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 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]
• , Rhapsody in Red ( Poetry in English ),^[8]
• , 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 – - – Thomas Blackburn – - Alex Comfort – – – Keith Douglas – George Every – John Fairfax – G. S. Fraser – – W. S. Graham - F. Pratt Green – J. C. Hall – Michael Hamburger – John Heath-Stubbs – Glyn Jones – Sidney Keyes – Francis King – James Kirkup – Norman Nicholson – – – Kathleen Raine – Anne Ridler – – W. R. Rodgers – Joseph Rykwert – John Smith – Muriel Spark – Derek Stanford – – – John Wain – John Waller – Vernon Watkins – Gordon Wharton - – 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]
• , 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]
• , Jalapata, lyrics^[11]
• Virasaiva Sahitya Mttu Itihasa, literary history of "Veerashaiva" literature in three volumes^[11]

Kashmiri[]

• , 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]
• , Saqi Nama, a masnavi^[11]
• ("most probably the same person known now as ", according to Indian academic Sisir Kumar Das), Ab e Hayat^[11]
• Rahman Rahi, Sanavany Saz^[11]
• , 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 poem^[11]
• , Mahakavi Vallattol, biography of the poet Vallathol^[11]
• , 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[]

• , Santisikhar, Oriya^[11]
• , writing in the Konkani dialect of the Marathi language:
  • Kaviyam Jhelo^[11]
  • Kristanu Puranatli Vinchovan^[11]
• , editor, Shikast-i zindan, Urdu-language poems about the independence struggle in India and other Asian countries^[11]
• 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]
• , 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]
• , editor, Alagojo, anthology of poems by Rajasthani authors^[11]
• , 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
  • , 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 – (born 1860), Canadian poet
• Also:
  • (born 1873), English-born Canadian academic and writer

See also[]

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

Notes[]