1978 in poetry explained

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

Events

• Bloodaxe Books is established by Neil Astley in Newcastle upon Tyne, England
• L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E magazine, edited by Bruce Andrews and Charles Bernstein, is first published in the United States
• Stevie, a film based on a play about the poet Stevie Smith is released

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:

• Margaret Avison, Sunblue^[1]
• Earle Birney, Fall by Fury & Other Makings. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart.^[2]
• Dionne Brand, Fore Day Morning: Poems
• William Wilfred Campbell, Vapour and Blue: Souster selects Campbell. Raymond Souster ed. Paget Press.^[3]
• Leonard Cohen, Death of a Lady's Man^[1]
• Don Domanski, Heaven
• Phyllis Gotlieb, The Works: Collected Poems
• George Benson Johnston, Taking a Grip: Poems 1971-78.^[4]
• Irving Layton, The Love Poems of Irving Layton. Toronto: Canadian Fine Editions.^[5]
• Irving Layton, The Tightrope Dancer. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart.^[5]
• Dennis Lee, The Gods. Vancouver: Kanchenjunga Press.^[6]
• Pat MacKay, The Pat Lowther Poem
• Sean O'Huigin, The Inks and the Pencils and the Looking Back
• Michael Ondaatje, Elimination Dance/La danse eliminatoire, Ilderton: Nairn Coldstream; revised edition, Brick, 1980^[7]
• Craig Powell, Rehearsal for Dancers
• Al Purdy, Being Alive
• Joe Rosenblatt, Loosely Tied Hands. Black Moss.^[8]
• A.J.M. Smith The Classic Shade: Selected Poems
• Peter Trower, Bush Poems
• Sean Virgo, Deathwatch on Skidegate Narrows
• Miriam Waddington, Mister Never
• Wilfred Watson, I Begin With Counting
• George Woodcock:
  • The Kestrel and Other Poems of Past and Present. Sunderland, Durham: Coelfrith Press, Canada^[9]
  • Thomas Merton, Monk and Poet: A Critical Study, Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre, and Seattle: University of Washington Press, criticism^[9]

• K. R. Srinivasa Iyengar, Microcosmographia Poetica, Calcutta: Writers Workshop, India .^[10]
• Ketaki Kushari Dyson, Sap-wood, Calcutta: Writers Workshop, India.^[10]
• Margaret Chatterjee, The Sound of Wings, New Delhi: Arnold-Heinemann^[10]

• Seamus Heaney, After Summer, Gallery Press, Northern Ireland poet published in Dublin
• Thomas McCarthy, The First Convention, including "State Funeral"^[11] Dublin: Dolmen Press^[12]
• Tom Paulin, Personal Column, Northern Ireland poet published in the United Kingdom

• Alan Brunton, Oh Ravachol, Red Mole^[13]

• Peter Ackroyd, Country Life^[14]
• Al Alvarez, Autumn to Autumn and Selected Poems 1953–1976^[14]
• Gillian Clarke, The Sundial,^[14] Welsh
• D. J. Enright, Paradise Illustrated^[14]
• Gavin Ewart, All My Little Ones (see also More Little Ones 1982)^[14]
• James Fenton, A Vacant Possession, poems, TNR Publications^[15]
• Roy Fisher, The Thing About Joe Sullivan^[14]
• Geoffrey Grigson, The Fiesta and Other Poems^[14]
• Tony Harrison, From the School of Eloquence, and Other Poems^[14]
• Seamus Heaney, After Summer, Gallery Press, Northern Ireland poet published in the United Kingdom
• John Heath-Stubbs, The Watchman's Flute
• Geoffrey Hill, Tenebrae,^[14] including the sonnet sequences "Lachrimae" and "An Apology for the Revival of Christian Architecture in England"
• Ted Hughes:
  • Cave Birds^[14]
  • Moon-Bells, and Other Poems, for children^[14]
• A. Norman Jeffares, W. B. Yeats: Man And Poet, United Kingdom, biography, revision of the first edition of 1948^[16]
• Jenny Joseph, The Thinking Heart^[14]
• Philip Larkin, Femmes Damnees^[14]
• Liz Lochhead, Islands^[14]
• George MacBeth, Buying a Heart (first published in the United States 1977)^[14]
• Hugh MacDiarmid, pen name of Christopher Murray Grieve (died September 9), Collected Poems 1920–1976,^[14] two volumes (posthumous)
• John Montague, The Great Cloak
• Andrew Motion, The Pleasure Steamers^[14]
• Norman Nicholson, The Shadow of Black Combe^[14]
• Tom Paulin, Personal Column,^[14] Northern Ireland poet published in the United Kingdom
• Craig Raine, The Onion, Memory^[14]
• Tom Rawling, A Sort of Killing
• Carol Rumens, A Necklace of Mirrors^[14]
• Jon Stallworthy, A Familiar Tree^[14]
• D. M. Thomas, The Honeymoon Voyage^[14]
• R. S. Thomas, Frequencies^[14]
• Jeffrey Wainwright, Heart's Desire

• Maya Angelou, And Still I Rise
• Paul Blackburn (died 1971), translator, Proensa: An Anthology of Troubadour Poetry
• Joseph Payne Brennan, As Evening Advances (Crystal Visions Press)
• Robert Creeley:
  • Hello
  • Later^[17]
• Ed Dorn:
  • Hello, La Jolla, Wingbow Press,^[18]
  • Selected Poems, edited by Donald Allen, Grey Fox Press^[18]
• Cynthia Dubin Edelberg, Robert Creeley's Poetry: A Critical Introduction, Albuquerque, New Mexico (criticism)^[17]
• Nikki Giovanni, Cotton Candy on a Rainy Day
• John Hollander, Spectral Emanations
• bell hooks, And There We Wept: poems
• James McMichael, The Lover’s Familiar
• James Merrill,
• W. S. Merwin, Feathers From the Hill, Iowa City, Iowa: Windhover^[19]
• Eugenio Montale, The Storm & Other Poems, translated by Charles Wright into English from the original Italian; Oberlin College Press,
• Mary Oliver:
  • The Night Traveler
  • Twelve Moons
• George Oppen, Primitive (Black Sparrow Press)
• Mary Oppen (George Oppen's wife), Meaning a Life, a memoir (Black Sparrow Press)
• Adrienne Rich, The Dream of a Common Language
• Peter Seaton, Agreement (New York: Asylum's Press and Eclipse Archive)^[20]
• Patti Smith, Babel
• William Stafford, Stories That Could Be True
• Mark Strand, The Late Hour, Canadian native living in and published in the United States
• Rosmarie Waldrop, The Road Is Everywhere or Stop This Body (Open Places)
• James Wright, To a Blossoming Pear Tree
• Louis Zukofsky:
  • A (University of California Press)
  • 80 Flowers

Other in English

• Jennifer Maiden, Birthstones, Angus & Robertson, Australia

Works 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:

Arabic language

• Nazir Qabbani, Syrian:
  • I Love You, and the Rest is to Come
  • To Beirut the Feminine, With My Love
  • May You Be My Love For Another Year

French language

• Noureddine Aba, Gazelle au petit matin, Algerian writer^[21]
• Yves Bonnefoy, Poèmes (1947–1975)
• Jean-Pierre Faye, Verres
• Jean Daive, Le cri-cerveau^[22]
• Philippe Denis, Revif^[22]
• Emmanuel Hocquard, Les Dernieres nouvelles de l'expédition sont datées du 15 février 17 [...]^[22]
• Edmond Jabès, Le Soupçon Le Désert^[22]
• Joyce Mansour, Faire Signe au machiniste
• Robert Marteau, Traité du blanc et des tientures^[22]
• Yves Martin, Je fais bouillir mon vin
• Claude Royet-Journoud, La Notion d'obstacle^[22]
• Jean Max Tixier, editor, Poètes de sud, anthology; publisher: Rijois
• Alain Veinstein, Vers l'absence de soutien^[22]

• Marcel Bélanger:
  • Fragments paniques
  • Infranoir
• Normand de Bellefeuille, La Belle Conduite

German language

• Alfred Andersch, Empōrt euch der Himmel ist blau
• Ingeborg Bachmann, works, in a four-volume edition
• Konrad Beyer, Gesamtwerk
• Nicolas Born, Gedichte 1967-1978
• Erich Fried, Die bunten Getûme
• J. Hans, U. Herms, and R. Thenior, Lyrik-Katalog Bundesrepublik, anthology^[23]
• Thomas Mann, Tagebücher 1933-1934
• , Zittern
• Kurt Tucholsky, Die Q-Tagebücher 1934-1935

Criticism, scholarship and biography in Germany

• Walter Hinck, Von Heine zu Brecht. Lyrik im Geschichtsprozess (scholarship)^[24]
• Walter Hinderer, editor, Gesch. der politschen Lyrik in Deutschland, Stuttgart (scholarship)^[24]
• William H. Rey, Poesie der Antipoesie: Moderne deutsche Lyrik Genesis, Theorie, Struktur, Heidelberg, (scholarship)^[24]

Hebrew language

• D. Avidan, a poetry book
• P. Sadeh, a poetry book
• E. Megged, a poetry book
• M. Ben-Shaul, a poetry book
• Zelda (poet), a poetry book

Listed in alphabetical order by first name:

• Buddhidhari Singha, Smrti-Sahasri, a kavya, Maithili-language^[25]
• Debarati Mitra, Jubaker Snan, Kolkata: Ananda Publishers, Kolkata; Bengali-language^[26]
• Dilip Chitre, Kavitenantarchya Kavita, Vacha Prakashan, Aurangabad; Marathi-language^[27]
• Jaya Mehta, Venetian Blind; Indian poet writing in Gujarati^[28]
• K. Satchidanandan, Indian Sketchukal ("Indian Sketches"); Malayalam-language^[29]
• K. Siva Reddy, Netra Dhanussu, Hyderabad: Jhari Poetry Circle, Telugu-language^[30]
• Nirendranath Chakravarti, Aaj Shokaaley, Kolkata: Ananda Publishers; Bengali-language^[31]
• Sitanshu Yashaschandra, Moe-n jo dado poems read on cassette; Gujarati-language^[32]
• Varavara Rao (better known as "VV"), Swechcha or Svecha ("Freedom"), Hyderabad: Yuga Prachuranalu; Telugu-language^[33]

• Mario Luzi, Al Fuoco della controversia
• Leonardo Sinisgalli, Dimenticatoio
• Eugenio Montale, Tutte le poesie
• Franco Fortini, Una volta per sempre, poesie 1938-1973

• Hans Børli, Dag og Drøm: Dikt i utvalg ("Day and Dream") (Norway)
• Paal Brekke, Dikt 1949-1722 (Norway)
• Halldis Moren Vesaas, Dikt i samling (Norway)

• Stanisław Barańczak, Sztuczne oddychanie ("Artificial Respiration"), London: Aneks^[34]
• Ryszard Krynicki, Nasze zycie rośnie. Wiersze ("Our Life is Growing: Poems"); Paris: Instytut Literacki^[35]
• Ewa Lipska, Piaty wybor wierszy ("Fifth Collection of Verse"); Warsaw: Czytelnik^[36]
• Z. Jarosiński and H. Zawarska, editors, Antologia polskiego futuryzmu i Nowej Sztuki, anthology^[37]
• Adam Zagajewski, List ("A Letter"), Poznañ: Od Nowa^[38]

• Rui Knopfli, O Escriba Acocorado (Portugal)
• Waldimir Diniz, Até o 8° round (Brazilian)
• Cassiano Nunes, Madrugada (Brazilian)
• Accioly Lopes, his first volume of verse (Brazilian)

Spanish language

• Eduardo Haro Ibars, Perdiddas blancas
• Féliz de Asúa, Pasar y siete canciones (he also published a novel this year, Les lecciones suspendidas)
• Luis Antonio de Villena, Viaje a Bizancio
• Pere Gimferrer, a collection of his verse translated from Catalan to Castilian by the author
• García Hortelano, editor, anthology of verse by the Generation of the '50s, including Caballero Bonald, Ángel González, Jaime Gil de Biedma, Carlos Barral

• Alfonso Calderón, Poemas para Clavecin ("Poems for Harpsichord"), Chile^[39]
• Arturo Corcuera, Los Amantes, Peru
• Oscar Hahn, Arte de morir
• Pablo Neruda (died 1973), Para nacer he nacido, previously unpublished diary entries, memoirs and other writings, put out by his widow, Matilde de Neruda and Miguel Otero Silva (of Venezuela)
• Luis Alberto Spinetta, Guitarra Negra (Black Guitar) - first edition of the only book written by the singer Luis Alberto Spinetta of Argentina.

• Tomas Tranströmer, Sanningsbarriāren
• Tobias Berggren, Bergsmusik
• Eva Runefelt, Aldriga och barnsliga trakter

• Shoyme Roitman, a poetry book
• Rachel Boymvol, a poetry book
• Jacob Shargel, a poetry book
• Hayyim Plotkin, a poetry book

Other

• Odysseus Elytis, Μαρία Νεφέλη ("Maria Nefeli"), Greece
• Joseph Brodsky, editor of two expatriate Russian poetry anthologies:
  • Konets prekrasnoy epokh: Stikhotvoreniya 1964-71
  • Chast' rechi: Stkikhotvoreniya 1972-76
• Klaus Høeck, Denmark:
  • Skygger, publisher: Swing^[40]
  • Topia eller Che Guevara^[40]
• Seán Ó Ríordáin, Tar éis mo Bháis ("After my Death"), Ireland^[41]
• Sjón, Sýnir ("Visions"), Iceland

Awards and honors

• See 1978 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.

• Cholmondeley Award: Christopher Hope, Leslie Norris, Peter Reading, D. M. Thomas, R. S. Thomas
• Eric Gregory Award: Ciaran Carson, Peter Denman, Christopher Reid, Paul Wilkins, Martyn A. Ford, James Sutherland-Smith

• AML Award for "Poetry Honorable Mention" Clinton F. Larson for "The Western World " and Marden J. Clark for "God's Plenty" and Marilyn McMeen Miller Brown for "Grandmother"
• Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress (later the post would be called "Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress"): William Meredith appointed this year.
• National Book Award for Poetry: Howard Nemerov, The Collected Poems of Howard Nemerov
• Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: Howard Nemerov, The Collected Poems of Howard Nemerov
• Walt Whitman Award: Karen Snow, Wonders
• Fellowship of the Academy of American Poets: Josephine Miles

• Guillaume Apollinaire prize: Jean-Claude Renard, La Lumière du silence

Other

• Cuba: Casa de las Américas prize for poetry: Claribel Alegria of El Salvador, for Sobrevivo
• Soviet Union: USSR State Prize: Andrei Voznesensky^[42]

Births

• June 7 – Jesse Ball, American poet and writer
• October 24 – Kei Miller, Jamaican-born poet and writer
• September 4 – Natalie Diaz, Mojave American poet, language activist, professional basketball player and educator
• Also
  • Jen Hadfield, English poet and visual artist
  • J. O. Morgan, Scottish poet

Deaths

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

• January 20 – Gilbert Highet, 71, Scottish-American classicist, academic, writer, intellectual, critic and literary historian, of cancer
• February 2 – G. Sankara Kurup, 76 (born 1901), Indian Malayalam-language poet
• February 22 – Phyllis McGinley, 72 (born 1905), American children's story writer and poet
• March 19 – Faith Baldwin, 84, American romantic novelist and poet
• March 22 – John Hall Wheelock, 91, American poet
• April 14 – F. R. Leavis, 82, English literary critic
• April 16 – Elizabeth Rebecca Ward, 97, English versifier
• April 28 – Walter Fischer, 77, Austrian medical doctor, journalist, radio broadcaster, translator, poet, anti-fascist resistance fighter and Communist Party official^[43]
• May 1 – Sylvia Townsend Warner, 84, English novelist and poet
• May 12 – Louis Zukofsky, 74, American modernist poet
• July 2 – Aris Alexandrou, 56, Greek poet
• June 3 – Frank Stanford, 29, American poet, by suicide
• September 9 – Hugh MacDiarmid, 86, Scottish poet
• Also:
  • Sankara Kurup (born 1901), Indian, Malayalam-language poet^[44]
  • P. Kunhiraman Nair (born 1909), Indian, Malayalam-language poet^[44]
  • J. Rodolfo Wilcock (born 1919), Argentine author and poet

Notes

1. Roberts, Neil (ed.), A Companion to Twentieth-century Poetry, Part III, Chapter 3, "Canadian Poetry", by Cynthia Messenger, Blackwell Publishing, 2003,, retrieved January 3, 2009
2. "Earle Birney: Published Works," Canadian Poetry Online, UToronto.ca, May 3, 2011.
3. "Notes on Life and Works," Selected Poetry of Raymond Souster, Representative Poetry Online, UToronto.ca, May 7, 2011.
4. James Steele, "Johnston, George Benson," Canadian Encyclopedia (Edmonton: Hurtig, 1988), 1114.
5. "Irving Layton: Publications," Canadian Poetry Online, Web, May 7, 2011.
6. "Dennis Lee: Publications," Canadian Poetry Online, UToronto.ca, Web, Apr. 19, 2011.
7. http://www.poetryfoundation.org/archive/poet.html?id=5142 "Archive: Michael Ondaatje (1943-)"
8. "Joe Rosenblatt: Publications," Canadian Poetry Online. March 22, 2011.
9. http://dwardmac.pitzer.edu/anarchist_Archives/bright/woodcock/woodbiblio.html "The Works of George Woodcock"
10. Naik, M. K., Perspectives on Indian poetry in English, p. 230 (Abhinav Publications, 1984,,), retrieved June 12, 2009
11. Crotty, Patrick, Modern Irish Poetry: An Anthology, Belfast, The Blackstaff Press Ltd., 1995,
12. http://ireland.poetryinternationalweb.org/piw_cms/cms/cms_module/index.php?obj_id=9272 "Thomas McCarthy"
13. Robinson, Roger and Wattie, Nelson, The Oxford Companion to New Zealand Literature, 1998, pp. 75-76, "Alan Brunton" article by Peter Simpson
14. Book: Cox, Michael. The Concise Oxford Chronology of English Literature. Oxford University Press. 2004. 0-19-860634-6.
15. Web site: Books by Fenton. jamesfenton.com. 2012-03-10. 2016-08-08.
16. News: Obituary: A. Norman Jeffares. The Guardian. London. John Sutherland (author). John. Sutherland. 2005-06-14. 2008-04-22.
17. Everett, Nicholas, "Robert Creeley's Life and Career" at the Modern American Poetry website, accessed May 1, 2008
18. http://www.poetryfoundation.org/archive/poet.html?id=1837 "Archive / Edward Dorn (1929-1999)"
19. http://www.poetryfoundation.org/archive/poet.html?id=4676 "W. S. Merwin (1927-)"
20. Web site: Seaton . Peter . Agreement . Eclipse . 27 March 2024.
21. Book: Hayes, Jarrod. Aba, Noureddine. Encyclopedia of African Literature. 2003. Routledge. 0-415-23019-5. Gikandi, Simon.
22. Auster, Paul, editor, The Random House Book of Twentieth-Century French Poetry: with Translations by American and British Poets, New York: Random House, 1982
23. Preminger, Alex and T. V. F. Brogan, et al. (eds), The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics, 1993, Princeton University Press and MJF Books, "German Poetry" article, "Anthologies in German" section, pp. 473-74.
24. Preminger, Alex and T. V. F. Brogan, et al. (eds), The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics, 1993, Princeton University Press and MJF Books, "German Poetry" article, "Criticism in German" section, p. 474.
25. 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,, retrieved December 23, 2008
26. http://india.poetryinternationalweb.org/piw_cms/cms/cms_module/index.php?obj_id=2717 "Debarati Mitra"
27. http://india.poetryinternationalweb.org/piw_cms/cms/cms_module/index.php?obj_id=13518 "Dilip Chitre"
28. Mohan, Sarala Jag, Chapter 4: "Twentieth-Century Gujarati Literature", in Natarajan, Nalini, and Emanuel Sampath Nelson (eds), Handbook of Twentieth-century Literatures of India, Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group, 1996,, retrieved December 10, 2008
29. http://india.poetryinternationalweb.org/piw_cms/cms/cms_module/index.php?obj_id=2723 "K. Satchidanandan"
30. http://india.poetryinternationalweb.org/piw_cms/cms/cms_module/index.php?obj_id=16074 "K. Siva Reddy"
31. http://india.poetryinternationalweb.org/piw_cms/cms/cms_module/index.php?obj_id=11144 "Nirendranath Chakravarti"
32. http://india.poetryinternationalweb.org/piw_cms/cms/cms_module/index.php?obj_id=11819 "Sitanshu Yashaschandra"
33. http://india.poetryinternationalweb.org/piw_cms/cms/cms_module/index.php?obj_id=15346 "Varavara Rao"
34. http://www.bookinstitute.pl/en,ik,site,40,78,139.php "Rymkiewicz Jaroslaw Marek"
35. "Krynicki Ryszard" (both English version and Polish version), Institute Ksiazki ("Book Institute"), "Bibliography: Poetry" section, retrieved February 26, 2010
36. "Lipska Ewa" (in English and Polish), Instytut Książki ("Books Institute") website, "Bibliography" sections, retrieved March 1, 2010
37. Preminger, Alex and T. V. F. Brogan, et al. (eds), The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics, 1993, Princeton University Press and MJF Books, "Polish Poetry" article, "Anthologies" section, pp. 959-60.
38. "Some information about Adam Zagajewski" http://info-poland.buffalo.edu/web/arts_culture/literature/poetry/zagajewski/bio/adzag.htm, cached page from the University of Texas at Austin College of Liberal Arts website, cached on February 24, 2005 by the "Info-Poland" website, retrieved February 25, 2010
39. http://www.laht.com/article.asp?CategoryId=13003&ArticleId=341019 "Chile National Literature Prize Winner Alfonso Calderon Dies"
40. http://www.danishliterature.info/index.php?id=2092&no_cache=1&tx_lfforfatter_pi2[stage]=5&tx_lfforfatter_pi2[uid]=115&tx_lfforfatter_pi2[lang]=_eng "Bibliography of Klaus Høeck"
41. Book: Boylan, Henry. 1998. A Dictionary of Irish Biography. 3rd. 350. Dublin. Gill and Macmillan. 0-7171-2945-4.
42. https://web.archive.org/web/20100603220605/http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5ieI2FGJE_iHvnj8A6Y59KWc8YuhA "Famed Russian poet Voznesensky dies at 77"
43. Web site: UeLEX. Walter Fischer, 1901–1978.
44. Paniker, Ayyappa, "Modern Malayalam Literature" chapter in George, K. M. (ed), Modern Indian Literature, an Anthology, pp. 231–255, published by Sahitya Akademi, 1992, retrieved January 10, 2009

• Britannica Book of the Year 1979 ("for events of 1978"), published by Encyclopædia Britannica 1979 (source of many items in "Works published" section and rarely in other sections)

See also

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