1983 in poetry

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

Events

 * April – Russian samizdat poet Irina Ratushinskaya is sentenced to imprisonment in a labor camp for dissident activity; she continues to write poetry clandestinely in prison.
 * June 2 – Francophone Senegalese poet and politician Léopold Sédar Senghor becomes the first black African writer elected as a member of the Académie française
 * The Frogmore Press is founded by Andre Evans and Jeremy Page at the Frogmore tea-rooms in Folkestone, England. The press publishes a magazine, The Frogmire Papers

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

 * David Brooks, The Cold Front. Sydney: Hale & Iremonger
 * Les Murray, The People's Otherworld, winner of the 1984 Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry
 * Philip Salom: The Projectionist, A Sequence. (Fremantle Arts Centre) ISBN 978-0-909144-69-2
 * John Tranter, Selected Poems, Hale & Iremonger

Canada

 * Dionne Brand, Winter Epigrams and Epigrams to Ernesto Cardenal in Defense of Claudia
 * George Elliott Clarke, Saltwater Spirituals and Deeper Blues, Lawrencetown Beach, Nova Scotia: Pottersfield, ISBN 0-919001-12-2
 * Robert Finch, The Grand Duke of Moscow's Favourite Solo.
 * Irving Layton, The Gucci Bag. Oakville, Ontario: Mosaic Press. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart.
 * Dorothy Livesay, The Phases of Love. Toronto: Coach House.
 * Don McKay, Birding, or Desire
 * George McWhirter, Fire Before Dark
 * Roy Miki, The Prepoetics of William Carlos Williams (critical study)
 * Joe Rosenblatt, The Sleeping Lady. Exile Editions.
 * Raymond Souster, Going the Distance. Ottawa: Oberon Press.
 * George Woodcock, Collected Poems, Victoria: Sono Nis Press, Canada

India, in English

 * Jayanta Mahapatra, Life Signs ( Poetry in English ), New Delhi: Oxford University Press
 * Dom Moraes, Absences ( Poetry in English ),
 * Sudeep Sen, Leaning Against the Lamp-Post ( Poetry in English ),

Ireland

 * Sebastian Barry, The Water-Colourist, Ireland
 * Padraic Fallon, Poems and Versions (see also Poems 1974 in poetry, Collected Poems1990 in poetry)
 * Seamus Heaney, Northern Ireland native living at this time in the United States:
 * An Open Letter, Field Day
 * Translator, Sweeney Astray: A version from the Irish, Field Day
 * Paul Muldoon, Quoof, Northern Ireland native published in the United Kingdom
 * Tom Paulin, Liberty Tree, including "Desertmartin", "Off the Back of a Lorry" and "A Written Answer", Faber and Faber, Irish poet published in the United Kingdom

New Zealand

 * Fleur Adcock(New Zealand poet who moved to England in 1963):
 * The Virgin and the Nightingale: Medieval Latin poems, Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Bloodaxe Books
 * Selected Poems, Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press
 * Leigh Davis, Willy's Gazette, Wellington: Jack Books
 * Lauris Edmond, Catching It: Poems
 * M. P. Jackson and V. O'Sullivan, editors, Oxford Anthology of New Zealand Writing Since 1945, anthology 1983
 * Bill Manhire, Locating the Beloved and Other Stories, New Zealand
 * W. H. Oliver, James K. Baxter: A Portrait, Wellington: Port Nicholson Press, 1983; reprinted 1994, Godwit Press/Bridget Williams Books, biography
 * Bob Orr, Cargo

United Kingdom

 * Fleur Adcock (New Zealand poet who moved to England in 1963):
 * The Virgin and the Nightingale: Medieval Latin poems, Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Bloodaxe Books
 * Selected Poems, Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press
 * George Barker, Anno Domino
 * George Mackay Brown, Voyages
 * Alan Brownjohn, Collected Poems 1952–1983
 * John Cooper Clarke, Ten Years in an Open Necked Shirt
 * Helen Dunmore, The Apple Fall
 * Gavin Ewart, Capital Letters
 * Padraic Fallon, Poems and Versions (see also Poems 1974 in poetry, Collected Poems1990 in poetry), Irish poet published in the United Kingdom
 * James Fenton, Memory of War and Children in Exile
 * Roy Fuller, As From the Thirties
 * Seamus Heaney, Northern Ireland native living at this time in the United States:
 * An Open Letter, Field Day
 * Translator: Sweeney Astray: A version from the Irish, Field Day
 * Adrian Henri, Penny Arcade
 * Geoffrey Hill, The Mystery of the Charity of Charles Peguy
 * Frances Horovitz, Snow Light, Water Light
 * Ted Hughes, River
 * Jenny Joseph, Beyond Descartes
 * Peter Levi, The Echoing Green
 * Christopher Middleton, 111 Poems, Carcanet Press, ISBN 978-0-85635-457-1
 * Pete Morgan, A Winter Visitor
 * Andrew Motion, Secret Narratives
 * Paul Muldoon, Quoof, Northern Ireland native published in the United Kingdom
 * Grace Nichols, I is a Long-Memoried Woman, Caribbean Cultural International
 * Sean O'Brien, The Indoor Park (Bloodaxe)
 * Tom Paulin, Liberty Tree, including "Desertmartin", "Off the Back of a Lorry" and "A Written Answer", Faber and Faber, Irish poet published in the United Kingdom
 * J. H. Prynne, The Oval Window
 * Carol Rumens, Star Whisper
 * Peter Scupham, Winter Quarters

United States

 * A.R. Ammons, Lake Effect Country
 * Maya Angelou, Shaker, Why Don't You Sing?
 * Elizabeth Bishop, Collected Poems 1927-1979, posthumous (died 1979)
 * Amy Clampitt, Kingfisher
 * James Dickey, The Central Motion
 * Alice Fulton, Dance Script with Electric Ballerina
 * Nikki Giovanni, Those Who Ride the Nightwinds
 * Frank Graziano, editor, Georg Trakl: A Profile, Logbridge-Rhodes, criticism
 * H.D. (Hilda Doolittle), Collected Poems, 1912–1944, posthumous (died 1961)
 * Seamus Heaney, Northern Ireland native living at this time in the United States:
 * An Open Letter, Field Day
 * Translator: Sweeney Astray: A version from the Irish, Field Day
 * Joy Harjo, She Had Some Horses
 * John Hollander, Powers of Thirteen
 * Paul Hoover, Somebody Talks a Lot (The Yellow Press)
 * Richard Howard, Lining Up
 * W. S. Merwin, Opening the Hand, New York: Atheneum
 * Gary Miranda, Grace Period
 * Mary Oliver, American Primitive
 * Carl Rakosi, Spiritus I
 * James Reiss, Express
 * Adrienne Rich, Sources
 * William Saroyan, My Name Is Saroyan, a miscellany of fiction, nonfiction, drama and verse; published posthumously (died 1981)
 * James Schevill, The American Fantasies: Collected Poems, 1945–1981
 * Peter Seaton, Crisis Intervention (Berkeley, CA: Tuumba Press)
 * Ntozake Shange, A Daughter's Geography
 * Louis Simpson, The Best Hour of the Night
 * Gary Snyder, Axe Handles
 * Eleanor Ross Taylor, New and Selected Poems
 * David Wagoner, First Light
 * Robert Penn Warren, Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce

Other in English

 * M. Nourbese Philip, Salmon Courage, Caribbean

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

French language

 * Claude Esteban, Conjoncture du corps et du jardin suivi de Cosmogonie, Flammarion; France
 * Abdellatif Laabi, translator, Rien qu'une autre année translated from the original Arabic of Mahmoud Darwich into French; Paris: Unesco/Éditions de Minuit
 * Pierre Nepveu, Mahler et autres matières, Montréal: Le Noroît; Canada

Germany

 * H. Bender, Deutsche Gedichte 1930-1960, anthology
 * Hiltrud Gnüg, Entstehung und Krise lyrischer subjektivität. Vom Klassischen Lyrischen Ich zur Modernen Erfahrungswirklichkeit, Stuttgart (scholarship)
 * Walter Hinderer, editor, Geschichte der deutschen Lyrik vom Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart, Stuttgart (scholarship), called "indispensable" by the Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics (1993)
 * Klaus Weissenberger, editor, Die deutsche Lyrik, 1945-1975 (scholarship)

India
In each section, listed in alphabetical order by first name:

Hindi

 * Kedarnath Singh, Yahan Se Dekho, Delhi: Radhakrishan Prakashan; Hindi
 * Rituraj, Abacus, Hapur: Sambhavana Prakashan
 * Teji Grover, Yahan Kucch Andheri Aur Tikhi Hai Nadi, New Delhi: Bharati Bhasha Prakashan

Other languages in India

 * Ajmer Rode, Chubhchintan, Amritsar: Nanak Singh Pustakmala; Punjabi-language
 * Dilip Chitre, Daha by Daha, Mumbai: Pras Prakashan, Mumbai; Marathi-language
 * K. Satchidanandan; Malayalam-language:
 * Randu Deergha Kavyangal, ("Two Long Poems")
 * Satchidandandante Kavithakal 1962-82, ("Poems (1962-82)")
 * K. Siva Reddy, Bharamiti, Hyderabad: Jhari Poetry Circle; Telugu-language
 * Mallika Sengupta, Challish Chander Ayu, Virus publication; Bengali-language
 * Manushya Puthiran, Manushya Puthiranin Kavithaigal, Chennai: Manimegalai Prasuram, Tamil language
 * Namdeo Dhasal, Khel Marathi-language
 * Nirendranath Chakravarti, Ghor-duwar, Kolkata: Ananda Publishers; Bengali-language
 * Prathibha Nandakumar, Navu Hudugiyare Heege ("We Girls Are Thus"), Bangalore: Kannada Sangha, Christ College; Kannada-language

Poland

 * Zbigniew Herbert, Raport z oblężonego Miasta i inne wiersze ("Report from the Besieged City and Other Poems"), Paris: Instytut Literacki
 * Ryszard Krynicki, Ocalenie z nicości ("Salvation from Nothingness"); Krakow: Swit
 * Jarosław Marek Rymkiewicz, Ulica Mandelsztama ("Mandelstam Street")
 * Piotr Sommer, Kolejny świat
 * Jan Twardowski, Który stwarzasz jagody, Krakow: Wydawnictwo Literackie
 * Wiktor Woroszylski, Lustro. Dziennik internowania ("Mirror: An Internment Journal")

Spain

 * Matilde Camus:
 * Tierra de palabras ("Land of words")
 * Coral montesino ("Chorale of Monte")

Other languages

 * Mia Couto, Raiz de Orvalho, Mozambican Portuguese
 * Luo Fu, Wine-Brewing Stone, Chinese (Taiwan)
 * Klaus Høeck, Denmark:
 * Eno High, with Asger Schnack, publisher: Schønberg
 * Metamorphoses, publisher: Gyldendal
 * Marlene van Niekerk, Groenstaar, South Africa

Australia

 * Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry: Vivian Smith, Tide Country

Canada

 * Gerald Lampert Award: Diana Hartog, Matinee Light
 * 1983 Governor General's Awards: David Donnell, Settlements (English); Suzanne Paradis, Un goût de sel (French)
 * Pat Lowther Award: Rhea Tregebov, Remembering History
 * Prix Émile-Nelligan: Lucien Francœur, Les Rockeurs sanctifiés

United Kingdom

 * Cholmondeley Award: John Fuller, Craig Raine, Anthony Thwaite
 * Eric Gregory Award: Martin Stokes, Hilary Davies, Michael O'Neill, Lisa St Aubin de Terán, Deidre Shanahan
 * Commonwealth Poetry Prize: Grace Nichols, i is a long memoried woman

United States

 * Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize: Kate Daniels, The White Wave
 * AML Award for poetry to Clinton F. Larson for "A Romaunt of the Rose: A Tapestry of Poems"
 * Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: Galway Kinnell - Selected Poems
 * Fellowship of the Academy of American Poets: James Schuyler and Philip Booth

Births

 * July 2 – Tao Lin 林韬, Chinese novelist and poet
 * December 6 – Jason Reynolds, African American children's novelist and poet
 * Sarah Howe, Hong Kong-born English poet

Deaths
Birth years link to the corresponding "[year] in poetry" article:
 * February 18 – Robert Payne, 71 (born 1911), English professor of English literature in the U.S., lecturer in naval architecture, novelist, historian, poet and biographer
 * May 4 – Shūji Terayama 寺山 修司 (born 1935), Japanese avant-garde poet, playwright, writer, film director and photographer
 * May 21 – Amal Abul-Qassem Donqol (born 1940), Egyptian poet
 * June 17 – Miron Białoszewski (born 1922), Polish poet and playwright
 * June 19 – Vilmundur Gylfason (born 1948), Icelandic politician, historian and poet, by suicide
 * June 27 – Alden Nowlan, 50 (born 1933), Canadian poet and novelist
 * July 4 – Ted Berrigan, 48 (born 1934), American poet
 * July 12 – Edwin Denby, 80 (born 1903), American dance critic and poet, by suicide
 * August 12 – Mikey Smith (born 1954), Jamaican dub poet, stoned to death
 * October 2 – Frances Horovitz, 45 (born 1938), English poet, broadcaster and performer of poetry