yesno. Toronto: Anansi.
David McGimpsey, Sitcom (Coach House Books) ISBN 978-1-55245-188-5
George McWhirter, The Incorrection
Garry Thomas Morse, Streams
Erin Mouré, O Cadoiro
George Murray The Rush to Here, ISBN 978-0-88971-229-4
bpNichol, edited by Lori Emerson and Darren Wershler-Henry, Alphabet Game: A bpNichol Reader (Coach House Books) ISBN 978-1-55245-187-8
Barbara Nickel, Domain
Elizabeth Philips, Torch River
Anne Simpson Quick, ISBN 978-0-7710-8091-3
Agnes Walsh, Going Around with Bachelors
Rob Winger, Muybridge's Horse
Rachel Zolf, Human Resources (Coach House Books) ISBN 978-1-55245-182-3
Dilip Chitre, As Is, Where Is, ( Poetry in English ), Mumbai:Poetrywala; India,
Dilip Sankarreddy, Wanderings with Poetry, Peacock Books, India
C. P. Surendran, Portraits of the Space We Occupy ( Poetry in English ), New Delhi: Harper Collins, India
Ireland
Pat Boran, New and Selected Poems Dedalus Press, Ireland
Patrick Cotter general editor, Colm Breathnach and Maurice Riordan 2007 editors, The Best of Irish Poetry 2007 designed to be the first of an annual series.
Paul Durcan, The Laughter of Mothers, (Harvill Secker)
Peter Fallon, The Company of Horses, Oldcastle: The Gallery Press, ISBN 978-1-85235-424-4
Thomas McCarthy and Bríd Ní Bhóráin, editors, Best of Irish Poetry 2008, selections from 50 Irish poets published over a 12-month period, including Ciaran Carson, Harry Clifton, Kerry Hardie, Seamus Heaney, Biddy Jenkinson, Thomas Kinsella, Medbh McGuckian, Paula Meehan, John Montague, Bernard O'Donoghue, Robert Nye, Dennis O'Driscoll, Leanne O'Sullivan, Maurice Riordan, Billy Ramsell, David Wheatley, Liam Ó Muirthile, Celia de Fréine, Cathal Ó Searcaigh, William Wall, published October 2007 (Southword Editions) ISBN 978-1-905002-26-9 (anthology)
Maurice Riordan, The Holy Land London: Faber and Faber, Irish poet living in and published in the United Kingdom
New Zealand
Janet Charman, Cold Snack, Auckland: Auckland University Press
Andrew Johnston, Sol
Michele Leggott, Journey to Portugal (Holloway Press) a collection of poems written during a 2004 trip to Portugal and inspired by Fernando Pessoa, Portugal's great Modernist poet. Illustrated by Gretchen Albrecht.
Poets in Best New Zealand Poems
These poets wrote the 25 poems selected for Best New Zealand Poems 2006, published this year:
Simon Armitage, translator, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: A New Verse Translation, Faber and Faber
W. H. Auden, Collected Poems, edited by Edward Mendelson (Modern Library) (Anglo-American poet), posthumous
Dale Craske Remedy The Remedy With New Improved Remedy, Faber
Carol Ann Duffy:
Editor, Answering Back, Picador (anthology)
The Hat, Faber and Faber (children's poetry)
Ian Duhig, The Speed of Dark (Picador), on the short list for the T. S. Eliot Prize
Alan Gillis, Hawks and Doves (Gallery), on the short list for the T. S. Eliot Prize
Sophie Hannah, Pessimism for Beginners (Carcanet), on the short list for the T. S. Eliot Prize
Seamus Heaney: Something to Write Home About, Nicholson and Bass
Paul Henry, Ingrid's Husband, Seren
Mimi Khalvati, The Meanest Flower (Carcanet), on the short list for the T. S. Eliot Prize
Nick Laird, On Purpose (Faber & Faber)
Frances Leviston, Public Dream (Picador), on the short list for the T. S. Eliot Prize
Sarah Maguire, The Pomegranates of Kandahar (Chatto), on the short list for the T. S. Eliot Prize
Edwin Morgan, A Book of Lives (Carcanet), on the short list for the T. S. Eliot Prize
Daljit Nagra, Look We Have Coming to Dover!, Faber and Faber
Sean O'Brien, The Drowned Book, Picador, winner of the T. S. Eliot Prize
Michael O'Neill, The All Sustaining Air: Romantic Legacies and Renewals in British, Irish and American Poetry Since 1900 (scholarship)
Iona Opie, editor, Mother Goose's Little Treasures, a collection of nursery rhymes
Maurice Riordan, The Holy Land London: Faber and Faber, Irish poet living in and published in the United Kingdom
Fiona Sampson, Common Prayer (Carcanet), on the short list for the T. S. Eliot Prize
Zoë Skoulding, Dark Wires (with Ian Davidson)
Matthew Sweeney, Black Moon (Jonathan Cape), on the short list for the T. S. Eliot Prize
Criticism, scholarship and biography in the United States
Edward Dorn, Ed Dorn Live: Lectures, Interviews, and Outtakes (University of Michigan Press)
Robert Faggen, editor, The Notebooks of Robert Frost, Harvard University Press
Sam Hamill, Avocations: On Poets and Poetry, Red Hen
James Longenbach, The Art of the Poetic Line, Graywolf Press, ISBN 978-1-55597-495-4 ISBN 978-1-55597-495-4
Janet Malcolm, Two Lives: Gertrude and Alice, about Gertrude Stein and Alice Toklas (Yale University Press), biography
Karen Marguerite Moloney, Seamus Heaney and the Emblems of Hope, ISBN 978-0-8262-1744-8
A. David Moody, Ezra Pound: Poet I: The Young Genius 1885–1920
Adrienne Rich, Poetry and Commitment: An Essay
Mark Scroggins, The Poem of a Life: A Biography of Louis Zukofsky
Allison Hedge Coke, editor – To Topos/Oregon State University Ahani: Indigenous American Poetry
Julia Kasdorf and Michael Tyrell, editors, Broken Land: Poems of Brooklyn, anthology (New York University)
David Lehman, general editor, Heather McHugh, 2007 editor, The Best American Poetry 2007 Scribner ISBN 978-0-7432-9973-2
Kei Miller, New Caribbean Poetry, including poems by Christian Campbell, Loretta Collins, Delores Gauntlett, Shara McCallum, Marilene Phipps, Jennifer Rahim, Tanya Shirley, and Ian Strachan; Carcanet
Claudia Rankine and Lisa Sewell, editors, American Poets in the 21st century: The New Poetics, featuring the work of 13 poets: Joshua Clover, Stacy Doris, Peter Gizzi, Kenneth Goldsmith, Myung Mi Kim, Mark Levine, Tracie Morris, Mark Nowak, D.A. Powell, Juliana Spahr, Karen Volkman, Susan Wheeler, and Kevin Young; accompanied by an audio CD of readings from each poet; Wesleyan University Press, ISBN 978-0-8195-6728-4
Daniel Tobin, editor, The Book of Irish American Poetry: From the Eighteenth Century to the Present, University of Notre Dame Press
Natasha Trethewey, editor, Jeb Livingood, series editor, Best New Poets 2007: 50 Poems from Emerging Writers (Samovar Press)
Poets in The Best American Poetry 2007
These poets appeared in The Best American Poetry 2007, with David Lehman, general editor, and Heather McHugh, guest editor (who selected the poetry) (Scribner ISBN 978-0-7432-9973-2):
Breyten Breytenbach, Windcatcher: New and Selected Poems, 1964–2006, Harcourt (South African)
Chandan chowdhury- Crab of Red river. (Lal kakrar nodi); Balaka prakash, Chittagong, Bangladesh. – Bengali poetry
Annette Kure Andersen, Andetsteds ("Elsewhere")
Thomas Boberg, Gæstebogen ("Guest Book")
Anne-Louise Bosmans, Villa ("Villa")
Duna Ghali, En have med duft af mand ("A Garden with the Scent of Man")
Simon Grotrian:
Din frelser bliver din klippe ("Your Savior is Your Rock"), psalms
Tyve sorte kinder ("Twenty Black Cheeks")
Lone Hørslev, Lige mig ("Me to a T")
Niels Lyngsø, 39 digte til det brændende bibliotek ("39 Poems for a Burning Library")
Henrik Nordbrandt, Besøgstid ("Visiting Hours")
Palle Sigsgaard, Glitrende støv danser ("Glittering Dust Dances"), a short collection
Peter Christensen Teilmann, Friværdi ("Equity")
Guillaume Apollinaire, Je pense à toi mon Lou ("I Think of You My Lou"), publisher: Textuel; writings published for the first time
Seyhmus Dagtekin, Juste un pont sans feu, publisher: Le Castor astral
Emily Dickinson, Car l'adieu, c'est la nuit, translated from the original English by Claire Malroux, based on the Johnson edition; Gallimard/NRF
Claude Esteban, La Mort à distance ("Death at a Distance"), published posthumously, publisher: Gallimard
Louise Gaggini, Les Enfants sont la mémoire des hommes ("Children Are the Memory of Men"), publisher: Multitudes, a poetic tale for the benefit of UNICEF
Jean Grosjean, Arpèges et paraboles, ("Arpège and parables"), publisher: Gallimard
Abdellatif Laabi, Mon cher double, La Différence, coll. Clepsydre, Paris, Moroccan author writing in French and published in France
Anthologies published in France
L'Année poétique 2007 ("The Poetry Year 2007"), publisher: Seghers; 125 contemporary poems; anthology
Jean Orizet, editor, Anthologie de la poésie française ("Anthology of French Poetry"), publisher: Larousse, anthology
Christian Poslianec, editor, Duos d'amour, ("Love Duets"), publisher: Seghers, anthology of love poems
Jacques Allard, editor, Le Bonheur des poètes, publisher: Écrits des Forges, contemporary poetry anthology
Lindita Arapi, Am Meer, nachts, Albanian poet writing in German
Christoph Buchwald, series editor, 25. Jahrbuch der Lyrik: Die schönsten Gedichte aus 25 Jahren ("25. Yearbook of Poetry: The most beautiful poems from 25 years"); Frankfurt: Fischer (S.), 410 pages, ISBN 978-3-10-009653-1, an anthology
Hendrik Jackson, Im Innern der zerbrechenden Schale. Poetik und Pastichen ("Inside the crumbling shell: Poetics and pastiche"), Kookbooks, 144 pages, ISBN 978-3-937445-24-3; Germany
Monika Rinck, with Daniela Seel (editor), and Andrew Potter (narrator), zum fernbleiben der umarmung ("to stay away from the embrace"), 78 pages, Kookbooks, ISBN 978-3-937445-23-6; Germany
Ron Winkler, Fragmentierte Gewässer: Gedichte ("Fragmented Waters: Poems"), Berlin Verlag, 83 pages, ISBN 978-3-8270-0695-0
Katerina Iliopoulou, Mister T., Melani editions
Patricia Kolaiti, ‘Celesteia, Nefeli Publishing; nominated for the 2008 Diavazo First Book Award
Karaoke Poetry Bar, Athens: Futura Editions, an anthology
In each section, listed in alphabetical order by first name:
K. G. Sankara Pillai, KGS Kavithakal 1997–2006, Kottayam, Kerala: D C Books
Raghavan Atholi:
Kanalormmakal, Calicut: Avvaiyar Books
Kathunna Mazhakal, Calicut: Mathrubhumi
Veerankutty, Autograph, Kottayam: DC Books
Gagan Gill, translator, Devadoot Ki Bajay Kuchh Bhi, poems by Zbigniew Herbert, edited and translated into Hindi from the original Polish; Remadhav Publications, New Delhi, 2007
Mamta Sagar, Hiige HaaLeya Maile HaaDu, Bangalore: Abhinava Prakashana, Kannada-language
Mithu Sen, Bashmati Sarir Bagan Ba Gaan, (1995–2005), Kolkata: Nandimukh; Bengali-language
Rituraj, Asha Naam Nadi, Hindi-language
Poland
Ewa Lipska, Pomarańcza Newtona, ("Newton's Orange"); Kraków: Wydawnictwo literackie
Tadeusz Różewicz, nauka chodzenia, Wrocław: Biuro Literackie
Tomasz Różycki, The Forgotten Keys
Roberto Bolaño, La universidad desconocida, his complete poems, a collection he prepared (posthumous), Chile
Pablo De Santis, El enigma de Paris, Argentina
Jorge Nájar, El árbol de Sodoma, Peru
Dejan Stojanović, Ples vremena (Dance of Time), Konras, Beograd, 2007
Qaysar Aminpur, Dastur-i zaban-i eshq (“A Grammar of Love”), the best-selling poetry book this year in Iran
Mahmud Darwish, La uridu li-hadhi al-qasidah an tantahi ("I Do Not Want This Poem to End"), published posthumously; Arabian, Egypt
Sheida Mohamadi, Aks-e fowri-ye 'eshq-bazi ("A Snapshot of Love-Making"), a (Los Angeles) United States-based author published this year in Tehran, Iran; Persian
Suzan 'Ulaywan, Bayt min sukkar, ("A House Made of Sugar"), Arabic
Nobel Prize in Literature: Doris Lessing, Great Britain
Golden Wreath of Poetry: Mahmoud Darwish (Palestine)
C. J. Dennis Prize for Poetry: Judy Johnson, Jack, Pandanus Press
Dinny O'Hearn Poetry Prize: The Goldfinches of Baghdad by Robert Adamson
Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry:
Atlantic Poetry Prize:
Griffin Poetry Prize:
Canada, in the English language: Don McKay, Strike/Slip
Canada, in the French language: Serge Patrice Thibodeau, Seul on est
International, in the English Language: Charles Wright, Scar Tissue; and **"Lifetime Recognition Award" (presented by the Griffin trustees) to Tomas Tranströmer
International shortlist: Paul Farley, Tramp in Flames (Picador); Rodney Jones, Salvation Blues (Houghton Mifflin); Frederick Seidel, Ooga Booga (Farrar, Straus, Giroux)
Pat Lowther Award: Sina Queyras, Lemon Hound
Prix Alain-Grandbois:
Shaunt Basmajian Chapbook Award: Vicki Goodfellow Duke, The Year We Quit Believing
New Zealand
Prime Minister's Awards for Literary Achievement: Dick Scott, Bill Manhire and Fiona Farrell
Montana New Zealand Book Awards (poetry category): Janet Frame, for The Goose Bath
Costa Award (formerly the Whitbread Awards) for poetry: John Haynes (poet), Letter to Patience (Seren, 2006), a book-length poem; (Judges: Elaine Feinstein, Jeremy Noel-Tod and Deryn Rees-Jones)
Cholmondeley Award: Judith Kazantzis, Robert Nye, Penelope Shuttle
David Cohen Prize: Derek Mahon
Eric Gregory Award: Rachel Curzon, Miriam Gamble, Michael McKimm, Helen Mort, Jack Underwood
Forward Poetry Prizes:
Best collection: Sean O'Brien, for The Drowned Book
Best first collection: Daljit Nagra, for Look We Have Coming To Dover!
Best single poem: Alice Oswald, for "Dunt"
Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry: James Fenton
T. S. Eliot Prize:
Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize awarded to Michael McGriff for Dismantling the Hills
Bollingen Prize: Frank Bidart
Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize: Alice Notley, for Grave of Light: New and Selected Poems 1970–2005
Los Angeles Times Book Prize for poetry: Stanley Plumly, Old Heart: Poems (W. W. Norton)
National Book Award for Poetry: Robert Hass, for Time and Materials
The New Criterion Poetry Prize: J. Allyn Rosser, for Foiled Again
Pulitzer Prize for Poetry (United States): Natasha Trethewey, for Native Guard
Wallace Stevens Award: Charles Simic
Whiting Awards: Paul Guest, Cate Marvin
Frost Medal: John Hollander
Shelley Memorial Award: Kimiko Hahn; Judges: Major Jackson, Maurya Simon, and George Stanley
Writer Magazine/Emily Dickinson Award: James Richardson; Judge: Matthea Harvey
Cecil Hemley Memorial Award: Yerra Sugarman; Judge: Michael Palmer
Lyric Poetry Award: Ed Skoog; Judge: Srikanth Reddy
Lucille Medwick Memorial Award: Wayne Miller; Judge: Tracy K. Smith
Alice Fay Di Castagnola Award: Rusty Morrison; Judge: Susan Howe
Louise Louis/Emily F. Bourne Student Poetry Award: Laura Ruffino; Judge: Thomas Sayers Ellis
George Bogin Memorial Award: Wayne Miller; Judge: Eleni Sikelianos
Robert H. Winner Memorial Award: Charlene Fix; finalists: Eva Heisler, Rick Hilles
Norma Farber First Book Award: Kate Colby, Fruitlands Litmus Press; Judge: Rosmarie Waldrop
William Carlos Williams Award: Matthew Zapruder, The Pijamaist, Copper Canyon Press; finalists: Liam Rector, Elaine Terranova; Judge: Tony Hoagland
Awards and honors given elsewhere
Cervantes Prize (Spain): Juan Gelman (Argentina)
Birth years link to the corresponding "[year] in poetry" article:
January 13 – Diké Omeje, English, cancer
January 19 – Fiama Hasse Pais Brandão (born 1938), Portugal
February 13 – Elizabeth Jolley, English-born, Australian author, poet and scriptwriter
February 14 – Emmett Williams, 81, American poet, known for among other reasons, his collaborations with Daniel Spoerri and Claus Bremer in the Darmstadt circle of concrete poetry, dynamic theater, etc., from 1957 to 1959
February 24 – Julia Casterton, English
March 19:
Shimon Tzabar, 80, Israeli artist, author, poet and former Haaretz columnist, pneumonia
Robert Dickson, 62, Canadian professor, award-winning Franco-Ontarian writer and poet, cancer
March 20 – Rita Joe, 75, Canadian Mi'kmaq poet, of Parkinson's disease.
May 25 – Len Roberts, 60, American poet, professor
May 30 – William M. Meredith, 88, American, poet, professor
May 31 – Sarah Hannah, 40, American poet, professor
June 2 – John Moriarty, 69, Irish poet and philosopher
June 7 –; Michael Hamburger, 83, German poet, translator
June 20 – Nazik al-Mala'ika, 85, Iraqi poet
June 21 – Mary Ellen Solt, 86, American poet, critic
June 11 – Mercer Simpson, 81, Welsh poet, critic and academic writing in English
June 25 – Rahim al-Maliki, 39, Iraqi poet
June 27 – Dragutin Tadijanović, 102, Croatian poet
July 1 – Mộng Tuyết, 93, Vietnamese poet
July 2:
Philip Booth, 81, American poet, professor
Sandy Crimmins, 55, American poet, performance artist
July 11 – Noel Rowe (born 1951), Australian, poet, writer, academic and Roman Catholic priest in the Marist order
July 16 – Dmitri Prigov, 66, Russian poet, artist
July 18 – Sekou Sundiata, 58, American poet, performance artist
July 31 – Margaret Avison, 89, Canadian poet
August 15:
Liam Rector, 57, American poet, professor, critic
Khalid Alig, 82, Indian poet, journalist
August 22 – Grace Paley, 84, American poet, short story writer, activist
August 24 – Robbie Benoit, Canadian cowboy poet and writer
August 25 – Tarapada Roy (born 1936) Bengali poet, essayist and short-story writer known for his satirical sense of humour
August 27 – Alberto de Lacerda 78, Portuguese poet
September 13 – Bill Griffiths, 59, English poet and writer
October 21 – R. B. Kitaj, 74, American-born artist, a friend of poets, via his portraits of poets Robert Duncan, Robert Creeley, Charles Olson & others
October 30:
James Michie (poet), 80 (born 1927), English poet, translator and publisher
Paul Roche, 91 (born 1916), English poet, translator and academic once associated with the Bloomsbury Group
November 16 – Vernon Scannell, 85 (born 1922), English poet, novelist and biographer
November 17? – Landis Everson, 81, American poet, had a loose affiliation with the Berkeley Renaissance via his association with Jack Spicer's circle of poets. Everson's work was "rediscovered" only a few years before his death.
November 17:
Siv Cedering, 68, Swedish-American poet, painter, sculptor, illustrator, and author, of pancreatic cancer
Meg Campbell (born 1937), New Zealand poet and wife of Alistair Campbell
November 29 – Jaleh Esfahani, 86 (born 1921), in London, Iranian, a woman
December 16 – Diane Wood Middlebrook, nee Helen Diane Wood, 68, (born 1939), American poet, academic and biographer
December 30 – Rosemary C. Wilkinson, American poet and Honorary President of the World Academy of Arts and Culture (WAAC)
Also:
Edith Hannah Campion, New Zealand poet and actress
Alberto da Cunha Melo, Brazil
