1961 in poetry

Events

• January 20 - Robert Frost recites his poem "The Gift Outright" at the Inauguration of John F. Kennedy as President of the United States.
• February - American poet in London Sylvia Plath suffers a miscarriage. Several of her poems, including "Parliament Hill Fields", address this event.
• November - Liverpool poets Roger McGough, Adrian Henri and Brian Patten first meet, in a basement coffee bar on the city's Mount Pleasant.
• Keith and Rosmarie Waldrop buy a secondhand printing press and start Burning Deck magazine in the United States.
• Tish literary magazine, founded in Vancouver, British Columbia. It is published intermittently until 1969. Poets associated with the magazine include Frank Davey, Fred Wah, George Bowering, and, briefly, bpNichol when he lives in Vancouver.
• Kyk-over-al magazine in Guyana ceases publication

  Works published in English

Canada">Canadian literature">Canada

• Earle Birney, Ice Cod Bell on Stone
• Arthur Bourinot, Poems: Paul Bunyan, Three Lincoln Poems and Other Verse
• Leonard Cohen, The Spice-Box of Earth
• Robert Finch
• *Dover Beach Revisited, a meditation on the significance of Matthew Arnold
• *Acis in Oxford and Other Poems
• Ralph Gustafson, Rivers Among Rocks
• Daryl Hine, The Devil's Picture Books
• D. G. Jones, The Sun is Axeman
• Irving Layton, The Swinging Flesh
• Eli Mandel and Jean Guy Pilon, Poetry 62, an anthology
• Gwendolyn MacEwen:
• * Selah. Toronto: Aleph Press.
• * The Drunken Clock. Toronto: Aleph Press.
• D. Pacey, Creative Writing in Canada, revised edition
• Dorothy Roberts, Twice to Flame

  Ireland">Irish poetry">Ireland

• Austin Clarke, Later Poems, Dublin: Dolmen Press, Ireland
• Thomas Kinsella:
• * Downstream, Dublin: Dolmen Press
• * Poems and Translations, New York: Atheneum

  India">Indian poetry">India in English">Indian poetry in English">English

• Lila Ray, Entrance, Calcutta: Writers Workshop, India.
• Harindranath Chattopadhyaya, Masks and Farewells, Bombay: Asia
• Ira De, The Hunt and Other Poems, Calcutta: Writers Workshop, India.
• Sarojini Naidu, The Feather of the Dawn, posthumously published, edited by her daughter, Padmaja Naidu
• Trilok Chandra, A Hundred and One Flowers

  United Kingdom">English poetry">United Kingdom

• James K. Baxter, Howrah Bridge and Other Poems, London: Oxford University Press, New Zealand poet published in the United Kingdom
• Thomas Blackburn, A Smell of Burning
• Alan Brownjohn, The Railings
• Charles Causley, Johnny Alleluia
• Jack Clemo, The Map of Clay
• Padraic Colum, Irish Elegies
• Donald Davie, New and Selected Poems, Middletown, Connecticut: Wesleyan University Press
• Ian Hamilton Finlay, Glasgow Beasts, An a Burd, Edinburgh: Wild Flounder Press
• Roy Fisher, City
• John Fuller, Fairground Music
• Robert Graves, More Poems 1961
• Thom Gunn, My Sad Captains, and Other Poems, London: Faber and Faber; University of Chicago Press
• Ralph Hodgson, Collected Poems
• David Holbrook, Imaginings
• Graham Hough, Legends and Pastorals
• Elizabeth Jennings, Song for a Birth or a Death, and Other Poems
• Jenny Joseph, "Warning"
• Edward Lucie-Smith, A Tropical Childhood, and Other Poems, including "The Witnesses", "The Fault", and "On Looking at Stubb's Anatomy of the Horse"
• Hugh MacDiarmid, pen name of Christohper Murray Grieve, The Kind of Poetry I Want
• Louis MacNeice, Solstices
• John Masefield, Bluebells, and Other Verse
• John Montague, The Nature of Cold Weather, London: MacGibbon and Kee
• Peter Porter, Once Bitten, Twice Bitten, by an Australian living in England, Northwood, Middlesex: Scorpion Press
• Peter Redgrove, The Collector, London: Routledge and Kegan Paul
• Siegfried Sassoon, Collected Poems
• C. H. Sisson, The London Zoo
• Iain Crichton Smith, Thistles and Roses
• Jon Stallworthy, The Astronomy of Love
• Gillian Stoneham, When That April
• R.S. Thomas, Tares, Welsh
• Marina Tsvetayeva, The Selected Poems of Marina Tsvetayeva, translated by Elaine Feinstein, Oxford University Press, first of four editions
• John Wain, Weep Before God, including "Time Was", which won second prize in the international Borestone Mountain Poetry Awards competition, London: Macmillan

  Criticism, scholarship and biography in the United Kingdom

• William Empson, Milton's God
• Doris Landley Moore, The Late Lord Byron

  United States">American poetry">United States

• Lee Anderson, Nags Head
• Helen Bevington, When Found, Make a Verse Of
• Paul Blackburn, The Nets
• Harold Bloom, John Hollander, editors, The Wind and the Rain
• Philip Booth, The Islanders
• Joseph Payne Brennan, The Wind of Time, Hawk & Whippoorwill Press August Derleth
• John Ciardi, In the Stoneworks
• Leonard Cohen, The Spice-Box of Earth
• Donald Davidson, The Long Street
• August Derleth, editor, Fire and Sleet and Candlelight
• Hilda Doolittle, Helen in Egypt, a long retelling of the tale in lyrical prose and verse of the Helen of Troy tale
• Ed Dorn, The Newly Fallen, Totem Press
• Alan Dugan, Poems
• Abbie Houston Evans, Fact of Crystal
• Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Starting from San Francisco
• Arthur Freeman, Apollonian Poems
• George Garrett, Abraham's Knife
• Allen Ginsberg:
• * Empty Mirror: Early Poems, New York: Totem/Corinth
• * Kaddish and Other Poems, San Francisco: City Lights Books
• Horace Gregory, Medusa in Gramercy Park
• Thom Gunn, My Sad Captains, London: Faber and Faber; University of Chicago Press Briton
• Daryl Hine, Heroics
• John Hollander, The Untuning of the Sky
• John Holmes, The Fortune Teller
• David Ignatow, Say Pardon
• LeRoi Jones, Preface to a Twenty Volume Suicide Note
• Carolyn Kizer, The Ungrateful Garden, Bloomington: Indiana University Press
• Maxine Kumin, Halfway
• Denise Levertov, The Jacob's Ladder, New York: New Directions
• Philip Levine, On the Edge
• Robert Lowell, Imitations
• W. S. Merwin:
• * Translator, Some Spanish Ballads, London: Abelard
• * Editor, West Wind: Supplement of American Poetry, London: Poetry Book Society
• Pablo Neruda, Odas elementales, translated by C. Lozano and with an introduction by Fernando Alegría
• Lorine Niedecker, My Friend Tree
• John Nist, editor, Modern Brazilian Poetry
• Charles Olson:
• *The Maximus Poems
• *The Distances
• Hyam Plutzik, Horatio, a narrative monologue basically in blank verse
• Theodore Roethke, I Am! Says the Lamb
• May Sarton, Cloud, Stone, Sun, Vine
• Peter Viereck, The Tree Witch
• John Hall Wheelock, The Gardener
• Richard Wilbur, Advice to a Prophet
• James Wright and Robert Bly, translators, Twenty Poems of Georg Trakl, The Sixties Press

  Criticism, scholarship and biography in the United States

• Roger Asselineau, The Evolution of Walt Whitman
• Walter Lowenfels, editor, Walt Whitman's Civil War, Whitman's writing about the war
• Edwin Haviland Miller, The Correspondence of Walt Whitman
• Archibald MacLeish, Poetry and Experience

  Other in English

• James K. Baxter, Howrah Bridge and Other Poems, London: Oxford University Press, New Zealand poet published in the United Kingdom
• Allen Curnow, editor, Penguin Book of New Zealand Verse,
• A. D. Hope, Poems
• Kenneth Slessor, The Penguin Book of Modern Australian Verse, Melbourne, Australia, anthology

  Works published in other languages

French language

Canada">Canadian poetry">Canada, in French

• Rina Lasnier, Mémoire sans jour
• Paul Marie Lapointe, Choix de poèmes
• Jean-Guy Pilon:
• * La Mouette et le large
• * Recours au pays, Montréal: l'Hexagone

  France">French literature">France

• Andre du Bouchet, Dans la chaleur vacante
• Aimé Césaire,Cadastre, Martinique author published in France; Paris: Editions du Seuil
• Jean Cocteau, Le Cérémonial espagnol de Phoenix
• Michel Deguy, Poemes de la presqu'ile
• Max Pol Fouchet, Demeure le Secret
• Eugène Guillevic, Carnac
• Henri Michaux, Connaisance par les gouffres, Paris: Gallimard
• Marie Noël, Chants d'arrière-saison
• Francis Ponge, Le Grand Recueil, three volumes
• Raymond Queneau, Cent mille milliards de poèmes
• Georges Schéhadé, Nocturnes
• Léopold Sédar Senghor, Nocturnes
• Jean Tardieu, Choix de poèmes

  Criticism, scholarship and biography in France

• André Berry, editor, Anthologie de la poésie occitane
• Yves Bonnefoy, Rimbaud
• Saint-John Perse, Poésie: allocution au Banquet Nobel du 10 décembre 1960, Paris: Gallimard

  Germany">German literature">Germany

• Clemens Hesselhaus, editor, Deutsche Lyrik der Moderne: von Nietzsche bis Yvan Goll Düsseldorf: August Bagel an anthology

  Criticism, scholarship and biography in Germany

• Wilhelm Emrich, Protest und Verheissung
• Walter Jens, Deutsche Literatur der Gegenwart

  Hebrew">Hebrew literature">Hebrew

• J. Akavyahu, Manginot Hazot
• Anonymous poet from a Soviet Bloc country, Behilokah Halail, the poems were clandestinely smuggled into Israel and published
• K. A. Bertini, Shevil Kahol
• A. Broides, El ha-Shahar ha-Gonuz
• Yonah David, Shirim Le-lo Ahava
• Israel Efros, Bain Hofim Nistarim
• Hayim Guri, Shoshanat ha-Ruhot
• Yosef Lichtenbaum, ba-Mishor ha-Govoha
• E. Lisitzky, Kemo ha-Yom Rad published in the United States
• Anda Pinkerfield-Amir, Gadish ve-Omer
• Gabriel Preil, Mapat Erew, published in the United States
• T. Ribner, Shirim Limzo Et
• Rena Shani, Ir Zara
• Nathan Zakh, Shirim Shonim

  Criticism, scholarship and biography in Hebrew

• B. Kurzweil, Bialik ve- Tchernichovsky — Mehkarim be-Shiratam, about aspects of the works of two important poets of the Hebrew literary renaissance

  India">Indian poetry">India

• Akhtarul Imam, Yaden, Urdu-language
• Ayyappa Paniker, Kurukshetram, Malayalam-language
• Nirendranath Chakravarti; Bengali-language:
• * Prothom Nayok, Kolkata: Surabhi Prokashoni
• * Ondhokar Baranda, Kolkata: Krittibaash Prokashoni
• Kunwar Narain, Parivesh Hum Tum, Allahabad: Bharti Bahandar, Leader Press; Hindi-language

  Italy">Italian literature">Italy

• Attilio Giuliani, editor, Novissimi, an anthology-cum-manifesto of five poets which, by 1965, was "increasingly regarded as the principal event in Italian poetry in recent times"

  Portuguese language

Portugal

• Ruy de Moura Belo, Aquele grande rio Eufrates
• Herberto Hélder, A Colher na Boca
• Mário Cesariny:
• * Poesia
• * Planisfério e Outros Poemas

  Spanish language

Spain">Spanish literature">Spain

• María Victoria Atencia, Cañada de los ingleses
• Miguel Hernández, a "complete" collection of poems
• Gerardo Diego, Glosa a Villamediana

  Anthologies in Spain

• Jimenez Martos, editor, Nuevos poetas españoles, mostly on the work of the "Generation of '54"
• Rafael Montesinos, editor, Poesía taurina contemporánea, including verse by Miguel Hernández, Diego and García Lorca

  Latin America">Latin American literature">Latin America

• Arturo Corcuera, Sombra del jardín
• Roque Dalton, La ventana en rel rostro
• Hernando Domínguez de Camargo, Obras de Hernando Domínguez de Camargo
• Octavio Paz, Libertad bajo palabra collected poems previously published from 1935 to 1958 in a volume using the title of an earlier book of his
• Carlos A. Velazco, El corazón de silencio

  Anthologies in Latin America

• Anuario del cuento mexicano
• Antonio Cisneros, Destierro, the author's first volume of poetry; Peru
• Ginés de Albareda and F. Garfias, editors, Antología de la poesía hispanoamericana, Volume 8, devoted to Chilean poetry

  Yiddish">Yiddish literature">Yiddish

Israel

• Y Fridman, Di legende fun Neyakh Grin
• L. Fuks, editor, Schemuelbuch, a scholarly edition of this old Yiddish epic
• Avrom Lev, a book of poetry
• Leyb Olitsky, a book of poetry
• Y Papernikov, a book of poetry
• Rikude Potash, a book of poetry
• Arye Shamri, Funken fun tikun
• Avrom Sutzkever, Di gaystike erd

  Yiddish works published elsewhere

• Efrayim Oyerbakh, Di vayse shtot
• I. L. Kalushiner, a book of poetry
• Yisroel Emiot, In nigun ayngehert
• David Sfard, A zegl in vint

  Other languages

• Dritëro Agolli, Hapat e mija në asfalt, Albania
• Simin Behbahani, Marmar, Persia
• Syed Shamsul Haque, Ekoda Ek Rajje, Bengali published in East Pakistan
• Alexander Mezhirov, Ветровое стекло, Russia, Soviet Union
• Nizar Qabbani, My Beloved, Syrian poet writing in Arabic
• Klaus Rifbjerg, Camouflage, Denmark

  Awards and honors

United Kingdom">English poetry">United Kingdom

• Eric Gregory Award: Adrian Mitchell, Geoffrey Hill

  United States">American poetry">United States

• Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress : Louis Untermeyer appointed this year.
• Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: Phyllis McGinley: Times Three: Selected Verse From Three Decades
• Bollingen Prize: Yvor Winters
• National Book Award for Poetry: Randall Jarrell, The Woman at the Washington Zoo
• Fellowship of the Academy of American Poets: Horace Gregory

  Other

• Lenin Prize : Alexander Tvardovsky for Za Dalyu dal...
• Canada: Governor General's Award, poetry or drama: Acis in Oxford, Robert Finch

  Births

• May 2 - Lisa Bellear, Australian indigenous poet
• May 17 - Han Dong 韩东, Chinese poet and novelist
• June 5 - Swadesh Roy, Bengali journalist, essayist, poet, novelist and short-story writer
• August 14 - Steven Heighton, Canadian novelist and poet
• September 13 - Tom Holt, English historical and comic novelist and poet
• November 9 - Jackie Kay, Scottish poet and novelist
• December 20 - Sion Sono 園 子温, Japanese controversial avant-garde poet and filmmaker
• Also:
• * Ifor ap Glyn, Welsh-language poet
• * Gitaujali Badruddin
• * Chen Kehua, Chinese poet and ophthalmologist in Taiwan
• * Denise Duhamel, American
• * Kenneth Goldsmith, American
• * Maggie Helwig, English-born Canadian novelist, poet and Anglican priest
• * Louis de Paor, Irish-language poet

  Deaths

• April 30 - Jessie Redmon Fauset, 79, American novelist and poet
• June 26 - Kenneth Fearing, 58, American poet and writer
• September 27 - Hilda Doolittle, aka "H.D.", 75, American poet, novelist and memoirist, of a heart attack
• December 24 - Robert Hillyer, 66, American poet