1966 in poetry.html



Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature (for instance, Irish or France).

Nelly Sachs (1891–1970) German-Swedish poet and dramatist who won the Nobel Prize in Literature this year

Events

• Raymond Souster founds the League of Canadian Poets

• Philip Hobsbaum, who had founded The Belfast Group in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in 1963, departs for Glasgow, and the Belfast Group meetings lapsed for a while, but then was reconstituted in 1968 by Michael Allen, Arthur Terry, and Seamus Heaney. At one time or another, the grouping also includes Michael Longley, James Simmons, Paul Muldoon, Ciaran Carson, Stewart Parker, Bernard MacLaverty and the critic Edna Longley. Meetings will be held at Seamus and Marie Heaney's house on Ashley Avenue. The Belfast Group will last until 1972.

• Russian poet Joseph Brodsky returns to Leningrad from the exile near the Arctic Circle where he had been sent when a Soviet court in 1964 convicted him of "parisitism".

Works published in English

Chilean poet Pablo Neruda recording poems at the U.S. Library of Congress this year

Listed by nation where the work was first published (and again by the poet's native land, if different); substantially revised works listed separately:

Canada

• Margaret Avison, The Dumbfounding
• Earle Birney, Selected Poems
• Leonard Cohen, The Parasites of Heaven
• Robert Finch, Silverthorn Bush and Other Poems
• Lakshni Gill, During Rain I Plant Chrysanthemums
• Ralph Gustafson, Sift in an Hourglass
• George Johnston, Home Free
• Gwendolyn MacEwen, A Breakfast for Barbarians
• Richard Outram, Exultante Jubilee
• Miriam Waddington, The Glass Trumpet

Ireland

• Austin Clarke, Mnemosyne Lay in Dust, Dublin: Dolmen Press¹
• Thomas Kinsella, Wormwood, Dublin: Dolmen Press,¹
• John Montague, All Legendary Obstacles, Dublin: Dolmen Press¹

United Kingdom

• Karen Gershon, Selected Poems
• Gavin Bantock, Christ
• George Barker, Dreams of a Summer Night
• Basil Bunting, Briggflatts
• Tom Earley, A Welshman in Bloomsbury
• Gavin Ewart, Pleasures of the Flesh
• J. C. Hall, The Burning Hare
• Seamus Heaney, Death of a Naturalist, Faber & Faber
• Philip Hobsbaum, In Retreat
• Elizabeth Jennings, The Mind Has Mountains
• Norman MacCaig, Surroundings, London: Chatto and Windus with Hogarth Press¹
• Ruth Pitter, Still by Choice
• Sir Herbert Read, Collected Poems (posthumous?)
• Peter Redgrove, The Force and Other Poems, London: Routledge and Kegan Paul¹
• Jon Silkin, New and Selected Poems
• Gillian Smyth, The Nitrogen Dreams of a Wide Girl
• Gary Snyder, A Range of Poems, London: Fulcrum Press, American¹
• Elaine Feinstein, In a Green Eye, Goliard Press
• R.S. Thomas, Pietà
• Anthony Thwaite and John Hollander publish the first anthology of double dactyls, Jiggery Pokery
• Charles Tomlinson, American Scenes, London: Macmillan¹
• David Wevill, A Christ of the Ice Floes

United States

• A.R. Ammons, Northfield Poems
• John Ashbery, Rivers and Mountains
• Ted Berrigan, Some Things
• Paul Blackburn,
  • 16 Sloppy Haiku and a Lyric for Robert Reardon
  • Sing Song
  • translator, Poem of the Cid
• Gwendolyn Brooks, We Real Cool
• Robert Creeley, Poems 1950-1965²
• Randall Jarrell (died 1965), The Lost World (published posthumously)
• Josephine Jacobsen, The Animal Inside
• LeRoi Jones, Black Art
• James Merrill, Nights and Days
• Sylvia Plath, Ariel, New York: Harper & Row (London: Faber and Faber 1965) American poet in the United Kingdom¹
• A. K. Ramanujan, The Striders (Indian poet living in the United States)
• Kenneth Rexroth, Collected Shorter Poems
• Theodore Roethke, Roethke: Collected Poems
• Louis Simpson, Selected Poems (West Indian poet living in the United States)
• Gary Snyder, A Range of Poems, London: Fulcrum Press¹
• William Stafford, The Rescued Year
• Robert Penn Warren, Selected Poems, New and Old: 1923-1966

Criticism, scholarship, biography

• Wallace Stevens, Letters of Wallace Stevens (posthumous), edited by Holly Stevens

Other in English

• James K. Baxter, Pig Island Letters (New Zealand)
• John Pepper Clark, A Reed in the Tide (Nigeria)
• Keith Harrison, Points in a Journey (Australia)

Works published in other languages

Listed by language and often by nation where the work was first published and again by the poet's native land, if different; substantially revised works listed separately:

Denmark

• Benny Anderson (poet), Portrætgalleri
• Thorkild Bjørnvig, Vibrationer
• Poul Borum, Dagslys
• Jørgen Gustava Brandt, Der er æg i mit skæg (prose sketches and poetry)
• Knud Holst, Samexistens
• Henrik Nordbrandt, Digte
• Bundgård Povlsen, Døgndrift

Finland

• Paavo Haavikko, Puut, kaikki heidän vihreytensä, ("The Trees, All Their Greenness")
• Eeva-Liisa Manner, Kirjoitettu kivi ("The Inscribed Stone"), poems and translations from contemporary Spanish poets
• Pentti Saarikoski, Ääneen ("Out Loud")

French language

Canada

• Roger Brien:
  • Prométhée
  • Le Jour se lève
• Roland Giguère, L'Age de la parole
• Marie Laberge, D'un Cri à l'autre
• Rina Lasnier, L'Arbre blanc
• Suzanne Paradis, Le Visage offensé
• Gemma Tremblay, Cratères sous la niege

France

• L. Brauquier, a book of poetry
• P. Chabaneix, a book of poetry
• René Char, Retour amont
• M. Déguy, Oui-Dire
• Pierre Emmanuel, Ligne de faîte
• R. Goffin, a book of poetry in the publishing series "Poètes d'Aujourd'hui" (Belgium)
• Eugène Guillevic, Avec
• A. Richaud, Je ne suis pas mort
• J. C. Renard, Dans la Terre du Sacre
• A. Miatlev, Thanathème
• P. Seghers, Dialogue
• J. Tortel, Les Villes ouvertes
• Dominique Tron, Stéréophonies
• Boris Vian, a book of poetry

Germany

West Germany

• Günter Eich, Anlässe und Steingärten
• Beda Allemann, editor, Ars poetica: Texte von Dichtern des 20. Jahrhunderts zur Poetik, 51 essays, Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, (criticism)³
• Walter Naumann, Traum und Tradition in der deutschen Lyrik, Stuttgart: W. Kohlhammer (criticism)³

Translations

• Oswald de Andrade (Brazil), translations of his:
  • Livro de Ensaios
  • Gálaxias

East Germany

• Wolf Biermann, Die Drahtharfe
• Volker Braun, Vorläufiges

Hebrew

Israel

• Reuven Ben-Yosef, Shehafim Mamtinim ("Waiting Gulls") American-born poet
• David Fogel, collected poems, with an introduction by D. Pagis
• S. Halkin, Maavar Yabok ("Crossing Jabbok")
• C. Schirmann, a book of poetry: a compilation of new poems from the Genizah
• Shin Shalom, a book of his complete works
• N. Zach, Kol ha-Halav veha-Devash ("All the Milk and Honey")

Italy

• Alfonso Gatto, La storia delle vittime (winner of the Premio Viareggio prize)
• Dacia Maraini, Crudeltà all'aria aperta
• Antonio Porta, I rapporti
• Giovanni Raboni, Le case della Vetra
• Sergio Salvi, Le croci di Cartesio
• Roberto Sanesi, Rapporto informativo

Norway

• Georg Johannesen, Nye dikt
• Sigmund Skard, Haustraun
• Einar Skjæraasen, Bumerke (posthumous)
• Ragnvald Skrede, Grunnmalm
• Stein Mehren, Tids Alder
• Jan Erik Vold, Hekt

Portuguese language

Brazil

• Oswald de Andrade, Complete Works, a new edition (posthumous)
• Manuel Bandiera, Estrêla da Vida Inteira, an anthology of his poems, commemorating his 80th birthday
• João Cabral de Melo Neto, A Educação pela Pedra
• Mário Faustino, Poesía
• Ferreira Gullar, Luta Corporal e Outros Poemas
• Mário da Silva Brito, Poemário da Silva Brito

Russia

• Pavel Antokolski, two volumes of poems to celebrate his 70th birthday
• David Kugoltinov, a book of poems translated from Kalmuk published in the "Soviet Poetry Library" series
• Robert Rozhdestvenski, The Radius of Action, including "Letter to the Thirtieth Century"

Spanish language

Mexico

• José López Bermùdez, Canto a Morelos (Mexico)
• Rubén Bonifaz Nuño, Siete de espadas (Mexico)
• Octavio Paz, "Vrindaban" and "Madurai" two poems on a Hindu theme by the Mexican ambassador to India
• José Emilio Pacheco, El reposo del fuego (Mexico)
• Ramón López Velarde, Suave Patria (Mexico)

Spain

• Jaime Gil de Biedma:
  • En favor de Venus, a collection
  • Moralidades, a larger collection published in Mexico
• Carlos Barral, Figuración y fuga
• Alfonso Canales, Aminadab
• Gloria Fuertes, Ni tiro, veneno, ni navaja
• Dionisio Ridruejo, Cuaderno Catalán
• Joaquín Caro Romero, El tiempo en el espejo

Yiddish

• Israel Emiot, a collection of poems
• Yankev Glatshteyn, A Jew from Lublin
• Gabriel Preil, a collection of poems
• Khava Rosenfarb, a collection of poems
• Meyer Shtiker, a collection of poems
• Moyshe Tayf (alternate English spelling: "Moshe Teif"), a collection of poems
• Leyb Vaserman, a collection of poems

Other

• Giorgos Seferis, Τρία Κρυφά Ποιήματα (Three Hidden Poems) (Greece)
• Wisława Szymborska: 101 wierszy ("101 Poems"), Poland

Awards and honors

• Nobel Prize for Literature: Nelly Sachs, a German poet, writing in German but living in Sweden and a Swedish subject, shared the prize with novelist and short story writer Shmuel Yosef Agnon of Israel.

Canada

• See 1966 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.

United Kingdom

• Cholmondeley Award: Ted Walker, Stevie Smith
• Eric Gregory Award: Robin Fulton, Seamus Heaney, Hugo Williams

United States

• Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress (later the post would be called "Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress"): James Dickey appointed this year.
• National Book Award for Poetry: James Dickey, Buckdancer's Choice
• Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: Richard Eberhart, Selected Poems
• Fellowship of the Academy of American Poets: Archibald MacLeish and John Berryman

Spain

• Premio de la Crítica (a nonmonetary award by a jury of journalist-critics): Claudio Rodriguez, Alianza y condena
• Premio Adonais for verse: Vincente García Hernández, Los pájaros

Other

• Nordic Council's literature prize: Gunnar Ekelöf, Diwan över fursten av Engion (Sweden)

Births

• August 10 — Christian Bök, Canadian experimental poet
• October 7 — Sherman Alexie Native American poet and author
• date not known:
  • Maurice Manning (Poet)
  • Constance Merritt (poet)
  • Michael Redhill
  • Natasha Trethewey
  • Christian Wiman (poet)
  • Dimitris P. Kraniotis, Greek
  • Dimitris Lyacos, Greek
  • Volker Sielaff, German⁴
  • Yi Sha, China⁵

Deaths

Grave of Anna Akhmatova

Birth years link to the corresponding "[year] in poetry" article:

• March 5 — Anna Akhmatova, 76, Russian poet
• January 23 — Berton Braley, 83
• March 17 — Einar Skjæraasen, Norway
• May 14 — Georgia Douglas Johnson, 86, of a stroke
• June 1 — Inge Müller (born 1925), East German
• June 7 — Jean Arp, 78, French sculptor, painter and poet, leader in Dadaism
• June 10 — Henry Treese, 55
• June 27 — Arthur David Waley, 76, noted translator of Chinese poetry and an English Orientalist and Sinologist
• July 11 — Delmore Schwartz, 52, American, of a heart attack
• July 25 — Frank O'Hara, 40, American poet and key member of the New York School of poetry.
• August 14:
  • Raymond Duncan, 91
  • Alfred Kreymborg, 82, American poet, novelist, playwright, literary editor and anthologist
• August 29 — Melvin Tolson, 68, American Modernist poet, educator, columnist, and politician
• September 25 — Mina Loy, 73, British-born American artist, poet, Futurist and actor
• September 28 — André Breton, 70, French poet, essayist and theorist; the leading exponent of Surrealism in literature
• Date not known:
  • John Cournos (born 1881), Russian-American Imagist poet, but better known for his novels, short stories, essays, criticism and translations of Russian literature; wrote under the pen name "John Courtney"
  • Tristan Klingsor, pseudonym of Léon Leclère (born August 8, 1874 – died sometime in August), French poet, painter and musician; part of the Fantaisiste group of French poets
  • W.W.E. Ross
  • Arnold Wall (born 1869), New Zealand

See also

Poetry portal

• Poetry
• List of poetry awards
• List of years in poetry

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i} M. L. Rosenthal, The New Poets: American and British Poetry Since World War II, New York: Oxford University Press, 1967, "Selected Bibliography: Individual Volumes by Poets Discussed", pp 334-340
2. ^ Everett, Nicholas, "Robert Creeley's Life and Career" at the Modern American Poetry website, accessed May 1, 2008
3. ^ ^{a b} Preminger, Alex and T.V.F. Brogan, et al., editors, The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics, 1993, Princeton University Press and MJF Books, "German Poetry" article, "Criticism in German" section, p 474
4. ^ Hofmann, Michael, editor, Twentieth-Century German Poetry: An Anthology, Macmillan/Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2006
5. ^ Web page/article titled "Yi Sha" at Poetry International retrieved November 22, 2008