# 1998 in poetry

"none" is preferred when the title is sufficiently descriptive; see [[WP:SDNONE]] Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature (for instance, Irish or France).

## Events

* May 12 — John Montague is named as first holder of The Ireland Chair of Poetry.
* August — English poet and playwright Tony Harrison's film-poem Prometheus is first shown.
* Fall — Skanky Possum poetry magazine founded in Austin, Texas.
* Samizdat poetry magazine founded in Chicago (it will run until 2004).

## 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:

### Australia

* Robert Gray, New Selected Poems
* Jennifer Harrison, Dear B (Black Pepper)
* Frieda Hughes, Wooroloo, English-born Australian poet, originally published in United States by Harper Flamingo
* John Leonard, editor, Australian Verse: An Oxford Anthology, Melbourne: Oxford University Press (anthology)
* Philip Salom, New and Selected Poems. (Fremantle Arts Centre) ISBN 978-1-86368-218-3
* John Tranter, Late Night Radio, Polygon Press
* Chris Wallace-Crabbe, Whirling, Oxford: Oxford University Press

### Canada

* Gary Barwin, Outside the Hat, (Coach House Books) ISBN 978-1-55245-030-7
* Stephen Cain, dislexicon (Coach House Books) ISBN 978-1-55245-027-7
* Anne Carson, Autobiography of Red: A Novel in Verse (Knopf); a New York Times "notable book of the year"
* Margaret Christakos, The Moment Coming (Oakville: ECW)
* Don Domanski, Parish of the Psychic Moon
* Louis Dudek, The Poetry of Louis Dudek. Ottawa: The Golden Dog.
* Paul Dutton, Aurealities, (Coach House Books) ISBN 978-0-88910-414-3
* Michael Holmes, Satellite Dishes from the Future Bakery, (Coach House Books) ISBN 978-1-55245-004-8
* Sylvia Legris, Iridium Seeds
* Dorothy Livesay, Archive for Our Times: Previously Uncollected and Unpublished Poems of Dorothy Livesay, Irvine Dean ed. Vancouver: Arsenal Pulp Press.
* Michael Ondaatje, Handwriting, Toronto: McClelland & Stewart; New York: Knopf, 1999 ISBN 0-375-40559-3
* E. J. Pratt, Selected Poems of E. J. Pratt, Sandra Djwa, W.J. Keith, and Zailig Pollock ed. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

#### Canadian anthologies

* Allan Forrie, Patrick O'Rourke, and Glen Sorestad, editors, In the Clear: A Contemporary Canadian Poetry Anthology, Saskatoon: Thistledown Press
* Kwame Dawes, editor, Wheel and Come Again: An Anthology of Reggae Poetry, Fredericton, New Brunswick: Goose Lane

### India, in English

* Arvind Krishna Mehrotra, The Transfiguring Places ( Poetry in English ), Ravi Dayal, New Delhi, ISBN 81-7530-019-1
* K. Satchidanandan, How to go to the Tao Temple, Har-Anand Publications, New Delhi.
* Dilip Chitre, The Mountain, Pune: Vijaya Chitre

### Ireland

* Dermot Bolger, Taking my Letters Back: New and Selected Poems, Dublin: New Island Books
* Ciaran Carson:
** The Alexandrine Plan, Oldcastle: The Gallery Press, ISBN 978-1-85235-218-9
** The Twelfth of Never, Oldcastle: The Gallery Press, ISBN 978-1-85235-235-6
* Peter Fallon, News of the World, Oldcastle: The Gallery Press, ISBN 978-1-85235-214-1

### New Zealand

* Raewyn Alexander, Concrete, Auckland: Penguin
* Alan Brunton, Moonshine, Bumper Books
* Roger Robinson and Nelson Wattie, editors, The Oxford Companion to New Zealand Literature, Melbourne; Auckland: Oxford University Press
* Kate Camp, Unfamiliar Legends of the Stars, Victoria University Press

### United Kingdom

* Ciarán Carson: The Alexandrine Plan, (adaptations of sonnets by Baudelaire, Mallarmé, and Rimbaud); Gallery :Press, Wake Forest University Press
* Carol Ann Duffy, The Pamphlet, Anvil Press Poetry
* Paul Farley, The Boy from the Chemist is Here to See You
* Salena Godden, The Fire People
* Seamus Heaney:
** Audenesque, Maeght
** Translator, Beowulf
** Opened Ground: Poems 1966-1996, Faber & Faber; in the United States, published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux; a New York Times "notable book of the year" for 1999
* Paul Henry, The Milk Thief, Seren
* Ted Hughes:
** Birthday Letters, (Farrar, Straus & Giroux); a verse chronicle of the author's relationship with Sylvia Plath, his late wife; a New York Times "notable book of the year"
** Translator, Phedre
* Jackie Kay, Off Colour United Kingdom
* Peter Levi, Reed Music
* Kevin MacNeil, Love and Zen in the Outer Hebrides, Scottish poet published in Scotland
* Andrew Motion, Selected Poems 1976–1997
* Paul Muldoon, Hay
* Carol Rumens, Holding Pattern
* Jo Shapcott, My Life Asleep
* Jon Stallworthy, Rounding the Horn

#### Anthologies in the United Kingdom

* Simon Armitage and Robert Crawford, editors, Penguin Book of Poetry from Britain and Ireland Since 1945, Viking, ISBN 978-0-670-86829-2
* Sean O'Brien, editor, The Firebox: Poetry in Britain and Ireland after 1945 (Picador), anthology
* Lloyd Searwar, editor, They Came in Ships: An Anthology of Indo-Guyanese Prose and Poetry, Leeds: Peepal Tree

#### Criticism, scholarship and biography in the United Kingdom

* Sean O'Brien, The Deregulated Muse: Essays on Contemporary British and Irish Poetry (Bloodaxe), criticism
* John Heath-Stubbs, The literary essays of John Heath-Stubbs, edited by A.T. Tolley
* Michael Schmidt, Lives of the Poets, London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson

### United States

* John Ashbery:
** The Mooring of Starting Out: The First Five Books of Poetry (Ecco) collection of the poet's work from 1956 to 1972; a New York Times "notable book of the year"
** Wakefulness
* Renée Ashley, The Various Reasons of Light
* Ted Berrigan, Great Stories of the Chair
* Henri Cole, The Visible Man
* Billy Collins, Picnic, Lightning (ISBN 0-8229-4066-3)
* Fanny Howe, Q
* Deborah Garrison, A Working Girl Can't Win: And Other Poems, (Random House); a New York Times "notable book of the year"
* Lee Harwood, Morning Light
* Kenneth Koch, Straits: Poems, New York: Knopf
* William Logan, Vain Empires: Poems, (Penguin, paper); a New York Times "notable book of the year"
* W. S. Merwin:
** Translator, East Window: The Asian Translations, translated poems from earlier collections, Port Townsend, Washington: Copper Canyon Press
** The Folding Cliffs: A Narrative, a "novel-in-verse" New York: Knopf
* Michael Palmer, The Lion Bridge: Selected Poems 1972-1995 (New Directions), first retrospective of Palmer's work selected by the author himself reprinting much work that had gone out of print
* Carl Phillips, From the Devotions
* Marie Ponsot, The Bird Catcher, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award and finalist for the 1999 Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize
* Frederick Seidel Going Fast: Poems, (Farrar, Straus & Giroux); a New York Times "notable book of the year"
* Mark Strand, Blizzard of One: Poems, (Knopf); a New York Times "notable book of the year"; by a Canadian native long living in and published in the United States
* Patti Smith, Patti Smith Complete
* James Tate, Shroud of the Gnomes: Poems, (Ecco); a New York Times "notable book of the year"
* Richard Tayson, The Apprentice of Fever, winner of the 1997 Stan and Tom Wick Poetry Prize
* Keith and Rosmarie Waldrop, Well Well Reality (The Post-Apollo Press)

#### Criticism, scholarship and biography in the United States

* Laurence Breiner, An Introduction to West Indian Poetry, Cambridge University Press, scholarship
* Kenneth Koch, Making Your Own Days: The Pleasures of Reading and Writing Poetry, New York: Scribner
* Eric L. Haralson, editor, Encyclopedia of American Poetry: The Nineteenth Century, Chicago and London: Fitzroy Dearborn
* Mary Oliver, Rules for the Dance: A Handbook for Writing and Reading Metrical Verse

#### Anthologies in the United States

* Barbara Tran, Monique T. D. Truong, and Luu Truong Khoi, editors, Watermark: Vietnamese American Poetry & Prose, New York: Asian American Writers' Workshop

##### Poets in The Best American Poetry 1998

Poems from these 75 poets were in The Best American Poetry 1999, general editor David Lehman, guest editor John Hollander:

## Works published in other languages

Listed by nation where the work was first published and again by the poet's native land, if different; substantially revised works listed separately:

### Denmark

* Klaus Høeck; Denmark:
** Hjem, publisher: Gyldendal
** Honeymoon, publisher: Gyldendal
* Inger Christensen, Samlede digte ("Collected Poems")

### French language
#### France

* Olivier Barbarant, Odes dérisoires et quelques autres un peu moins, publisher: Editions Champ Vallon, ISBN 978-2-87673-272-8
* Salah Stetie, Fievre et guerison de l'icone
* Jean-Michel Maulpoix, Domaine public

### India

Listed in alphabetical order by first name:
* Amarjit Chandan, Chhanna, Navyug, New Delhi; Punjabi-language
* Anamika, Anushtup, Delhi: Kitab Ghar; Hindi-language
* Gagan Gill, Yah Akanksha Samay Nahin, New Delhi: Rajkamal Prakashan, New Delhi, 1998, Bharatiya Jnanpith; Hindi-language
* K. Satchidanandan, Apoornam, ("Imperfect"); Malayalam-language
* Kynpham Sing Nongkynrih, Ban Sngewthuh ia ka Poitri ("Understanding Poetry"), Shillong: Gautam Brothers; Khasi-language
* Mallika Sengupta; Hindi-language:
** Meyeder Aa Aaa Ka Kha, Kolkata: Prativas Publication
** Translator, Akaler Madhye Saras, translation from the original Hindi of Kedarnath Singh, Kolkata: Sahitya Akademi
* Manushya Puthiran, Itamum Iruppum, Nagercoil: Kalachuvadu Pathipagam, Tamil language
* Prathibha Nandakumar, Kavadeyata ("Game of Cowry"), Bangalore: Kannada Sangha, Christ College
* Raghavan Atholi, Mozhimattam, Kottayam: Sahitya Pravarthaka Cooperative Society (SPCS)
* Rajendra Bhandari, Kshar/Akshar ("Perishable/ Imperishable"), Gangtok, Sikkim: Jana Paksha Prakashan; Nepali-language
* Varavara Rao (better known as "VV"), Aa Rojulu ("Those Days"), Hyderabad: Akruti Printers

### Poland

* Stanisław Barańczak, Chirurgiczna precyzja ("Surgical Precision"), Krakow: a5
* Zbigniew Herbert:
** 89 wierszy, ("89 Poems"), Kraków: a5
** Epilog burzy ("Epilogue to a Storm"), Wrocław: Wydawnictwo Dolnośląskie
* Ewa Lipska:
** Godziny poza godzinami ("Hours Beyond Hours"), selected poems, Warsaw: PIW
** Życie zastępcze, Kraków: Wydawnictwo literackie
* Jan Twardowski:
** Bóg prosi o miłość - Gott fleht um Liebe, Krakow, Poland: Wydawnictwo Literackie
** Niebo w dobrym humorze, Warsaw: PIW
* Adam Zagajewski, Trzej aniołowie, Three Angels (sic) Kraków: Wydawnictwo Literackie

### Serbia

* Dejan Stojanović, Krugovanje: 1978–1987 (Circling), Second Edition, Narodna knjiga–Alfa, Beograd

### Spain

* Matilde Camus, Fuerza creativa ("Creative strength")

### Other languages

* Christoph Buchwald, general editor, and Marcel Beyer, guest editor, Jahrbuch der Lyrik 1998/99 ("Poetry Yearbook 1998/99"), publisher: Beck; anthology
* Ndoc Gjetja, Dhjata ime ("My Testament"); Albania
* Haim Gouri Ha-Shirim ("The Poems"), in two volumes by an Israeli writing in Hebrew
* Chen Kehua, Yinwei siwang er jingying de fanfu shipian ("Engaging in a Complicated Poetry for the Sake of Death ") Chinese (Taiwan)
* Maria Luisa Spaziani, La traversata dell'oasi, Italy
* Rahman Henry, Banbhojoner Moto Aundhokar ( Darkness as Picnic is), Bengali

## Awards and honors
### Australia

* C. J. Dennis Prize for Poetry: Coral Hull, Broken Land
* Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry: No awards were presented this year
* Mary Gilmore Prize: Lucy Dougan, Memory Shell

### Canada

* Archibald Lampman Award: Sandra Nicholls, Woman of Sticks, Woman of Stones
* Atlantic Poetry Prize: Carmelita McGrath, To the New World
* Gerald Lampert Award: Mark Sinnett, The Landing
* 1998 Governor General's Awards: Stephanie Bolster, White Stone: The Alice Poems (English); Suzanne Jacob, La Part de feu / Le Deuil de la rancune (French)
* Pat Lowther Award: Barbara Nickel, The Gladys Elegies
* Prix Alain-Grandbois: Paul Chanel Malenfant, Fleuves
* Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize: Patricia Young, What I Remember from My Time on Earth
* Prix Émile-Nelligan: Tony Tremblay, Rue Pétrole-Océan

### India

* Sahitya Akademi Award : Arun Kamal for Naye Ilake Mein
* Poetry Society India National Poetry Competition : K. Srilata for In Santa Cruz, Diagnosed Home Sick

### New Zealand

* Prime Minister's Awards for Literary Achievement:
* Montana New Zealand Book Awards (no award given in poetry category this year) First-book award for poetry: Kapka Kassabova, All Roads Lead to the Sea, Auckland University Press

### United Kingdom

* Cholmondeley Award: Roger McGough, Robert Minhinnick, Anne Ridler, Ken Smith
* Eric Gregory Award: Mark Goodwin, Joanne Limburg, Patrick McGuinness, Kona Macphee, Esther Morgan, Christiania Whitehead, Frances Williams
* Forward Poetry Prize Best Collection: Ted Hughes, Birthday Letters (Faber and Faber)
* Forward Poetry Prize Best First Collection: Paul Farley, The Boy from the Chemist is Here to See You (Picador)
* Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry: Les Murray
* T. S. Eliot Prize (United Kingdom and Ireland): Ted Hughes, Birthday Letters (Faber and Faber)
* Whitbread Award for poetry and for book of the year: Ted Hughes, Birthday Letters (Faber and Faber)
* National Poetry Competition : Caroline Carver for Horse Underwater

### United States

* Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize: Shara McCallum, The Water Between Us
* Aiken Taylor Award for Modern American Poetry: X.J. Kennedy
* American Academy of Arts and Letters Gold Medal for Drama: Horton Foote
* American Academy of Arts and Letters: Robert Fagles elected a member of the Literature Department
* American Book Award: Angela Y. Davis, "Blues Legacies and Black Feminism: Gertrude "Ma" Rainey, Bessie Smith, and Billie Holiday"
* American Book Award: Allison Hedge Coke, "Dog Road Woman", Coffee House Press "American Book Award 1998"
* AML Award for poetry to Alex Caldiero for Various Atmospheres: Poems and Drawings
* Bernard F. Connors Prize for Poetry: Sherod Santos, "Elegy for My Sister", and (separately) Neil Azevedo, "Caspar Hauser Songs"
* Bobbitt National Prize for Poetry: Frank Bidart, Desire
* National Book Award for poetry: Gerald Stern, This Time: New and Selected Poems
* Poet Laureate of Virginia: Joseph Awad, two year appointment 1998 to 2000
* Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: Charles Wright, Black Zodiac
* Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize: W.S. Merwin
* Wallace Stevens Award: A. R. Ammons
* William Carlos Williams Award: John Balaban, Locusts at the Edge of Summer: New and Selected Poems, Judge: Robert Phillips
* Whiting Awards: Nancy Eimers, Daniel Hall, James Kimbrell, Charles Harper Webb, Greg Williamson
* Fellowship of the Academy of American Poets: Charles Simic

## Births

* Amanda Gorman, American poet

## Deaths

Birth years link to the corresponding "[year] in poetry" article:
* January 23 — John Forbes, 47 (born 1915), Australian poet
* February 8
** Enoch Powell, 85 (born 1912), British MP from 1950 to 1987, classicist and poet
** Niall Sheridan, 85 (born 1912), Irish poet, fiction writer and broadcaster
* March 23 — Hilda Morley, 81 (born 1916), American poet, after a fall
* April 19 — Octavio Paz, 84 (born 1914), Mexican writer, poet, diplomat and winner of the 1990 Nobel Prize in Literature
* April 21 — Ivan Chtcheglov, 65 (born 1933), French political theorist, activist and poet
* April 30 — Nizar Qabbani, 75 (born 1923), Syrian diplomat, poet and publisher of Arabic poetry
* May 29 — Philip O'Connor, 81 (born 1916), English writer and surrealist poet
* June 25 — John Malcolm Brinnin, 81 (born 1916), American poet and critic
* July 1 — Martin Seymour-Smith, 70 (born 1928), English poet, critic and biographer
* July 14 — Miroslav Holub, 75 (born 1923), Czech poet and immunologist
* July 28 — Zbigniew Herbert, 73 (born 1924), influential Polish poet, essayist and moralist
* August 26 — Ryūichi Tamura 田村隆, 75 (born 1923), Japanese Shōwa period poet, essayist and translator of English-language novels and poetry
* October 25 – Dick Higgins, 60 (born 1938), English-born poet, composer and early Fluxus artist with ties to the Language poets
* October 28 — Ted Hughes, 68 (born 1930), English poet, Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom since 1984
* Date not known
** Aimee Joan Grunberger, 44, American poet, of cancer
** Michalis Katsaros (born 1919), Greek poet