1953 in poetry

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

List of years in poetry (table)
… 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 …
In literature 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956
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Events

• T. S. Eliot founds the Poetry Book Society in the U.K.
• George Plimpton, Peter Matthiessen and Harold L. Humes found The Paris Review.
• Nuovi Argomenti, an influential Italian literary magazine, founded by Alberto Carrocci and Alberto Moravia in Rome.
• The October issue of Atlantic Monthly magazine in the United States publishes "Perspectives of India", anthologizing poems from India.^[1]
• November 5 – Dylan Thomas, on a poetry reading tour of the United States, is admitted to Saint Vincent's hospital in Manhattan in a coma from which he does not recover before his death on November 9.

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:

Canada

• Robert Finch, A Century has Roots.^[2]
• Irving Layton, Love the Conqueror Worm. Toronto: Contact Press.^[3]
• Douglas Le Pan, The Net and the Sword, Canada^[4]
• E. J. Pratt, The Titanic, Canada^[5]
• Raymond Souster, Shake Hands with the Hangman: Poems 1940-52 Toronto: Contact Press.^[6]

India, in English

• Nissim Ezekiel, Sixty Poems ( Poetry in English ), Bombay^[7]
• Harindranath Chattopadhyaya:
  • I Sing of Man and Other Poems ( Poetry in English ), Bombay: People's Publishing House^[8]
  • Spring in Winter ( Poetry in English ), Delhi: Atma Ram^[8]
• Manjeri Sundaraman Manjeri, Rhapsody in Red ( Poetry in English ),^[8]
• Romen, The Golden Apocalypse, Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram^[9]
• Sri Aurobindo, The Future Poetry, essays on literary criticism, drawing on the author's (also published) views of art and life, (first appeared in the Arya, 1917–1920;^[10] later expanded with the author's letters on art, literature and poetry in the Centenary Library edition, Volume 9, 1971)^[11]

United Kingdom

• Charles Causley, Survivor's Leave
• Sir John Betjeman, A Few Late Chrysanthemums
• Louis MacNeice, Autumn Sequel
• Charlotte Mew (died 1928), Collected Poems
• Lewis Spence, Collected Poems
• John Heath-Stubbs, New Poems
• John Heath-Stubbs and David Wright. editors, The Faber Book of Twentieth Century Verse: An Anthology of Verse in Britain 1900-1950, a selection in self-conscious contrast to the Faber Book of Modern Verse
• R.S. Thomas, The Minister

Poets in the anthology Images of Tomorrow

John Heath-Stubbs edited this volume, published in the United Kingdom, which included poems from these writers: Dannie Abse – Drummond Allison – Eurasia Anderson - William Bell – Thomas Blackburn – Maurice Carpenter - Alex Comfort – Yorke Crompton – N. K. Cruikshank – Keith Douglas – George Every – John Fairfax – G. S. Fraser – John Gibbs – W. S. Graham - F. Pratt Green – J. C. Hall – Michael Hamburger – John Heath-Stubbs – Glyn Jones – Sidney Keyes – Francis King – James Kirkup – Norman Nicholson – I. R. Orton – Michael Paffard – Kathleen Raine – Anne Ridler – Walter Roberts – W. R. Rodgers – Joseph Rykwert – John Smith – Muriel Spark – Derek Stanford – J. Ormond Thomas – W. Price Turner – John Wain – John Waller – Vernon Watkins – Gordon Wharton - Margaret Willy – David Wright

United States

• Conrad Aiken, Collected Poems^[12]
• John Ashbery, Turandot and Other Poems^[13]
• W. H. Auden, "The Shield of Achilles" poem first published; his poetry book of the same name will be published in 1955
• Joseph Payne Brennan, The Humming Stair (Big Mountain Press/Alan Swallow imprint)
• Robert Creeley, American published in Europe:
  • The Kind of Act of^[14]
  • The Immoral Proposition^[14]
• E. E. Cummings, i — six nonlectures from his Charles Eliot Norton Lectures of 1951-1952 (Harvard University Press)
• Richard Eberhart, Undercliff: Poems 1946–1953^[13]
• Jean Garrigue, The Monument Rose^[13]
• Kenneth Koch, Poems^[13]
• Charles Olson:
  • In Cold Hell, In Thicket, published in Origin as its eighth issue
  • Mayan Letters, letters to the poet Robert Creeley, report on the author's research into Mayan hieroglyphs and discuss Olson's ideas on "objectism" in poetry. (criticism)^[15]
• Ezra Pound, translator, The Translations of Ezra Pound^[13]
• George Santayana, The Poet's Testament, verse drama^[13]
• May Sarton, The Land of Silence^[13]
• Karl Shapiro, Poems 1940-1953, New York: Random House^[16]
• W. D. Snodgrass, Heart's Needle, New York: Knopf^[16]
• David Derek Stacton, An Unfamiliar Country: 25 Poems
• Gertrude Stein, Bee Time Vine and Other Pieces (1913–1927), fiction and verse^[13]
• Wallace Stevens, Collected Poems
• Melvin Tolson, Libretto for the Republic of Liberia^[13]
• David Wagoner, Dry Sun, Dry Wind^[13]
• Robert Penn Warren, Brother to Dragons^[13]

Other in English

• James K. Baxter, The Fallen House, New Zealand
• Nissim Ezekiel, Sixty Poems, verses written from 1945 to 1951; India^[11]

Works published in other languages

French language

Canada, in French

• Jean-Guy Pilon, La fiancée du matin: poèmes, Montréal: Éditions Amicitia^[17]

France

• Yves Bonnefoy, Du mouvement et de l'immobilité de douve^[18]
• Rene-Guy Cadou, Helene ou le regne vegetal, Volume 2 (see Volume 1 1952), published posthumously (died 1951)^[19]
• Maurice Chappaz, Testament du Haut-Rhône, Swiss, French-language
• Andrée Chedid, Textes pour le vivant^[19]
• Jean Follain, Territoires^[20]
• Philippe Jaccottet, L'Effraie et autres poèmes, the author's first book of poetry to appear in France; publisher: Gallimard^[21]
• Saint-John Perse, Vents^[20]

India

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

Kannada

• R. S. Mugali, Kannada Sahitya Caritre, a history of Kannada literature, written in that language, up to the 19th century^[11]
• Siddayya Puranika, Jalapata, lyrics^[11]
• Virasaiva Sahitya Mttu Itihasa, literary history of "Veerashaiva" literature in three volumes^[11]

Kashmiri

• Amir Shah Kreri, Zafar Nama, a masnavi commemorating an episode of Islamic conquest and based on a Persian original; the poem became very popular in some rural areas^[11]
• Mohammad Amin Kamil, Saqi Nama, a masnavi^[11]
• Rasul Bath ("most probably the same person known now as Rasul Pompur", according to Indian academic Sisir Kumar Das), Ab e Hayat^[11]
• Rahman Rahi, Sanavany Saz^[11]
• Rasa Javidani, Tuhfa-e bahar, the Urdu-language poet's first book of Kashmiri-language poems^[11]

Malayalam

• Elamkulam Kunjan Pillai, Unninilisandesam, commentary on a 14th-century Manipravala poem^[11]
• K. Kittunni Nayar, Mahakavi Vallattol, biography of the poet Vallathol^[11]
• Ulloor Paramesvara Ayyar, Kerala Sahitya Caritram, in 1995, Indian academic Sisir Kumar Das called this book the "most comprehensive history of the Malayalam and Sanskrit literatures of Kerala"; published posthumously, in five volumes, starting this year, with the last volume coming out in 1955^[11]

Other languages of the Indian subcontinent

• Ananta Pattanayak, Santisikhar, Oriya^[11]
• Felix Paul Noronha, writing in the Konkani dialect of the Marathi language:
  • Kaviyam Jhelo^[11]
  • Kristanu Puranatli Vinchovan^[11]
• Ghulan Rabbani Taban, editor, Shikast-i zindan, Urdu-language poems about the independence struggle in India and other Asian countries^[11]
• Kripal Singh Kasel and Parminder Singh, Punjabi Sahit Di Utpatti Te Vikas, history of Punjabi literature, written in that language^[11]
• Lekhnath Poudyal, Tarun-Tapasi, a poem on contemporary affairs written mostly in the Sikharini meter; considered the magnum opus of the author, who calls it a navya kavya; Nepali^[11]
• Nagarjun, Yug Dhara, poems on current affairs; Hindi^[11]
• Narayan, also known as "Shyam", Rupa maya, a sequence of 16 sonnets on the myth of Visvamitra and Menaka; Sindhi^[11]
• Nanuram Samskarta, Samay Vayaro, in blank verse; Rajasthani^[11]
• Nidudavolu Venkatarao, Telugu Kavula Caritra, biographical information about many Telugu poets (see also a larger work of the same nature, Daksina Desiyandhra Vangmayamu 1954)^[11]
• Nilmani Phookan, Surya Heno Nami Aahe Eyi Nadiadi, Rangiya, Assam: Prakashan Ghar, Assamese-language^[22]
• Priyakant Maniar, Pratik, the author's first book of verses; 65 poems Gujarati^[11]
• Shri Shrimat Kumar Vyas, editor, Alagojo, anthology of poems by Rajasthani authors^[11]
• Sudhindra Nath Datta, Sambarta, called "[o]ne of the major works in modern Bengali poetry", according to Sisir Kumar Das^[11]

Other languages

• Arturo Corcuera, Cantoral, Peruvian writing in Spanish
• Hermann Hesse, Die Gedichte, German

Awards and honors

• Canada: Governor General's Award, poetry or drama: The Net and the Sword, Douglas LePan^[23]

United Kingdom

• King's Gold Medal for Poetry: Arthur Waley

United States

• American Academy of Arts and Letters Gold Medal for Poetry: Marianne Moore
• National Book Award for Poetry: Archibald MacLeish, Collected Poems: 1917-1952
• Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: Archibald MacLeish: Collected Poems 1917-1952
• Bollingen Prize: Archibald MacLeish and William Carlos Williams
• Fellowship of the Academy of American Poets: Robert Frost
• North Carolina Poet Laureate: James Larkin Pearson appointed.

Births

• February 5 – Giannina Braschi, Puerto Rican-born poet and novelist
• January 7 – Dionne Brand, Canadian poet, novelist, and non-fiction writer born and raised in Trinidad and Tobago before moving to Canada
• January 12 – David Brooks, Australian
• February 18 – Peter Robinson, English
• February 24 – Jane Hirshfield, American poet and translator
• February 27 – Brad Leithauser, American
• May 12 – Neil Astley, English editor
• July 20 – Joseph Bathanti, American poet, novelist and professor; North Carolina Poet Laureate, 2012–2014
• July 29 – Frank McGuinness, Irish playwright, translator and poet
• August 10 – Mark Doty, American
• August 27 – Gjertrud Schnackenberg, American
• August 31 – György Károly (died 2018), Hungarian
• October 1 – John Hegley, English performance poet
• October 20 – Robyn Bolam, English
• November 19 – Tony Hoagland (died 2018), American
• Also:
  • Alison Brackenbury, English
  • Patrick Deeley, Irish
  • Adeeb Kamal Ad-Deen, Iraqi, Arabic language poet living in Australia
  • Antonis Fostieris, Greek
  • Rita Kelly, Irish language
  • Chris Mansell, female Australian poet and publisher
  • Ian McBryde, Canadian-born poet living in Australia

Deaths

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

• February 25 – Mokichi Saitō (born 1882), Taishō period poet of the Araragi school and psychiatrist; father of novelist Kita Morio (surname: Saitō)
• April 6 – Idris Davies (born 1905), Welsh poet, originally writing in the Welsh language, but later exclusively in English
• May 22 – Louis Lavater (born 1867), Australian composer and writer^[24]
• May 28 – Tatsuo Hori 堀 辰雄 (born 1904), Japanese, Shōwa period writer, poet and translator (surname: Hori)
• July 16 – Hilaire Belloc, 82 (born 1870), French-born English poet, essayist and travel writer whose "cautionary tales", humorous poems with a moral, are the most widely known of his writings, from burns resulting from a fall into a fireplace
• September 1 – Bernard O'Dowd (born 1866), Australian co-founder of newspaper Tocsin
• September 3 – Shinobu Orikuchi 折口 信夫, also known as Chōkū Shaku 釋 迢空 (born 1887), Japanese ethnologist, linguist, folklorist, novelist and poet; a disciple of Kunio Yanagita, he established an academic field named "Orikuchiism" (折口学, Orikuchigaku), a mix of Japanese folklore, Japanese classics and Shintō religion (surname: Orikuchi)
• November 9 – Dylan Thomas, 39 (born 1914), Welsh poet, from an alcohol-related cerebral incident
• November 30 – Francis Picabia (born 1879), French avant-garde painter, poet and typographer
• December 7 – Helena Jane Coleman (born 1860), Canadian poet
• Also:
  • George Herbert Clarke (born 1873), English-born Canadian academic and writer

See also

•  Poetry portal

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

Notes

1. Lal, P., Modern Indian Poetry in English: An Anthology & a Credo, p 182 Calcutta: Writers Workshop, second edition, 1971 (however, on page 597 an "editor's note" states contents "on the following pages are a supplement to the first edition" and is dated "1972")
2. " Robert Finch," Online Guide to Writing in Canada. Web, Mar. 17, 2011.
3. "Irving Layton: Publications 2011-07-14 at the Wayback Machine," Canadian Poetry Online, Web, May 7, 2011.
4. Gustafson, Ralph, The Penguin Book of Canadian Verse, revised edition, 1967, Baltimore, Maryland: Penguin Books
5. Roberts, Neil, editor, A Companion to Twentieth-century Poetry, Part III, Chapter 3, "Canadian Poetry", by Cynthia Messenger, Blackwell Publishing, 2003, ISBN 978-1-4051-1361-8, retrieved via Google Books, January 3, 2009
6. "Notes on Life and Works 2011-08-17 at the Wayback Machine," Selected Poetry of Raymond Souster, Representative Poetry Online, UToronto.ca, Web, May 7, 2011.
7. Anup C. Nair and Rajesh I. Patel, "22. Nissim Ezekiel the Poet: A Bird's Eyeview", pp 248, 257-259, in Indian English Poetry: Critical Perspectives, edited by Jaydipsinh Dodiya, 2000, Delhi: Prabhat Kumar Sharma for Sarup & Sons, ISBN 81-7625-111-9, retrieved via Google Books on July 17, 2010
8. Naik, M. K., Perspectives on Indian poetry in English, p. 230, (published by Abhinav Publications, 1984, ISBN 0-391-03286-0, ISBN 978-0-391-03286-6), retrieved via Google Books, June 12, 2009
9. Vinayak Krishna Gokak, The Golden Treasury Of Indo-Anglian Poetry (1828-1965), p 323, New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi (1970, first edition; 2006 reprint), ISBN 81-260-1196-3, retrieved August 10, 2010
10. Datta, Amaresh, et al., Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature, Volume 2, published by Sahitya Akademi, 1988, ISBN 81-260-1194-7, ISBN 978-81-260-1194-0, retrieved via Google Books on June 17, 2009
11. Das, Sisir Kumar, "A Chronology of Literary Events / 1911–1956", in 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 978-81-7201-798-9, retrieved via Google Books on December 23, 2008
12. Richard Ellmann and Robert O'Clair, editors, The Norton Anthology of Modern Poetry, W. W. Norton & Company, 1973, ISBN 0-393-09357-3
13. Ludwig, Richard M., and Clifford A. Nault, Jr., Annals of American Literature: 1602–1983, 1986, New York: Oxford University Press ("If the title page is one year later than the copyright date, we used the latter since publishers frequently postdate books published near the end of the calendar year." — from the Preface, p vi)
14. Everett, Nicholas, "Robert Creeley's Life and Career" at the Modern American Poetry website, accessed May 1, 2008
15. Christensen, Paul, Web page titled "Charles Olson's Life and Career" at the Modern American Poetry website, accessed May 1, 2008
16. 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
17. Web page titled "Jean-Guy Pilon" 2011-07-06 at the Wayback Machine at L’Académie des lettres du Québec website (in French), retrieved October 20, 2010
18. Preminger, Alex and T. V. F. Brogan, et al., The New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics, 1993. New York: MJF Books/Fine Communications
19. Brée, Germaine, Twentieth-Century French Literature, translated by Louise Guiney, Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1983
20. Auster, Paul, editor, The Random House Book of Twentieth-Century French Poetry: with Translations by American and British Poets, New York: Random House, 1982 ISBN 0-394-52197-8
21. Cady, Andrea, Measuring the visible: the verse and prose of Philippe Jaccottet, p 32, Editions Rodopi, 1992, retrieved via Google Books on August 20, 2009
22. Web page titled "Nilmani Phookan" 2011-07-21 at the Wayback Machine at the "Poetry International" website, retrieved July 16, 2010
23. "Cumulative List of Winners of the Governor General's Literary Awards 2011-05-14 at the Wayback Machine", Canada Council. Web, Feb. 10, 2011. http://www.canadacouncil.ca/NR/rdonlyres/E22B9A3C-5906-41B8-B39C-F91F58B3FD70/0/cumulativewinners2010rev.pdf 2011-05-14 at the Wayback Machine
24. "Lavater, Louis Isidore (1867-1953)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 2007-05-24.