1981 in poetry

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

Events

 * American poet Jane Greer launches Plains Poetry Journal, an advance guard of the New Formalism movement.
 * Final issue of L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E magazine published in the United States.
 * First issue of Conjunctions literary journal published in the United States.
 * This year, "the word 'Martianism' comes into use, through the verse of Craig Raine and his associates, presenting a vision of life on Earth as seen by a visiting Martian," the 1982 Britannica Book of the Year reports (p. 504). Some note that "Martianism" is an anagram for one of Raine's associates, Martin Amis.

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

Australia

 * R. Hall, editor, Collins Book of Australian Poetry, anthology
 * H. Heseltine, editor, Penguin Book of Modern Australian Verse, anthology
 * L. Kramer, Oxford History of Australian Literature (scholarship)
 * Jennifer Maiden, For The Left Hand, South Head

Canada

 * Margaret Atwood, True Stories
 * Alfred Bailey, Miramichi Lightning: The Collected Poems.
 * Roo Borson, A Sad Device, ISBN 0-86495-011-X, American-Canadian
 * Louis Dudek, Continuation I. Montréal: Véhicule Press, 1981.
 * Louis Dudek, Poems from Atlantis. Ottawa: Golden Dog, 1981.
 * Robert Finch, Has and Is.
 * Gwen Hauser, Gophers and Swans
 * George Johnston:
 * Auk Redivivus: Selected Poems
 * Rocky Shores.
 * Irving Layton, Europe And Other Bad News. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart.
 * Dorothy Livesay, The Raw Edges: Voices from Our Time. Winnipeg: Turnstone Press.
 * Gwendolyn MacEwen, Trojan Women. 1981.
 * Jay Macpherson, Poems Twice Told: The Boatman & Welcoming Disaster. Toronto: Oxford University Press.
 * Anne Marriott:
 * This West Shore, Toronto: League of Canadian Poets.
 * The Circular Coast: Poems New and Selected, Oakville, ON: Mosaic Press.
 * George McWhirter, The Island Man
 * P. K. Page, Evening Dance of the Grey Flies, poetry and prose
 * Stephen Scobie, A Grand Memory For Forgetting
 * Stephen Scobie and Douglas Barbour:
 * The Pirates of Pen's Chance: Homolinguistic Translations
 * The Maple Laugh Forever: An Anthology of Canadian Comic Poetry (Edmonton: Hurtig Publishers)
 * F. R. Scott, The Collected Poems of F. R. Scott. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart. Governor General's Award 1981.
 * Raymond Souster, Collected Poems of Raymond Souster, Volume Two, 1955-62

India, in English

 * Keki N. Daruwalla, Winter Poems ( Poetry in English ), Bombay: Allied Publishers.
 * Jayanta Mahapatra, Relationship ( Poetry in English ), winner of the Central Sahitya Akademi Awardin 1982; Cuttack: Chandrabhaga Society
 * Pritish Nandy, editor, Indian Poetry in English Today, New Delhi: Sterling Publication Pvt. Ltd.

Ireland

 * Dermot Bolger, Finglas Lilies
 * Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin: The Rose Geranium, Dublin: The Gallery Press
 * Anthony Cronin, RMS Titanic
 * Seamus Heaney, Selected Poems 1965-1975, Faber & Faber, Northern Ireland native published in the United Kingdom
 * Michael Longley, Patchwork, Irish poet published in the United Kingdom
 * Thomas McCarthy, The Sorrow Garden, Anvil Press, London, Irish poet published in the United Kingdom
 * Derek Mahon:
 * Courtyards in Delft. Gallery Press
 * The Hunt by Night
 * Christopher Nolan, Dam-Burst of Dreams

United Kingdom

 * Dannie Abse, Way Out in the Centre
 * Sir John Betjeman, Church Poems
 * Alison Brackenbury, Dreams of Power
 * Roberta Berke, Bounds out of Bounds: A Compass for Recent American and British Poetry, Oxford University Press, criticism
 * Douglas Dunn, St. Kilda's Parliament
 * D. J. Enright, Collected Poems
 * James Fenton, Dead Soldiers, Sycamore Press,
 * Roy Fisher, Consolidated Comedies
 * Thom Gunn, Talbot Road
 * Tony Harrison:
 * Continuous
 * A Kumquat for John Keats
 * Seamus Heaney, Selected Poems 1965-1975, Faber & Faber, Northern Ireland native published in the United Kingdom
 * John Heath-Stubbs:
 * Buzz Buzz
 * Editor, Selected Poems of Thomas Gray
 * Ted Hughes:
 * Under the North Star
 * Editor, Collected Poems by Sylvia Plath (see Plath, below)
 * Peter Levi, Private Ground
 * Liz Lochhead, The Grimm Sisters
 * Christopher Logue, Ode to the Dodo
 * Michael Longley, Patchwork, Irish poet published in the United Kingdom
 * Derek Mahon:
 * Courtyards in Delft. Gallery Press
 * The Hunt by Night
 * Andrew Motion, Independence
 * Norman Nicholson, Sea to the West
 * Brian Patten, Love Poems
 * Tom Paulin, The Book of Juniper
 * Sylvia Plath, Collected Poems, posthumous, containing 224 poems in chronological order, edited by Ted Hughes; poems by an American, edited by her English husband
 * Peter Porter, English Subtitles
 * Peter Reading, Tom O'Bedlam's Beauties
 * Peter Redgrove, The Apple Broadcast, and Other New Poems
 * Carol Rumens, Unplayed Music
 * Elizabeth Smart, Ten Poems
 * D. M. Thomas, Dreaming in Bronze
 * R. S. Thomas, Between Here and Now
 * The Faber Book of Christian Verse

United States

 * A.R. Ammons, A Coast of Trees
 * John Ashbery, Shadow Train
 * Imamu Amiri Baraka, formerly "LeRoi Jones", Reggae or Not!
 * Ted Berrigan, In a Blue River
 * Robert Bly, The Man in the Black Coat Turns
 * Paul Bowles, Next to Nothing: Collected Poems 1926–1977
 * Joseph Payne Brennan, Creep To Death
 * Joseph Brodsky: Verses on the Winter Campaign 1980, translation by Alan Meyers. – London: Anvil Press Russian-American
 * Gwendolyn Brooks:
 * Black Love
 * To Disembark
 * Jared Carter, Work, for the Night Is Coming
 * Gregory Corso, Herald of the Autochthonic Spirit, his first collection in 11 years
 * Peter Davison, Barn Fever and Other Poems
 * Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Endless Life: Selected Poems
 * Carolyn Forche, The Country Between Us
 * Daryl Hine, Selected Poems
 * John Hollander:
 * Rhyme's Reason: A Guide to English Verse, poetry
 * The Figure of Echo
 * Janet Kauffman, The Weather Book
 * Denise Levertov, Light Up the Cave
 * Philip Levine, One for the Rose
 * Frederick Morgan, Northbook
 * Michael Palmer, Notes For Echo Lake (North Point Press)
 * Sylvia Plath, The Collected Poems of Sylvia Plath, Ted Hughes, editor, containing 224 poems in chronological order (posthumous)
 * Marie Ponsot, Admit Impediment
 * Michael Ryan, In Winter (Holt)
 * Anne Sexton, The Complete Poems, published posthumously (died 1974)
 * Leslie Marmon Silko, Storyteller, short stories, poems and photographs
 * Shel Silverstein, A Light in the Attic a collection of children's poetry
 * Gilbert Sorrentino, Selected Poems 1958-1980
 * Gerald Stern, The Red Coal
 * Robert Stone, A Flag for Sunrise
 * Mark Strand, The Planet of Lost Things
 * Richard L. Tierney, Collected Poems
 * Michael Van Walleghen, More Trouble With the Obvious
 * David Wagoner, Landfall
 * Rosmarie Waldrop, Nothing Has Changed (Awede Press)
 * Diane Wakoski, The Magician's Feastletters
 * Robert Penn Warren, Rumor Verified: Poems 1979-1980
 * Richard Wilbur, Seven Poems
 * Nancy Willard, A Visit to William Blake's Inn, illustrated by Alice and Martin Provensen

Criticism, scholarship and biography in the United States

 * Colin Robert Chase, The Dating of Beowulf
 * John Hollander:
 * Rhyme's Reason: A Guide to English Verse, criticism
 * The Figure of Echo, criticism

Other in English

 * Alistair Campbell, Collected Poems, Hazard, ISBN 1-877393-00-2, New Zealand
 * C. K. Stead, In the Glass Case, criticism, New Zealand

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

 * Inger Christensen, Alphabet (Alfabet), translated into English by Susanna Nied in 2001
 * Klaus Høeck:
 * Canzone, publisher: Gyldendal
 * Sorte sonetter, publisher: Gyldendal
 * Søren Ulrik Thomsen, City Slang

Canada, in French

 * Pierre Nepveu, editor, La poésie québécoise, des origines à nos jours, en collaboration avec Laurent Mailhot, Montréal: Presses de l'Université du Québec/l'Hexagone, anthology
 * Madeleine Ouellette-Michalska, Entre le souffle et l'aine, Saint-Lambert: Le Noroît
 * Jean Royer, L'intime soif, Montréal: Éditions du silence

France

 * Alain Bosquet:
 * Poèmes, deux
 * Sonnets pour une fin de siècle
 * Jean Cayrol, Poésie-Journal
 * Michel Deguy, Donnant Donnant
 * Emmanuel Hocquard, Une ville ou une petite ile
 * Abdellatif Laabi, Sous le bâillon le poème. L'Harmattan, Paris, Moroccan author writing in and published in France
 * Charles le Quintrec, La Lumière et l'argile
 * Jacques Roubaud, Dors
 * Jacques Roubaud and Florence Delay, Merlin l'enchanteur

German

 * Christoph Buchwald, general editor, and Rolf Haufs, guest editor, Jahrbuch der Lyrik 3 ("Poetry Yearbook 3"), publisher: Claassen; anthology
 * V. Hage, editor, Lyrik für Leser: Deutsche Gedichte der siebziger Jahre, anthology
 * Heinz Toni Hamm, Poesie und kommunikative Praxis (scholarship)
 * Klaus Weissenberger, editor, Die deutsche Lyrik, 1945-1975 (scholarship)

Hebrew

 * A. Hillel, Devareiy
 * Gabriel Preil, a new collection
 * Avot Yeshurun, a new collection
 * S. Shalom, a new collection
 * Yehuda Amichai, Shalva gedola, she'elot uteshuvot
 * Robert Whitehill, Efes Makom ("No Place"), published in Israel
 * Peretz Banai, a "new poet"
 * Esther Ettinger, a "new poet"
 * Yosef Yehezkel, a "new poet"
 * Aharon Shabtai, Xut ("Thread")
 * Mordecai Geldman, a new collection
 * Hannah Barzilai, a new collection
 * Batsheva Sharif, a new collection
 * Michael Senunit, a new collection
 * Menachem Ben, a new collection

Hungary

 * György Petri, Örökhétfő

India
Listed in alphabetical order by first name:
 * Hari Daryani, Amar Gitu, a verse translation into Sindhi of (and commentary on) the Gita
 * K. G. Sankara Pillai, Kavitha, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala: Kerala Kavita; Malayalam-language
 * K. Satchidanandan, Peedana Kalam, ("Times of Torment"); Malayalam-language
 * Namdeo Dhasal; Marathi-language:
 * Tuhi Iyatta Kanchi?, Mumbai: Ambedkara Prabodhini
 * Ambedkari Chalwal, Mumbai: Ambedkara Prabodhini
 * Nilmani Phookan, Gacia Larkar Kavita, Guwahati, Assam: Bani Prakash, Assamese-language
 * Nirendranath Chakravarti, Pagla Ghonti, Kolkata: Dey’s Publishing; Bengali-language
 * Parsram Rohra "Nimano", Sindhi-language
 * Pritish Nandy and Shakti Chattopadhyay, Pritisa Nandira kabita, Kalikata: Ananda Pabalisarsa
 * Rajendra Kishore Panda, Choukathhare Chirakala, Cuttack: Friends Publishers, Oraya-language
 * Rituraj, Pul aur Pani, New Delhi: Rajkamal Prakashan; Hindi-language
 * Umashankur Joshi, Gujarati-language:
 * Dharavastra
 * Saptapadi
 * Vinod Kumar Shukla, Vah Aadmi Chala Gaya Naya Garam Coat Pehankar Vichar Ki Tarah, Hapur: Sambhavna Prakashan; Hindi-language
 * Udaya Narayana Singh, Anuttaran, Calcutta: Mithila Darshan, Maithili-language
 * Mehr Lal Soni Zia Fatehabadi, Rang-o-Noor (The Colour and the Light) - published by R.K.Sehgal, Bazm-e-Seemab, New Delhi, Urdu

Italy

 * Eugenio Montale, L'opera in versi
 * Carlo Betocchi, Poesie del sabato
 * Eugenio Montale, Altri verse e poesie disperse (originally published in 1980 under the title L'opera in versi), Milan: Arnaldo Mondadore Editore; Italy
 * Maria Luisa Spaziani, Geometria del disordine
 * Giovanni Guidici, Il ristorante dei morti
 * Amelia Rosselli:
 * Primi scritti 1952-1965
 * Impromptu

Poland

 * Stanisław Barańczak, Ksiazki najgorsze 1975-1980 ("The Worst Books"), criticism; Kraków: KOS
 * T. Kostkiewiczowa and Z. Goliński, editors, Swiat polprawiac&mdash;zuchwate rzemiosto, anthology
 * Ryszard Krynicki, Niewiele więcej. Wiersze z notatnika 78-79 ("Not Much More. Poems From the Notebook 78-79"); Kraków: Cracowska Oficyna Studentow
 * Ewa Lipska, Poezje wybrane ("Selected Poems"), Warszawa: LSW
 * Bronisław Maj, Taka wolność. Wiersze z lat 1971-1975 ("Such Freedom: Poems, 1971-1975"); Warsaw: MAW
 * Piotr Sommer, Przed snem

Portugal

 * Herberto Helder, Poesia Toda
 * A. Pinheiro Torre, O Ressentimento dum Ocidental

Brazil

 * Carlos Drummond de Andrade, A paixão medida
 * João Cabral de Melo Neto, A escola das faces
 * Adélia Prado, Terra de Santa Cruz
 * Mário da Silva, several volumes of poetry

Spain

 * Antonio Abad, Misericor de mí
 * Matilde Camus:
 * He seguido tus huellas ("I have followed your footprints")
 * Testigo de tu marcha ("Witness of your departure")
 * Concha Lagos, Teoría de la inseguridad
 * Vincente Presa, Teoría de los límites
 * Pablo Virumbrales, Cancionero del vaso

Latin America

 * Mario Benedetti, Viento del exilio ("Air From Exile"), Uruguay

Swedish

 * Karl Vennberg, Bilder I-XXVI
 * Goran Sonnevi, Små klanger; en rőst
 * Eva Runefelt, Augusti

Criticism, scholarship and biography in Yiddish

 * Itskhak Janoswicz, Avrom Sutzkever, His Poetry and Prose
 * The Lexicon of Modern Yiddish Literature, the eighth and final volume
 * Khaim Leyb Fuks, Biographical Dictionary of Hebrew and Yiddish Writers in Canada

Other

 * Chen Kehua, Qijing shaonian ("Whale Boy") Chinese (Taiwan)
 * Rita Kelly, Dialann sa Díseart, Ireland
 * Luo Fu, Wound of Time, Chinese (Taiwan)
 * Stein Mehren, Den usynlige regnbuen, Norway
 * Alexander Mezhirov, Selected Works, two volumes, Russia, Soviet Union
 * Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill, An dealg Droighin, including "Sceala" and "Failte Bheal na Sionna don Iasc", Gaelic-language, Ireland
 * Nizar Qabbani, Syrian poet writing in Arabic:
 * I Write the History of Woman Like So
 * The Lover's Dictionary

Australia

 * Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry: Alan Gould, Astral Sea

Canada

 * Gerald Lampert Award: Elizabeth Allan, The Shored Up House
 * 1981 Governor General's Awards: F. R. Scott, The Collected Poems of F. R. Scott (English); Michel Beaulieu, Visages (French)
 * Pat Lowther Award: M. Travis Lane, Divinations and Short Poems 1973–1978
 * Prix Émile-Nelligan: Jean-Yves Collette, La Mort d’André Breton

United Kingdom

 * Cholmondeley Award: Roy Fisher, Robert Garioch, Charles Boyle
 * Eric Gregory Award: Alan Jenkins, Simon Rae, Marion Lomax, Philip Gross, Kathleen Jamie, Mark Abley, Roger Crowley, Ian Gregson
 * Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry: D. J. Enright
 * Hawthornden Prize: Christopher Reid

United States

 * Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize: Kathy Callaway, Heart of the Garfish
 * AML Award for poetry to Robert A. Rees for "Gilead"
 * Bernard F. Connors Prize for Poetry: Frank Bidart, "The War of Vaslav Nijinsky"
 * Bollingen Prize (United States): Howard Nemerov and May Swenson
 * Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress (later the post would be called "Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress"): Maxine Kumin appointed this year.
 * MacArthur Fellowships: A.R. Ammons, Joseph Brodsky, Robert Penn Warren
 * National Book Award for poetry (United States): Lisel Mueller, The Need to Hold Still
 * National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry: A.R. Ammons, A Coast of Trees (Norton)
 * Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress: Maxine Kumin appointed
 * Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: James Schuyler: The Morning of the Poem
 * Fellowship of the Academy of American Poets: Richard Hugo
 * Walt Whitman Award: Alberto Ríos, Whispering to Fool the Wind (Sheep Meadow Press) Judge: Donald Justice

Births

 * April 6 – Marie Šťastná, Czech poet
 * Emily Berry, English poet
 * Yirgalem Fisseha Mebrahtu, Eritrean poet
 * Doireann Ní Ghríofa, Irish-language poet

Deaths
Birth years link to the corresponding "[year] in poetry" article:
 * January 29 – John Glassco (born 1909), Canadian poet, memoirist and novelist
 * February 23 – Nan Shepherd (born 1893), Scottish novelist and poet
 * March 15 – Horiguchi Daigaku 堀口 大学 (born 1892), Japanese, Taishō and Shōwa period poet and translator of French literature; a member of the Shinshisha ("The New Poetry Society"); accompanied his father on overseas diplomatic postings
 * April 25 – Takis Sinopoulos (born 1917), Greek
 * April 26 – Robert Garioch (born 1909), Scots language Scottish poet and translator
 * April 29 – Leonard Mann (born 1895), Australian
 * April 30 – Peter Huchel (born 1903), German
 * May 8 – Uri Zvi Grinberg (born 1896), Jewish
 * May 31 – Falguni Ray (born 1945), Bengali poet and youngest member of Hungryalism movement
 * August 19 – Badawi al-Jabal (born 1905 or 1907), Syrian Arab
 * August 27 – James Larkin Pearson (born 1879), American poet, newspaper publisher; North Carolina Poet Laureate, 1953–1981
 * September 12 – Eugenio Montale, 85, Italian poet, prose writer, editor and translator, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1975
 * October 26 – Marie Uguay, 26 (born 1955), French-Canadian), from bone cancer
 * October 30 – Georges Brassens (born 1921), French singer-songwriter and poet
 * November 14 – Anton Podbevšek (born 1898), Slovene avant-garde poet
 * Also:
 * Adolf Beiss (born 1900), German
 * Ada Verdun Howell (born 1902), Australian