1956 in poetry
Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature.
Events
- February 25 - English poet Ted Hughes and American poet Sylvia Plath meet in Cambridge, England.
- June 16 - Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath marry at the church of St George the Martyr, Holborn, London.
- September 6 - American poet Richard Eberhart, having been sent by The New York Times to San Francisco to report on the poetry scene there, publishes this day an article in the New York Times Book Review titled "West Coast Rhythms" which helps call national attention to Allen Ginsberg's Howl as "the most remarkable poem of the young group" of poets who are becoming known as the spokesmen of the Beat Generation. On November 1, Howl and Other Poems, is published by City Lights Bookstore.
- The Lake Eden campus of Black Mountain College, the birthplace of the Black Mountain School of poetry, closes, although classes do not end until the spring of 1957, and the final issue of the Black Mountain Review is published in the fall of 1957.
- Quadrant magazine is founded in Australia by Richard Krygier, a Polish-Jewish refugee who had been active in social-democrat politics in Europe, and James McAuley, a Catholic poet.
- Northern Review, founded in 1945 from the merger of two small Canadian literary magazines, Preview and First Statement, publishes its last issue.
- Tamarack Review founded by Robert Weaver in Canada
Works published in English
Australia">Australian poetry">Australia
- James McAuley, A Vision of Ceremony
Canada">Canadian poetry">Canada
- Leonard Cohen, Let Us Compare Mythologies, Canada
- R. A. D. Ford, A Window on the North
- Louis Dudek, The Transparent Sea. Toronto: Contact Press, 1956.
- Eldon Grier, Poems
- Irving Layton, The Bull Calf and Other Poems. Toronto: Contact Press.
- Irving Layton, The Improved Binoculars: Selected Poems. Introduction by William Carlos Williams. Highlands, NC: Jonathan Williams.
- Irving Layton, Music on a Kazoo. Toronto: Contact Press.
- W.W.E. Ross, Experiment 1923-1929, Contact Press.
- Raymond Souster, The Selected Poems. Louis Dudek ed. Toronto: Contact Press.
- Raymond Souster ed. Poets 56: Ten Younger English-Canadians. Toronto: Contact Press.
- Wilfred Watson, Even Your Right Eye
New Zealand">New Zealand poetry">New Zealand
- Robert Chapman and Jonathan Bennett, editors, An Anthology of New Zealand Verse, Oxford University Press
- D'Arcy Cresswell, The Voyage of the Hurunui : a Ballad, Christchurch: Caxton Press
- Charles Doyle, A Splinter of Glass
India">Indian poetry">India in English">Indian poetry in English">in English
- Einar Beer, Samadhi Poems and Autumn Rains, Alvdal: The Brahmakul;
- Humayun Kabir, Mahatma & other Poems,
United Kingdom">English poetry">United Kingdom
- Kingsley Amis, A Case of Samples: Poems 1946-1956
- David Gascoyne, Night Thoughts
- John Holloway, The Minute and Longer Poems, Hessle, East Yorkshire: Marvell Press
- Christopher Logue, Devil, Maggot and Son
- Norman MacCaig, Riding Lights, London: Hogarth Press
- Edwin Muir, One Foot in Eden
- E. J. Scovell, The River Steamer, and Other Poems
- Fredegond Shove, Poems
United States">American poetry">United States
- John Ashbery, Some Trees
- John Berryman, Homage to Mistress Bradstreet, New York: Farrar, Straus & Cudahy
- Gwendolyn Brooks, Bronzeville Boys and Girls
- Witter Bynner, A Book of Lyrics
- Robert Creeley, If You
- Kenneth Fearing, New and Selected Poems
- Robert Fitzgerald, In the Rose of Time: Poems 1931-1956
- Allen Ginsberg, Howl
- Anne Morrow Lindbergh, The Unicorn, and Other Poems
- W. S. Merwin, Green with Beasts, New York: Knopf
- Kenneth Rexroth, 30 Spanish Poems of Love and Exile and, 100 Poems from the Chinese
- Edna St. Vincent Millay, Collected Poems
- Marianne Moore, Like a Bulwark
- Gertrude Stein, Stanzas in meditation and Other Poems
- Peter Viereck, The Persimmon Tree
- John Hall Wheelock, Poems Old and New
- Reed Whittemore, An American Takes a Walk
- Richard Wilbur, Things of This World: Poems, New York: Harcourt, Brace
- Tennessee Williams, In the Winter of Cities
Works published in other languages
France">French poetry">France
- Louis Aragon, Le Roman inachevé
- Aimé Césaire, Cahier d'un retour au pays natal, definitive, revised edition
- Pierre Jean Jouve, Lyrique
- Henri Michaux, Misérable miracle, about his experiences taking mescaline
- Jules Supervielle, L'Escalier
- Tristan Tzara, pen name of Sami Rosenstock, Le fruit permis
Germany">German poetry">Germany
- W. Höllerer, editor, Transit, anthology, German
- Rupert Hirschenauer and Albrecht Weber, editors, Wege zum Gedicht, 2 volumes, Germany, scholarship
- Walther Killy, Wandlungen des lyrischen Bildes
India">Indian poetry">India
Dogri">Dogri poetry">Dogri
- Dinu Bhai Pant, Dadi Te Mam
- Shambhu Nath Sharma, Bhadasa
- Shuk Dev Shastri, Svacchanda Trivani, verses celebrating traditional values and patterned on Sanskrit meters
- Tara Smail Puri, Fauji Pimsanar, a long poem on the plight of a military veteran
Gujarati">Gujarati poetry">Gujarati
- Bhatt Damodar Kesavaji, pen name "Sudhansu", Alakhtano, Gujarati
- Dhirubhai Thaker, Arvacin Gujarati Shaityani Vikasrekha, a Gujarati-language history of that language's literature from 1850 to the post-independence period
- Natvarlal Kuberdas Pandya 'Ushnas', Nepathye, longer poems based on new interpretations of mythological characters; Gujarati
- Suresh Joshi, Upjati, Indian, Gujarati language
Kannada">Kannada poetry">Kannada
- C. Mahadevappa, translation from the English of Percy Bysshe Shelley's The Defence of Poetry
- Channaveera Kanavi, Dipadhari, with some lyrics in the navodaya style, others in the navya; poetry known as Samanvaya Kavya in Kannada poetry because it attempted to synthesize the two types of subject matter: both the beauty of nature, folk traditions, mysticism, and humanism of the one form and the stark contemporary realism of the other
- Yarmunja Ramachandra, Vidaya, the author's only book of poems, published posthumously after his death at age 22
Malayalam">Malayalam poetry">Malayalam
- O. N. V. Kurup, Dahikkunna Panapatram, Malayalam, the author's earliest poems, mostly lyrics reflecting revolutionary idealism
- Sreedhara Menon, Vittumkaikkottum, Malayalam
- Sukumar Azhikode, Ramananum Malayala Kavitayum, critical study in Malayalam of Changampuzha's Ramanan
Urdu">Urdu poetry">Urdu
- Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Zindan Nama
- Mirza Muhammad Muqimi Bijapuri, Candar badan va Mahayar, edited by Muhammad Akbaruddin Siddiqi, narrative poems
- Nadim, "Subuhdam Yets Chhu Paratshyon Gashi-Tarukh", the first sonnet in the Kashmiri language; published in the Urdu publication Tameer
Other Indian languages
- Harekrushna Mahadab, Chayapathara Yatri, Oriya
- Kunvar Narayan, Cakravyuha, New Delhi: Radhakrishan Prakashan, ; Hindi-language
- Parsram Rohra, Sargam, Sindhi
- Sankha Ghosh, Dinguli Ratguli, the author's first book of poems, Bengali
Spanish language
- Mario Benedetti, Poemas de oficina, Uruguay
- José Santos Chocano, Las mejores poesías de Chocano, pról. de Francisco Bendezú, Peru
- Juan Gelman, Violín y otras cuestiones, Argentina
- Octavio Paz, La estación violenta, Mexico
Other languages
- Miron Białoszewski's first book: Obroty rzeczy, Poland
- Zbigniew Herbert's first book: Struna światła, Poland
- Harry Martinson, Aniara, Swedish
- Eugenio Montale, La bufera e altro, a first edition of 1,000 copies, Venice: Neri Pozza; second, larger edition published in 1957, Milan: Arnaldo Mondadore Editore; Italy
- Nizar Qabbani, Poems, Syrian poet writing in Arabic
- Yevgeny Yevtushenko, Stantsiia Zima, Soviet Union
Awards and honors
- Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress : Randall Jarrell appointed this year.
- National Book Award for Poetry: W. H. Auden, The Shield of Achilles
- Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: Elizabeth Bishop: Poems - North & South
- Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry: Edmund Blunden
- Bollingen Prize: Conrad Aiken
- Fellowship of the Academy of American Poets: William Carlos Williams
- Adonais Prize : María C. Lacaci, Humana voz
- Canada: Governor General's Award, poetry or drama: A Window on the North, Robert A.D. Ford
Births
- January 1 - John O'Donohue, Irish poet, author, priest, and philosopher
- January 21 - Ian McMillan, English poet
- April 7 - Dionisio D. Martinez, Cuban-born poet who grows up speaking Spanish, raised first in Spain, then in the United States
- May 9 - Henri Cole, Japanese-born American poet
- May 22 - Lucie Brock-Broido, American poet
- August 15 - Henry Normal, born Pete Carroll, English performance poet and television comedy producer
- August 21 - Julia Darling, English fiction writer, poet and dramatist
- September 26 - Mick Imlah, Scottish-born poet
- October 7 - Diane Ackerman, American poet and naturalist
- October 30 - Annie Finch, American poet, librettist and theorist
- Also:
- * Bai Hua, Chinese poet
- * Jim Daniels, American poet, writer and academic
- * Forrest Gander, American poet, essayist and translator
- * Amy Gerstler, American poet
- * Lachlan Mackinnon, Scottish-born poet and critic
- * Amir Or, Israeli poet
Deaths
- January 31 - A. A. Milne, 74, English author of children's books and children's poetry
- March 23 - Mitsuko Shiga 四賀光子, pen name of Mitsu Ota, Japanese, Taishō and Shōwa period tanka poet, a woman
- March 30 - Edmund Clerihew Bentley, 80, popular English novelist and humorist and inventor of the clerihew, an irregular form of humorous verse on biographical topics
- April 2 - Kōtarō Takamura 高村 光太郎, Japanese poet and sculptor; son of sculptor Takamura Kōun
- May 11 - Takashi Matsumoto 松本たかし, Japanese, Shōwa period professional haiku poet in the Shippo-kai haiku circle, then, starting in 1929, in the Hototogisu group that also included Kawabata Bosha; founded a literary magazine, Fue, in 1946
- May 15 - Arthur Talmage Abernethy, American poet, journalist, theologian, minister; North Carolina Poet Laureate 1948–53
- June 22 - Walter de la Mare, 83, English poet, short story writer and author of children's books
- July 7 - Gottfried Benn, German expressionist poet; buried in Dahlem Waldfriedhof, Berlin
- July 8 - Giovanni Papini, 75, Italian poet, essayist, journalist, literary critic, and novelist
- July 11 - Dorothy Wellesley, 70, English socialite, author, poet and literary editor
- August 31 - Percy MacKaye, 81, American playwright and poet
- September 7 - Frank Oliver Call, Canadian poet and academic
- November 21 - Aizu Yaichi , Japanese poet, calligrapher and historian