1952 in poetry
Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature.
Events
- August 12 — Night of the Murdered Poets, the execution of thirteen Soviet Jews in the Lubyanka Prison in Moscow, Soviet Union, including several poets.
- November — The Group British poetry movement of the 1950s and 1960s begins at Downing College, University of Cambridge: Philip Hobsbaum along with two friends - Tony Davis and Neil Morris - dissatisfied with the way poetry has been read aloud in the university, decides to place a notice in the undergraduate newspaper Varsity for people interested in forming a poetry discussion group. Five others, including Peter Redgrove, come along to the first meeting. The group meets once a week during term; it moves to London in 1955.
- E. E. Cummings is appointed to a Charles Eliot Norton Professorship at Harvard.
- Contact, a mimeographed poetry magazine, founded by Ramond Souster ; Contact Press, an important publisher of Canadian poetry, is also founded.
- Lines Review, a Scottish poetry magazine, is founded by Callum Macdonald in Edinburgh.
Works published in English
Canada">Canadian poetry">Canada
- Alfred Bailey, Border River
- Earle Birney, Trial of a City and Other Verse. Toronto: Ryerson.
- Louis Dudek, Raymond Souster and Irving Layton. Cerberus. Toronto: Contact Press, 1952.
- Louis Dudek, The Searching Image. Toronto: Ryerson Press, 1952.
- Louis Dudek, Twenty-Four Poems. Toronto: Contact Press, 1952.
- Wilson MacDonald, The Lyric Year. Toronto: Ryerson.
- Jay Macpherson, Nineteen Poems
- E. J. Pratt, Towards the Last Spike, Toronto: Macmillan. Governor General's Award 1952.
India">Indian poetry">India, in English">Indian poetry in English">in English
- Sri Aurobindo, Last Poems, mostly philosophical, mystical poetry; Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram, posthumously published, posthumously published
- Dilip Kumar Roy, Sri Aurobindo Came to Me, Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram
- Themis, Poems, 74 mystical lyrics, from the Aurobindoean school; Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram
- G. V. Subbaramayya, Songs and Sonnets, Nellore: Viveka Publishers
- Nissim Ezekiel, A Time to Change,
New Zealand">New Zealand literature">New Zealand
- James K. Baxter, Louis Johnson and Anton Vogt, Poems Unpleasant, Christchurch: Pegasus Press
- A. R. D. Fairburn:
- * Three Poems
- * Strange Rendezvous
- Keith Sinclair, Songs for a Summer and Other Poems
- Robert Thompson, editor, 13 New Zealand Poets
United Kingdom">English poetry">United Kingdom
- A. Alvarez, Poems
- W. H. Auden, Nones, published February 22 in the United Kingdom
- William Buchan, 3rd Baron Tweedsmuir, Personal Poems
- C. Day-Lewis, translation, The Aenid of Virgil
- Patric Dickinson, The Sailing Race, and Other Poems
- Lawrence Durrell, A Key To Modern Poetry
- Nissim Ezekiel, Time To Change, Indian living at this time in the United Kingdom
- Gabriel Fielding, The Frog Prince and Other Poems
- Michael Hamburger, translator into English from the German original of Austrian Georg Trakl's Decline: 12 Poems, Guido Morris / Latin Press
- David Jones, The Anathemata
- Thomas Kinsella, The Starlit Eye
- Louis MacNeice, Ten Burnt Offerings
- Edwin Muir, Collected Poems 1921–51
- James Reeves, The Password, and Other Poems
- Sir Osbert Sitwell, Wrack at Tidesend, published on May 16, a sequel to England Reclaimed of 1927
- Dylan Thomas:
- * Collected Poems 1934–1952
- * In Country Sleep, including the poem "Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night"
- R.S. Thomas, An Acre of Land''
United States">American poetry">United States
- R. P. Blackmur, Language as Gesture, criticism
- Robert Creeley, Le Fou, American published in Europe
- Archibald Macleish, Collected Poems, 1917–1952, winner of the Pulitzer Prize
- W. S. Merwin, A Mask for Janus, New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press; awarded the Yale Younger Poets Prize, 1952
- Frank O'Hara, A City in Winter and Other Poems
- Kenneth Rexroth, The Dragon and the Unicorn, a verse journal of his European travels
- Wallace Stevens, Selected Poems, Fortune Press
- Jesse Stuart, Kentucky Is my Land
- New World Writing the first of an annual paperback anthology of prose, drama and poetry; continues to 1959 in poetry
- Peter Viereck, The First Morning
- Yvor Winter, Collected Poems
Other
- R. Berndt, editor, Djanggawul, anthology of Australian poetry
- Seaforth Mackenzie, editor Australian Poetry, 1951-2, Sydney: Angus and Robertson; Australia
Works published in other languages
France">French poetry">France
- Rene-Guy Cadou, Helene ou le regne vegetal, Volume 1, published posthumously
- Jean Cayrol, Les Mots sont aussi des demeures 1952
- Jean Cocteau, Le Chiffre sept
- Pierre Emmanuel, pen name of Noël Mathieu, Babel
- Jean Grosjean, Le Livre du juste
- Benjamin Péret, Air mexicain
- Raymond Queneau, Si tu t'imagines
- Francis Ponge, La Rage de lexpression
- Georges Schéhadé, Les Poésies
India">Indian poetry">India
Hindi">Hindi poetry">Hindi
- Haradayalu Singh, Ravan, poem written in Braja Bhasa; with characters from classical epic poems and presenting Ravana in a sympathetic light; 17 chapters
- Narmada Prasad Khare, Svar-Pathey
- Ramadhari Singh Dinakar, Rasmi Rathi, epic poem about Karna, a character in the Mahabharata
Kannada">Kannada poetry">Kannada
- D. V. Gundappa, translator, Umarana Osage, translated from the English of Edward Fitzgerald's translation of The Rubaiyatt of Omar Khayyam
- M. Gopalakrishna Adiga, Nadedu Banna Dari, poems showing the transition in Indian poetry from the more idealistic Navodaya tradition to Navya poetry which is more pessimistic and uses imagery to provide structure; Kannada
- Pejavara Sadashiva Rao, Varuna, written before 1950, but differing distinctly from navodaya poetry; using original rhythm and with subject matter from the experiences of an alienated individual; including "Natyotsava", considered by some critics as the earliest navya poem in the Kannada language; published posthumously
Other languages in India
- Amrita Pritam, Sarghi Vela, romantic and progressive poems; Punjabi
- Bahinabai, Bahinabaici Kavita, Marathi
- Birendra Chattopadhyay, Ranur Janya, Bengali
- Chandranath Mishra, Yugacakra, humorous and satirical poems by "a major poet of Maithili", according to Indian academic Sisir Kumar Das
- Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Dast-e-Saba, Urdu
- Mehr Lal Soni Zia Fatehabadi, Nai Subah, collection of poems published by Adaaraa Seemab, Daryaganj, Delhi in 1952. Urdu
- Gangaprasad Upadhyay, Arodaya mahakavya, epic poem on Swami Dayananda; Sanskrit
- Jnanindra Barma Eka Ratri, Uttara Kranti, Ratnarakha, Oriya
- Mir Shaban Dar, Qissa-e-Bahram Shah, popular romantic poem in masnavi form, modeled on a Persian poem; Kashmiri
- Parsram Rohra, Sitar, Sindhi
- Pinakin Thakore, Alap, Gujarati
- Pir Atiquallah, Pirnama, comic narrative poem in masnavi form on the "Ways of the Pir"; shows the influence of Maqbool; Kashmiri
- Rayaprolu Subba Rao, Rupanavanitamu, poems honoring womanhood and spiritual love; Telugu
- Sreedhara Menon, Onappattukar, Malayalam
Other languages
- Paul Celan, Poppy and Memory, Romanian-born poet writing in German
- Gabriela Mistral, Los sonetos de la muerte y otros poemas elegíacos, Santiago, Chile: Philobiblion
- Sean O Riordain, Eireaball Spideoige, including "Adhlacadh Mo Mhathar", "Malairt", "Cnoc Melleri" and "Siollabadh", Gaelic-language, Ireland
- Wisława Szymborska: Dlatego żyjemy, Poland
Awards and honors
- Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress : William Carlos Williams appointed this year.
- Bollingen Prize: Marianne Moore
- Frost Medal: Carl Sandburg
- National Book Award for Poetry: Marianne Moore, Collected Poems
- Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: Marianne Moore, Collected Poems
- King's Gold Medal for Poetry: Andrew Young
- Fellowship of the Academy of American Poets: Padraic Colum
- Canada: Governor General's Award, poetry or drama: Towards the Last Spike, E. J. Pratt
Births
- January 2 – Jimmy Santiago Baca, American poet and writer
- January 10 – Dorianne Laux, American poet
- January 11 – Carla Harryman, American poet and playwright
- January 17 – Barry Dempster, Canadian poet and novelist
- January 20 – Roo Borson, pen name of Ruth Elizabeth Borson, American native living in Canada
- January 24 – Alice Fulton, American poet, author and MacArthur Foundation fellow
- February 24
- * Maxine Chernoff, American novelist, poet and editor
- * Judith Ortiz Cofer, Puerto Rican American author of poetry, short stories, autobiography, essays and young adult novels
- March 12 – Naomi Shihab Nye, American poet and songwriter born to a Palestinian father and American mother
- April 12 – Gary Soto, Mexican-American poet and author
- May – Susan Stewart, American poet, academic and literary critic
- June 20 – Vikram Seth, Indian poet, novelist, travel writer, librettist, children's writer, biographer and memoirist
- June 5 – Mark Jarman, American poet and critic often identified with the "New Narrative" branch of the New Formalism
- August 5 – D. C. Reid, Canadian poet, novelist and short story writer
- August 12 – Robert Minhinnick, Welsh poet and writer
- August 24 – Linton Kwesi Johnson, Jamaican-born musician and poet
- August 28 – Rita Dove, African American poet and author and Poet Laureate of the United States
- September 18 – Alberto Ríos, American poet and writer
- September 21 – Jock Scot, born John Leslie, Scottish performance poet
- October 6 – Matthew Sweeney, Irish poet
- October 26 – Andrew Motion, English poet, novelist, biographer and Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom
- November 7 – Malca Litovitz, Canadian poet, author and educator
- December 12 – Helen Dunmore, English poet
- December 19 – Sean O'Brien, English poet
- December 20 – Sky Gilbert, Canadian poet, writer, actor, academic and drag performer
- Also:
- * Harry Clifton, Irish
- * Menna Elfyn, Welsh
- * Jan Horner, Canadian
- * Carole Glasser Langille, Canadian
- * Myron Lysenko, Australian
- * Maurice Scully, Irish poet and editor.
- * Carolyn Smart, English–Canadian poet and educator
- * Elizabeth Spires, American poet and academic
- * thalia, Greek-born Australian
Deaths
- January 22 – Roger Vitrac, 52, French Surrealist poet and dramatist
- February 3 – Kambara Ariake 蒲原有明, pen name of Kambara Hayao, Taishō and Shōwa period Japanese poet and novelist
- March 1 – Masao Kume 久米正雄, writing under the pen name "Santei", late Taishō period and early Shōwa period Japanese playwright, novelist and haiku poet
- July 8 – August Alle, Estonian writer and poet
- August 1 – Arthur Shearly Cripps, English Anglican missionary, short story writer and poet
- August 22 – E. J. Brady, Australian
- September 26 – George Santayana, Spanish-American philosopher, essayist, poet and novelist
- November 16 – Charles Maurras, 84, French author, poet and critic
- November 18 – Paul Éluard, 56, French poet; broke with Surrealism on becoming a Stalinist
- November 21 – Henriette Roland Holst, Dutch poet and socialist
- November 23 – Aaro Hellaakoski, Finnish poet
- December 27 – Patrick Joseph Hartigan, writing under the pen name "Joseph O'Brien", Australian
- Also:
- * Wendy Jenkins, Australian