National Book Award for Poetry - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The National Book Award for Poetry has been given since 1950 and is part of the National Book Awards, which are given annually for outstanding literary works by American citizens. No award for poetry was given 1985-90.

If more than one author is listed for a given year, the first in bold is the winner, the remainder finalists.

Winners

2011 2011 in poetry Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:June 12 – A poet and student, Ayat al-Ghermezi of Bahrain, is sentenced to a year in prison as part of that kingdom's crackdown on Shiite protesters calling for greater rights...		Nikky Finney Nikky Finney Nikky Finney is an award-winning American poet, and the Provost’s Distinguished Service Professor of English at the University of Kentucky...	*Head Off & Split*
	\|Yusef Komunyakaa Yusef Komunyakaa Yusef Komunyakaa is an American poet who currently teaches at New York University and is a member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers. Komunyakaa is a recipient of the 1994 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award, for Neon Vernacular and the 1994 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. He also received the Ruth Lilly...	The Chameleon Couch
	\|Carl Phillips Carl Phillips Carl Phillips is an American writer and poet. He is a Professor of English and of African and Afro-American Studies at Washington University in St. Louis....	Double Shadow
	\|Adrienne Rich Adrienne Rich Adrienne Cecile Rich is an American poet, essayist and feminist. She has been called "one of the most widely read and influential poets of the second half of the 20th century."-Early life:...	Tonight No Poetry Will Serve: Poems: 2007-2010
	\|Bruce Smith Bruce Smith (poet) -Life:Smith was born and raised in Philadelphia. He has since taught at the University of Alabama, and now teaches at Syracuse University. He has been a co-editor of the Graham House Review and a contributing editor of Born Magazine.-Awards:...	Devotions
2010 2010 in poetry Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* January 19 - For the first time since 1949, an anonymous black-clad man, known as the Poe Toaster, failed to show up at the tomb of Edgar Allan Poe at the Westminster Hall and Burying Ground, early...		Terrance Hayes Terrance Hayes Terrance Hayes is a prize-winning American poet. His recent poetry collection Lighthead won the National Book Award for Poetry...	Lighthead
2009 2009 in poetry Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* January 5 – The Turkish government announces it will posthumously restore the citizenship it had stripped from influential poet Nazim Hikmet, a Marxist who died in 1963 as an exile in the Soviet...		Keith Waldrop Keith Waldrop Keith Waldrop is the author of numerous books of poetry and prose, and has translated the work of Claude Royet-Journoud, Anne-Marie Albiach, and Edmond Jabès, among others. A recent translation is Charles Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du Mal .With his wife Rosmarie Waldrop, he co-edits Burning Deck Press...	Transcendental Studies: A Trilogy
2008 2008 in poetry Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* June — the release in the United Kingdom of a new film, The Edge of Love, Dylan Thomas' relationship with two women, starring Keira Knightley, Sienna Miller, Cillian Murphy and Matthew Rhys *...		Mark Doty Mark Doty Mark Doty is an American poet and memoirist.-Biography:He was born in Maryville, Tennessee, earned his Bachelor of Arts from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, and received his Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from Goddard College in Vermont.In 1989, his partner Wally Roberts tested...	Fire to Fire: New and Collected Poems
2007 2007 in poetry Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* March 5: a car bomb was exploded on Mutanabbi Street in Baghdad. More than 30 people were killed and more than 100 were wounded. This locale is the historic center of Baghdad bookselling, a winding...		Robert Hass Robert Hass Robert L. Hass is an American poet. He served as Poet Laureate of the United States from 1995 to 1997. He was awarded the 2007 National Book Award and the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Time and Materials.-Life:...	Time and Materials
2006 2006 in poetry Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* French public notary Patrick Huet unveils Pieces of Hope to the Echo of the World in Lyon...		Nathaniel Mackey Nathaniel Mackey Nathaniel Mackey is an American poet, novelist, anthologist, literary critic, editor and Professor of Literature at UC Santa Cruz. Mackey is a Chancellor of The Academy of American Poets. Mackey is currently teaching a poetry workshop at Duke University....	Splay Anthem
2005 2005 in poetry Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* October 7 — Celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of the first reading of Allen Ginsberg's poem Howl were staged in San Francisco, New York City, and in Leeds in the UK...		W. S. Merwin W. S. Merwin William Stanley Merwin is an American poet, credited with over 30 books of poetry, translation and prose. During the 1960s anti-war movement, Merwin's unique craft was thematically characterized by indirect, unpunctuated narration. In the 1980s and 1990s, Merwin's writing influence derived from...	Migration: New & Selected Poems
2004 2004 in poetry Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* April 1 — Foetry.com Web site is launched for the announced purpose of "Exposing fraudulent contests. Tracking the sycophants...		Jean Valentine Jean Valentine Jean Valentine is an American poet, and currently the New York State Poet . Her poetry collection, Door in the Mountain: New and Collected Poems, 1965–2003, was awarded the 2004 National Book Award for Poetry....	Door in the Mountain: New and Collected Poems, 1965-2003
2003 2003 in poetry Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* The Seamus Heaney Centre for Poetry was opened at Queens University, Belfast, this year. It houses the Heaney Media Archive, a unique record of Heaney's entire oeuvre, as well as a full catalogue of...		C. K. Williams C. K. Williams Charles Kenneth Williams is an American poet. Senior poet Paul Muldoon has described him as “one of the most distinguished poets of his generation.” -Biography:...	The Singing The Singing The Singing is the fourth and last novel in Alison Croggon's Pellinor quadrilogy. The novel was completed in June 2007 and was published in Australia on 30 June 2008.Direct quote from Alison Croggon:...
2002 2002 in poetry Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* After Ghazi al-Gosaibi, the Saudi Arabian ambassador to Britain, publishes a poem praising a suicide bomber who had killed himself and two Israelis after blowing himself up in a supermarket; the...		Ruth Stone Ruth Stone Ruth Stone was an American poet, author, and teacher.-Life and career:In 1959, after her husband, professor Walter Stone, committed suicide, she was forced to raise three daughters alone...	In the Next Galaxy
2001 2001 in poetry Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Immediately after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, W. H...		Alan Dugan Alan Dugan Alan Dugan was an American poet.His first volume Poems published in 1961 was a chosen by the Yale Series of Younger Poets and went on to win the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry....	Poems Seven: New and Complete Poetry
2000 2000 in poetry Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Griffin Poetry Prize is established, with one award given each year for the best work by a Canadian poet and one award given for best work in the English language internationally.* February —...		Lucille Clifton Lucille Clifton Lucille Clifton was an American writer and educator from Buffalo, New York. From 1979–1985 she was Poet Laureate of Maryland...	Blessing the Boats: New and Selected Poems 1988-2000
1999 1999 in poetry Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* July 1 — Scotland's Parliament opened with the singing of Robert Burns' "A Man's a Man For A'That", instead of "God Save The Queen"...		Ai Ai (poet) Florence Anthony was a National Book Award winning American poet and educator who legally changed her name to Ai Ogawa...	Vice: New & Selected Poems
1998 1998 in poetry Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Samizdat poetry magazine founded in Chicago .* Skanky Possum poetry magazine founded in Austin, Texas....		Gerald Stern Gerald Stern Gerald Stern is an American poet. His work became widely recognized after the 1977 publication of Lucky Life, which was that year's Lamont Poetry Selection, and of a series of essays on writing poetry in American Poetry Review. He has subsequently been given many prestigious awards for his...	This Time: New and Selected Poems
1997 1997 in poetry Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:*January 20 — Miller Williams of Arkansas reads his poem, "Of History and Hope," at President Clinton's inauguration....		William Meredith William Morris Meredith, Jr. William Morris Meredith, Jr. was an American poet and educator. He was Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 1978 to 1980.-Early years:...	Effort at Speech: New & Selected Poems
1996 1996 in poetry Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* National Poetry Month was established by the Academy of American Poets in April 1996 as way to increase awareness and appreciation of poetry in the United States.* The movie Dead Man, written and...		Hayden Carruth Hayden Carruth Hayden Carruth was an American poet and literary critic. He taught at Syracuse University.-Life:Hayden Carruth grew up in Woodbury, Connecticut, and was educated at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and at the University of Chicago. He lived in Johnson, Vermont for many years...	Scrambled Eggs & Whiskey
1995 1995 in poetry Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* February 16 — Announcement that 300 poems by S.T...		Stanley Kunitz Stanley Kunitz Stanley Jasspon Kunitz was an American poet. He was appointed Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress twice, first in 1974 and then again in 2000.-Biography:...	Passing Through: The Later Poems
1994 1994 in poetry Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Allen Ginsberg sells his papers to Stanford University for $1 million.* C. P...		James Tate James Tate (writer) James Tate is an American poet whose work has earned him the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. He is a professor of English at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters...	A Worshipful Company of Fletchers
1993 1993 in poetry Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* January 20 — Maya Angelou reads "On the Pulse of Morning" at the inauguration of President Bill Clinton* T. S...		A. R. Ammons	Garbage
1992 1992 in poetry Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:The Forward Book of Poetry, an annual anthology of best British poems, is published for the first time by the Forward Poetry Trust. By 2003, the publication was selling 5,000 to 7,000 copies a year...		Mary Oliver Mary Oliver Mary Oliver is an American poet who has won the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize. The New York Times described her as "far and away, this country's [America's] best-selling poet".-Early life:...	New & Selected Poems
1991 1991 in poetry Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Forward Poetry Prize created...		Philip Levine Philip Levine (poet) Philip Levine is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American poet best known for his poems about working-class Detroit. He taught for over thirty years at the English Department of California State University, Fresno and held teaching positions at other universities as well...	What Work Is What Work Is What Work Is is a collection of American poetry by the current Poet Laureate, Philip Levine. It was first published in 1991 by Alfred A. Knoff, Inc. in New York. This poetry collection won the National Book Award for Poetry in 1991. After Levine was named Poet Laureate, What Work Is graced the top...
1990 1990 in poetry Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Allen Ginsberg crowned "Majelis King" in Prague on May Day...		No Award
1989 1989 in poetry Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Dead Poets Society, a film incorporating excerpts from many traditional poets, ending with the title and opening line of Walt Whitman's lament on the death of Abraham Lincoln, "O Captain! My...		No Award
1988 1988 in poetry Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* The first annual The Best American Poetry volume is published this year....		No Award
1987 1987 in poetry Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Charles Bukowski, fictionalised as alter ego Henry Chinaski, becomes the subject of the film Barfly starring Mickey Rourke....		No Award
1986 1986 in poetry Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* New American Writing, an annual literary magazine concentrating on poetry, is founded in Chicago, Illinois....		No Award
1985 1985 in poetry Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* The term "New Formalism" was first used in the article "The Yuppie Poet" in the May 1985 issue of the AWP Newsletter in an attack on the poetry movement...		No Award
1983 1983 in poetry Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* The Frogmore Press founded by Andre Evans and Jeremy Page at the Frogmore tea-rooms in Folkestone...		Charles Wright Charles Wright (poet) Charles Wright is an American poet whose awards include the National Book Award Charles Wright (born August 25, 1935) is an American poet whose awards include the National Book Award Charles Wright (born August 25, 1935) is an American poet whose awards include the National Book Award (19830 for...	Country Music: Selected Early Poems
1983 1983 in poetry Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* The Frogmore Press founded by Andre Evans and Jeremy Page at the Frogmore tea-rooms in Folkestone...		Galway Kinnell Galway Kinnell Galway Kinnell is an American poet. He was Poet Laureate of Vermont from 1989 to 1993. An admitted follower of Walt Whitman, Kinnell rejects the idea of seeking fulfillment by escaping into the imaginary world. His best-loved and most anthologized poems are "St...	Selected Poems
1982 1982 in poetry Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:*Final edition of This Magazine published....		William Bronk William Bronk William Bronk was an American poet. He won the National Book Award in 1982.-Life and work:William Bronk was born in a house on Lower Main Street in Fort Edward, New York. He had an older brother Sherman who died young and two older sisters, Jane and Betty...	Life Supports: New and Collected Poems
1981 1981 in poetry Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Jane Greer launched Plains Poetry Journal, an advance guard of the New Formalism movement....		Lisel Mueller Lisel Mueller Lisel Mueller is an American poet.She was born in Hamburg, Germany, in 1924 and immigrated to America at the age of 15. Her father, Fritz Neumann, was a professor at Evansville College. Her mother died in 1953. "Though my family landed in the Midwest, we lived in urban or suburban environments,"...	The Need to Hold Still
1980 1980 in poetry Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Mark Jarman and Robert McDowell started the small magazine The Reaper to promote narrative and formal poetry....		Philip Levine Philip Levine (poet) Philip Levine is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American poet best known for his poems about working-class Detroit. He taught for over thirty years at the English Department of California State University, Fresno and held teaching positions at other universities as well...	Ashes : poems new & old
1979 1979 in poetry Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* The Kenyon Review is restarted by Kenyon College 10 years after the original publication was closed....		James Merrill James Merrill James Ingram Merrill was an American poet whose awards include the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for Divine Comedies...	Mirabell: Book of Numbers
1978 1978 in poetry Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E Magazine, edited by Bruce Andrews and Charles Bernstein, first published...		Howard Nemerov Howard Nemerov Howard Nemerov was an American poet. He was twice appointed Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 1963 to 1964, and again from 1988 to 1990. He received the National Book Award, Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, and Bollingen Prize for The Collected Poems of Howard Nemerov...	The Collected Poems of Howard Nemerov
1977 1977 in poetry Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* January – James Dickey, composed a poem he read at new United States President Jimmy Carter’s inaugural gala although not at the inauguration itself.* British publication Gay News successfully...		Richard Eberhart Richard Eberhart Richard Ghormley Eberhart was an American poet who published more than a dozen books of poetry and approximately twenty works in total...	Collected Poems, 1930-1976
1976 1976 in poetry Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Two poems written in 1965 by Mao Zedong just before the Cultural Revolution, including "Two Birds: A Dialogue", are published on January 1-Works published in English:Listed by nation where the work...		John Ashbery John Ashbery John Lawrence Ashbery is an American poet. He has published more than twenty volumes of poetry and won nearly every major American award for poetry, including a Pulitzer Prize in 1976 for his collection Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror. But Ashbery's work still proves controversial...	Self-portrait in a Convex Mirror Self-portrait in a Convex Mirror Self-portrait in a Convex Mirror is a painting by the Italian late Renaissance artist Parmigianino. It is housed in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria.-History:...
1975 1975 in poetry Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* With the 1974, fall of the dictatorship in Greece, poets, authors and intellectuals who had fled after the coup of 1967 returned, and this year many began publishing in that country.* Brick Books, a...		Marilyn Hacker Marilyn Hacker Marilyn Hacker is an American poet, translator and critic. She is Professor of English at the City College of New York....	Presentation Piece
1974 1974 in poetry Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:*The Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics is founded by Allen Ginsberg and Anne Waldman....		Adrienne Rich Adrienne Rich Adrienne Cecile Rich is an American poet, essayist and feminist. She has been called "one of the most widely read and influential poets of the second half of the 20th century."-Early life:...	Diving into the Wreck: Poems 1971-1972
1974 1974 in poetry Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:*The Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics is founded by Allen Ginsberg and Anne Waldman....		Allen Ginsberg Allen Ginsberg Irwin Allen Ginsberg was an American poet and one of the leading figures of the Beat Generation in the 1950s. He vigorously opposed militarism, materialism and sexual repression...	The Fall of America: Poems of these States, 1965-1971
1973 1973 in poetry Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Canadian poet and author, Michael Ondaatje adapts his 1970 book of poetry, The Collected Works of Billy the Kid, into a play which this year is first produced in Stratford, Ontario; it will appear in...		A. R. Ammons	Collected Poems, 1951-1971
1972 1972 in poetry Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* John Betjeman becomes Poet Laureate...		Howard Moss Howard Moss Howard Moss was an American poet, dramatist and critic, who was poetry editor of The New Yorker magazine from 1948 until his death. He won the National Book Award in 1972 for Selected Poems.-Biography:...	Selected Poems
1972 1972 in poetry Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* John Betjeman becomes Poet Laureate...		Frank O'Hara Frank O'Hara Francis Russell "Frank" O'Hara was an American writer, poet and art critic. He was a member of the New York School of poetry.-Life:...	The Collected Works of Frank O'Hara
1971 1971 in poetry Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* This Magazine founded by Robert Grenier and Barrett Watten...		Mona Van Duyn Mona Van Duyn Mona Jane Van Duyn was an American poet. She was appointed Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1992.-Early years:Van Duyn was born in Waterloo, Iowa. She grew up in the small town of Eldora Mona Jane Van Duyn (9 May 1921 – 2 December 2004) was an American poet. She was...	To See, To Take
1970 1970 in poetry Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* May – "La nuit de la poésie", a poetry reading in Montreal bringing together poets from French Canada to recite before an audience of more than 2,000 in the Théâtre du Gesu, lasting until 7...		Elizabeth Bishop Elizabeth Bishop Elizabeth Bishop was an American poet and short-story writer. She was the Poet Laureate of the United States from 1949 to 1950, a Pulitzer Prize winner in 1956 and a National Book Award Winner for Poetry in 1970. Elizabeth Bishop House is an artists' retreat in Great Village, Nova Scotia...	The Complete Poems
1969 1969 in poetry Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* FIELD magazine founded at Oberlin College...		John Berryman John Berryman John Allyn Berryman was an American poet and scholar, born in McAlester, Oklahoma. He was a major figure in American poetry in the second half of the 20th century and was considered a key figure in the Confessional school of poetry...	His Toy, His Dream, His Rest The Dream Songs The Dream Songs is a compilation of two books of poetry, 77 Dream Songs and His Toy, His Dream, His Rest by the American poet, John Berryman...
1968 1968 in poetry Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* The Belfast Group, a grouping of poets in Belfast, Northern Ireland, which was started in 1963 in poetry, lapsed in 1966 when founder Philip Hobsbaum left for Glasgow, is reconstituted this year by...		Robert Bly Robert Bly Robert Bly is an American poet, author, activist and leader of the Mythopoetic Men's Movement.-Life:Bly was born in Lac qui Parle County, Minnesota, to Jacob and Alice Bly, who were of Norwegian ancestry. Following graduation from high school in 1944, he enlisted in the United States Navy, serving...	The Light Around the Body
1967 1967 in poetry Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:*Cecil Day-Lewis is selected as the new Poet Laureate of the UK....		James Merrill James Merrill James Ingram Merrill was an American poet whose awards include the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for Divine Comedies...	Nights and Days
1966 1966 in poetry Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Raymond Souster founds the League of Canadian Poets...		James Dickey James Dickey James Lafayette Dickey was an American poet and novelist. He was appointed the eighteenth Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1966.-Early years:...	Buckdancer's Choice: Poems
1965 1965 in poetry Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Meic Stephens founds Poetry Wales...		Theodore Roethke Theodore Roethke Theodore Roethke was an American poet, who published several volumes of poetry characterized by its rhythm, rhyming, and natural imagery. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1954 for his book, The Waking.-Biography:...	The Far Field
1964 1964 in poetry Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Among the many books of poetry published this year, Robert Lowell's For the Union Dead is greeted with particular acclaim...		John Crowe Ransom John Crowe Ransom John Crowe Ransom was an American poet, essayist, magazine editor, and professor.-Life:...	Selected Poems
1963 1963 in poetry Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* January 26 – Raghunath Vishnu Pandit, an Indian poet who wrote in both Konkani and Marathi languages, publishes five books of poems this day* The Belfast Group, a discussion group of poets in...		William Stafford	Traveling Through the Dark
1962 1962 in poetry Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Writers in the Soviet Union this year were allowed to publish criticism of Joseph Stalin and were given more freedom generally, although many were severely criticized for doing so...		Alan Dugan Alan Dugan Alan Dugan was an American poet.His first volume Poems published in 1961 was a chosen by the Yale Series of Younger Poets and went on to win the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry....	Poems
1961 1961 in poetry Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* January 20–Robert Frost recites his poem "The Gift Outright" at United States President John F...		Randall Jarrell Randall Jarrell Randall Jarrell was an American poet, literary critic, children's author, essayist, and novelist. He was the 11th Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress, a role which now holds the title of US Poet Laureate.-Life:Jarrell was a native of Nashville, Tennessee...	The Woman at the Washington Zoo
1960 1960 in poetry Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* August Derleth launches the poetry magazine, Hawk and Whippoorwill....		Robert Lowell Robert Lowell Robert Traill Spence Lowell IV was an American poet, considered the founder of the confessional poetry movement. He was appointed the sixth Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress where he served from 1947 until 1948...	Life Studies Life Studies Life Studies is the fourth book of poems by Robert Lowell. Most critics consider it one of Lowell's most important books, and the Academy of American Poets named it one of their Groundbreaking Books. The book won the National Book Award for poetry in 1960.-Publication:Life Studies was first...
1959 1959 in poetry Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* In the United States, "Those serious new Bohemians, the beatniks, occupied with reading their deliberately undisciplined, protesting verse in night clubs and hotel ballrooms, created more publicity...		Theodore Roethke Theodore Roethke Theodore Roethke was an American poet, who published several volumes of poetry characterized by its rhythm, rhyming, and natural imagery. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1954 for his book, The Waking.-Biography:...	Words for the Wind
1958 1958 in poetry Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Brazilian manifesto for concrete poetry, which focuses on visual and other sensory qualities...		Robert Penn Warren Robert Penn Warren Robert Penn Warren was an American poet, novelist, and literary critic and was one of the founders of New Criticism. He was also a charter member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers. He founded the influential literary journal The Southern Review with Cleanth Brooks in 1935...	Promises: Poems, 1954-1956
1957 1957 in poetry Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Howl obscenity trial in San Francisco brings significant attention to beat poetry, Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Allen Ginsberg...		Richard Wilbur Richard Wilbur Richard Purdy Wilbur is an American poet and literary translator. He was appointed the second Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1987, and twice received the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, in 1957 and again in 1989....	Things of This World
1956 1956 in poetry Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* February 27—Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath meet in Cambridge...		W. H. Auden W. H. Auden Wystan Hugh Auden , who published as W. H. Auden, was an Anglo-American poet,The first definition of "Anglo-American" in the OED is: "Of, belonging to, or involving both England and America." See also the definition "English in origin or birth, American by settlement or citizenship" in See also...	The Shield of Achilles The Shield of Achilles "The Shield of Achilles" is a poem by W. H. Auden first published in 1952. The Shield of Achilles is also the title poem of a collection of poems by Auden, published in 1955.-Description:...
1955 1955 in poetry Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* The Group, a British poetry movement, starts meeting in London with gatherings taking place once a week, on Friday evenings, at first at Hobsbaum's flat and later at the house of Edward Lucie-Smith...		Wallace Stevens Wallace Stevens Wallace Stevens was an American Modernist poet. He was born in Reading, Pennsylvania, educated at Harvard and then New York Law School, and spent most of his life working as a lawyer for the Hartford insurance company in Connecticut.His best-known poems include "Anecdote of the Jar",...	The Collected Poems of Wallace Stevens
1954 1954 in poetry Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Robert Creeley founds and edits the Black Mountain Review...		Conrad Aiken Conrad Aiken Conrad Potter Aiken was an American novelist and poet, whose work includes poetry, short stories, novels, a play and an autobiography.-Early years:...	Collected Poems
1953 1953 in poetry Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* George Plimpton, Peter Matthiessen and Harold L...		Archibald MacLeish Archibald MacLeish Archibald MacLeish was an American poet, writer, and the Librarian of Congress. He is associated with the Modernist school of poetry. He received three Pulitzer Prizes for his work.-Early years:...	Collected Poems, 1917-1952
1952 1952 in poetry Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* November — The Group British poetry movement of the 1950s and 1960s began at Downing College, Cambridge University, Philip Hobsbaum along with two friends — Tony Davis and Neil Morris...		Marianne Moore Marianne Moore Marianne Moore was an American Modernist poet and writer noted for her irony and wit.- Life :Moore was born in Kirkwood, Missouri, in the manse of the Presbyterian church where her maternal grandfather, John Riddle Warner, served as pastor. She was the daughter of mechanical engineer and inventor...	Collected Poems
1951 1951 in poetry Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Poet Cid Corman began Origin magazine in response to the failure of a magazine that Robert Creeley had planned. The magazine typically featured one writer per issue and ran, with breaks, until the...		Wallace Stevens Wallace Stevens Wallace Stevens was an American Modernist poet. He was born in Reading, Pennsylvania, educated at Harvard and then New York Law School, and spent most of his life working as a lawyer for the Hartford insurance company in Connecticut.His best-known poems include "Anecdote of the Jar",...	The Auroras of Autumn The Auroras of Autumn The Auroras of Autumn is a 1950 book of poetry by Wallace Stevens. It features the 1948 Stevens poem of the same name, whose title refers to the Aurora Borealis, or the "Northern Lights", in the fall...
1950 1950 in poetry Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:*Charles Olson publishes his seminal essay, Projective Verse. In this, he called for a poetry of "open field" composition to replace traditional closed poetic forms with an improvised form that should...		William Carlos Williams William Carlos Williams William Carlos Williams was an American poet closely associated with modernism and Imagism. He was also a pediatrician and general practitioner of medicine, having graduated from the University of Pennsylvania...	Paterson: Book III and Selected Poems

Winners

See also