1955 in poetry
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| List of years in poetry (table) |
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Contents |
[edit] 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. The poets gathered to discuss each other's work, putting into practice the sort of analysis and objective comment in keeping with the principles of Hobsbaum's Cambridge tutor F. R. Leavis and of the New Criticism in general. Before each meeting about six or seven poems by one poet would be typed, duplicated and distributed to the dozen or so participants.
- The Movement poets as a group in Britain came to public notice this year in Robert Conquest's anthology New Lines. The core of the group consisted of Philip Larkin, Elizabeth Jennings, D. J. Enright, Kingsley Amis, Thom Gunn and Donald Davie. They were identified with a hostility to modernism and internationalism, and looked to Thomas Hardy as a model. However, both Davie and Gunn later moved away from this position.
- Henry Rago[1] becomes editor of Poetry
- April — Wallace Stevens is baptized a Catholic by the chaplain of St. Francis Hospital in Hartford, Connecticut, where Stevens spent his last days suffering from terminal cancer.[1] After a brief release from the hospital, Stevens was readmitted and died on August 2 at the age of 76.
[edit] Beat poets
- On July 19 Beat poet Weldon Kees's Plymouth Savoy was found on the north side of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco with the keys in the ignition. When his friends went to search his apartment, all they found were the cat he had named Lonesome and a pair of red socks in the sink. His sleeping bag and savings account book were missing. He left no note. No one is sure if Kees, 41, jumped off the bridge that day or if he went to Mexico. Before he disappeared, Kees quoted Rilke to friend Michael Grieg, ominously saying that sometimes a person needs to change his life completely.
- October 7 — The "Six Gallery reading" takes place in San Francisco with Kenneth Rexroth acting as M.C., Philip Lamantia, Michael McClure, Gary Snyder, and Philip Whalen read, and the event included Allen Ginsberg's first reading of Howl (written the previous summer at Ginsberg's cottage in Berkeley, California; the reading (1) brought together the East and West Coast factions of the Beat Generation, (2) was the first important public manifestation of the poetry movement and (3) helped to herald the West Coast literary revolution that became known as the San Francisco Renaissance. In the audience a totally drunken Jack Kerouac refused to read his own work but cheered on the others, shouting "Yeah! Go! Go!" during their performances.
[edit] 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:
[edit] Canada
- Eldon Grier, A Morning from Scraps[2]
- Sir Charles Roberts, Selected Poems, edited by Desmond Pacey, posthumously published[2]
- Miriam Waddington, The Second Silence[2]
- Wilfred Watson, Friday's Child[2]
- Anne Wilkinson, The Hangman Ties the Holly[2]
[edit] New Zealand
- James K. Baxter:
- The Fire and the Anvil, critical study, based on three Macmillan Brown lectures on poetry at Victoria University in 1954, criticism
- Traveller’s Litany, a long poem published in pamphlet form
- J. R. Hervey, She Was My Spring[3]
- Kendrick Smithyman, The Gay Trapeze, Wellington: Handcraft Press
[edit] United Kingdom
- W. H. Auden, The Shield of Achilles, first published in the United States[4]
- Austin Clarke, Ancient Lights[4]
- Robert Conquest, Poems[4]
- Patric Dickinson, The Scale of Things[4]
- Elizabeth Jennings, A Way of Looking[4]
- Philip Larkin, The Less Deceived, Hessle, East Yorkshire: Marvell Press[5]
- Robert Graves, Collected Poems 1955, revisions and reprintings of previously published poems; the book was among eight books of poetry included in "A List of 250 Outstanding Books of the Year" in the New York Times Book Review.[6]
- Norman MacCaig, Riding Lights[4]
- Hugh MacDiarmid, (pen name of Christopher Murray Grieve), In Memoriam James Joyce[4]
- Stephen Spender, Collected Poems. 1928-1953, what he considers his best poems, selected and revised; among eight books of poetry included in "A List of 250 Outstanding Books of the Year" in the New York Times Book Review.[6]
- Iain Crichton Smith, 'The Long River[4]
- R.S. Thomas, Song at the Year's Turning, introduction by John Betjeman[4]
- Charles Tomlinson, The Necklace[4]
[edit] United States
- A.R. Ammons, Ommateum with Doxology, his first book
- W. H. Auden, The Shield of Achilles, a book of 28 pastoral and devotional poems (his poem of the same name was first published in 1953); among eight books of poetry included in "A List of 250 Outstanding Books of the Year" in the New York Times Book Review.[6]
- Elizabeth Bishop, Poems: North & South — A Cold Spring, (Houghton Mifflin); among eight books of poetry included in "A List of 250 Outstanding Books of the Year" in the New York Times Book Review.[6]
- Paul Blackburn, The Dissolving Fabric, Highlands, North Carolina: The Divers Press[5]
- Amy Clampitt, As If: Poems New and Selected
- Robert P. Tristram Coffin, Selected Poems, among eight books of poetry included in "A List of 250 Outstanding Books of the Year" in the New York Times Book Review.[6]
- Gregory Corso, The Vestal Lady and Other Poems
- Robert Creeley, All That is Lovely in Man[7]
- Emily Dickinson, The Poems of Emily Dickinson, three volumes, edited by Thomas H. Johnson; a "definitive edition of the Dickinson poems with variant readings critically compared," according to the New York Times Book Review, which listed it among eight books of poetry included in "A List of 250 Outstanding Books of the Year".[6]
- Robert Hughes, Collected Poems
- Isabella Gardner, Birthdays from the Ocean, her first collection; among eight books of poetry included in "A List of 250 Outstanding Books of the Year" in the New York Times Book Review.[6]
- William Graham (poet), The Nightfishing
- Randall Jarrell, Selected Poems
- Howard Nemerov, The Salt Garden
- Adrienne Rich, The Diamond Cutters and Other Poems
- William Carlos Williams, Journey to Love
[edit] Criticism, scholarship, and biography in the United States
- Carl Sandburg, Prairie-town boy (autobiography; essentially excerpts from Always the Young Strangers)
[edit] Other in English
- A. D. Hope, The Wandering Islands (Australia)
- D. Stewart and N. Keesing, editors, Australian Bush Ballads, anthology (Australia)[8]
[edit] Works published in other languages
[edit] Indian subcontinent
Including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal. Listed alphabetically by first name, regardless of surname:
[edit] Gujarati
- Balumukund Dave, Parikrama, Gujarati[9]
- Natvarlal Kuberdas Pandya, Prasun, the author's first collection of poems[9]
- Ramnarayan Vishvanath Pathak, Brhat Pingal, a study of the history and structure of Gujarati prosody[9]
- Venibhai Purohit, Sinjarav, the author's first collection of poems[9]
[edit] Oriya
- Krushnachandra Tripathy, Ahuti[9]
- Mohan Upendra Thakur, Phuldali[9]
- Narendranath Misra, Balarama Dasa O Odia Ramayana, critical study of Balaram Das, the 15th century poet-saint and author of the most popular Ramayana in the Oriya language[9]
[edit] Other languages of the Indian subcontinent
- Amrita Pritan, Sunehure, Punjabi[9]
- Birendra Chattopadhyay, Ulukhagdar Kabita, Bengali[9]
- C. Narayanan Nair, translator, Kannaki-Kovalam, translation into Sanskrit from the Silappadikaram, a Tamil-language poem[9]
- Dina Nath Wali, also known as "Almast", Bala Yepari, lyrics on rural themes, mostly in the vatsun form; Kashmiri[9]
- Hitanarayan Jha, Kavivar Canda Jha O Wordsworthak prakrtiprem, a comparative study of Chanda Jha and William Wordsworth's love of nature; Maithili[9]
- Jaswant Singh Neki, Asle Te Ohle, Punjabi[9]
- Kalachand Shastri Chingorgban, Manipuri Mahabharat, translation into Manipuri from the Sanskrit Mahabharat, in 20 volumes, published from this year to 1980[9]
- Krishnakanta Mishra, Maithili Sahityak Itihas, history of Maithili literature[9]
- Lekhraj Aziz, Gul Va Khar, study of prosody and the rules of Islamic meters, including examples from various works by modern Sindhi poets[9]
- Ram Nath Shastri, translator, Niti Sataka, translation into Dogri from the Sanskrit poems of Bhartrihari[9]
- Sri Naunram Samskarta, Dasa dev, Rajasthani[9]
- Sudhindranath Datta, translator, Pratidhvani, translation into Bengali from English, French and German poems, including verses by Shakespeare, Mallarme and Heine[9]
- V. R. M. Chettiyar, Kavinan Kural, literary essays on Percy Bysshe Shelley, Ralph Waldo Emerson, William Shakespeare, William Wordsworth, Bharatidasan, Mutiyaracan among others; Tamil[9]
[edit] Other languages
- H. E. Holthusen and F. Kemp, editors, Ergriffenes Dasein: deutsche Lyrik 1900-1950, anthology, Germany[10]
- Alexander Mezhirov, Возвращение ("Return"), Soviet Union
- Giorgos Seferis, Ημερολόγιο Καταστρώματος ΙΙΙ ("Deck Diary III") (Greece)
[edit] Awards and honors
- Frost Medal: Leona Speyer
- National Book Award for Poetry: Wallace Stevens, The Collected Poems
- Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: Wallace Stevens: Collected Poems
- Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry: Ruth Pitter
- Bollingen Prize: Léonie Adams and Louise Bogan
- Fellowship of the Academy of American Poets: Rolfe Humphries
[edit] Births
Death years link to the corresponding "[year] in poetry" article:
- February 2 – Leszek Engelking, Polish poet
- April 17 – Erin Mouré, Canadian poet
- April 22 – Marie Uguay (died 1981), French-Canadian
- May 13 – Mark Abley, Canadian poet, journalist, editor and non-fiction writer
- October 19 – Jason Shinder, (died 2008), American poet, editor, anthologist and teacher who founded the Y.M.C.A. National Writer’s Voice program, one of the country’s largest networks of literary-arts centers, at one time an assistant to Allen Ginsberg[11]
- December 23 – Carol Ann Duffy, British poet
- Also:
- Marilyn Chin, American
- Chris Edwards, Australian[12]
- Jennifer Harrison, Australian psychiatrist, poet and photographer
- Margaret Lindsay Holton
- Kim Morrissey, Canadian poet and playwright
- Patricia Smith poet, "spoken-word performer", playwright, author, writing teacher
- Yang Lian 杨炼, Chinese poet associated with the Misty Poets
- William Wall, Irish novelist, poet and short story writer
- Les Wicks, Australian
- Wang Xiaoni, Chinese
- Dean Young, American
- Ouyang Yu, Australian poet, novelist, writer, translator and academic
- Lisa Zeidner, American
[edit] Deaths
Birth years link to the corresponding "[year] in poetry" article:
- January 1 – Mizuho Ōta 太田水穂 pen-name of "Teiichi Ōta" 太田 貞, he occasionally also used another pen name, "Mizuhonoya" (born 1876), Shōwa period Japanese poet and literary scholar (surname: Ōta)
- January 19 – Seaforth Mackenzie (born 1913), Australian poet and novelist
- January 20 – Robert P. Coffin, 62
- June 19 – Adrienne Monnier, 63 (born 1892), French poet and publisher
- July 18 – Weldon Kees, 41 (born 1914), American poet, was presumed dead (see "Events" section). He was a poet, critic, novelist, short story writer, painter and composer.
- August 2 – Wallace Stevens, 75 (born 1879), American poet
- December 30 – Rex Ingamells (born 1913), Australian, influential in the Jindyworobak Movement
- date not known – Brian Vrepont (born 1882), Australian
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- ^ Maria J. Cirurgião, “Last Farewell and First Fruits: The Story of a Modern Poet.” Lay Witness (June 2000).
- ^ a b c d e Gustafson, Ralph, The Penguin Book of Canadian Verse, revised edition, 1967, Baltimore, Maryland: Penguin Books
- ^ Web page titled "Ursula Bethall" in An Encyclopedia of New Zealand, 1966 website, accessed April 21, 2008
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Cox, Michael, editor, The Concise Oxford Chronology of English Literature, Oxford University Press, 2004, ISBN 0-19-860634-6
- ^ a b 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
- ^ a b c d e f g "A List of 250 Outstanding Books", The New York Times Book Review, December 4, 1955
- ^ Everett, Nicholas, "Robert Creeley's Life and Career" at the Modern American Poetry website, accessed May 1, 2008
- ^ Preminger, Alex and T.V.F. Brogan, et al., editors, The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics, 1993, Princeton University Press and MJF Books, "Australian Poetry" article, Anthologies section, p 108
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Das, Sisir Kumar and various, History of Indian Literature: 1911-1956: struggle for freedom: triumph and tragedy, Volume 2, 1995, published by Sahitya Akademi, ISBN 9788172017989, retrieved via Google Books on December 23, 2008
- ^ 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, "Anthologies in German" section, pp 473-474
- ^ Service for Shinder ; Fox, Margalit, "Jason Shinder, 52, Poet and Founder of Arts Program, Dies", obituary, May 3, 2008, The New York Times, retrieved December 11, 2008
- ^ Brennan, Michael (n. d.). "Chris Edwards". Poetry International Web. http://australia.poetryinternationalweb.org/piw_cms/cms/cms_module/index.php?obj_id=667. Retrieved on 2007-05-20.
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