# 1983 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

* April – Russian samizdat poet Irina Ratushinskaya is sentenced to imprisonment in a labor camp for dissident activity; she continues to write poetry clandestinely in prison.
* June 2 – Francophone Senegalese poet and politician Léopold Sédar Senghor becomes the first black African writer elected as a member of the Académie française
* The Frogmore Press is founded by Andre Evans and Jeremy Page at the Frogmore tea-rooms in Folkestone, England. The press publishes a magazine, The Frogmire Papers

## 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

* David Brooks, The Cold Front. Sydney: Hale & Iremonger
* Les Murray, The People's Otherworld, winner of the 1984 Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry
* Philip Salom: The Projectionist, A Sequence. (Fremantle Arts Centre) ISBN 978-0-909144-69-2
* John Tranter, Selected Poems, Hale & Iremonger

### Canada

* Dionne Brand, Winter Epigrams and Epigrams to Ernesto Cardenal in Defense of Claudia
* George Elliott Clarke, Saltwater Spirituals and Deeper Blues, Lawrencetown Beach, Nova Scotia: Pottersfield, ISBN 0-919001-12-2
* Robert Finch, The Grand Duke of Moscow's Favourite Solo.
* Irving Layton, The Gucci Bag. Oakville, Ontario: Mosaic Press. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart.
* Dorothy Livesay, The Phases of Love. Toronto: Coach House.
* Don McKay, Birding, or Desire
* George McWhirter, Fire Before Dark
* Roy Miki, The Prepoetics of William Carlos Williams (critical study)
* Joe Rosenblatt, The Sleeping Lady. Exile Editions.
* Raymond Souster, Going the Distance. Ottawa: Oberon Press.
* George Woodcock, Collected Poems, Victoria: Sono Nis Press, Canada

### India, in English

* Jayanta Mahapatra, Life Signs ( Poetry in English ), New Delhi: Oxford University Press
* Dom Moraes, Absences ( Poetry in English ),
* Sudeep Sen, Leaning Against the Lamp-Post ( Poetry in English ),

### Ireland

* Sebastian Barry, The Water-Colourist, Ireland
* Padraic Fallon, Poems and Versions (see also Poems 1974 in poetry, Collected Poems1990 in poetry)
* Seamus Heaney, Northern Ireland native living at this time in the United States:
** An Open Letter, Field Day
** Translator, Sweeney Astray: A version from the Irish, Field Day
* Paul Muldoon, Quoof, Northern Ireland native published in the United Kingdom
* Tom Paulin, Liberty Tree, including "Desertmartin", "Off the Back of a Lorry" and "A Written Answer", Faber and Faber, Irish poet published in the United Kingdom

### New Zealand

* Fleur Adcock(New Zealand poet who moved to England in 1963):
** The Virgin and the Nightingale: Medieval Latin poems, Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Bloodaxe Books
** Selected Poems, Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press
* Leigh Davis, Willy's Gazette, Wellington: Jack Books
* Lauris Edmond, Catching It: Poems
* M. P. Jackson and V. O'Sullivan, editors, Oxford Anthology of New Zealand Writing Since 1945, anthology 1983
* Bill Manhire, Locating the Beloved and Other Stories, New Zealand
* W. H. Oliver, James K. Baxter: A Portrait, Wellington: Port Nicholson Press, 1983; reprinted 1994, Godwit Press/Bridget Williams Books, biography
* Bob Orr, Cargo

### United Kingdom

* Fleur Adcock (New Zealand poet who moved to England in 1963):
** The Virgin and the Nightingale: Medieval Latin poems, Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Bloodaxe Books
** Selected Poems, Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press
* George Barker, Anno Domino
* George Mackay Brown, Voyages
* Alan Brownjohn, Collected Poems 1952–1983
* John Cooper Clarke, Ten Years in an Open Necked Shirt
* Helen Dunmore, The Apple Fall
* Gavin Ewart, Capital Letters
* Padraic Fallon, Poems and Versions (see also Poems 1974 in poetry, Collected Poems1990 in poetry), Irish poet published in the United Kingdom
* James Fenton, Memory of War and Children in Exile
* Roy Fuller, As From the Thirties
* Seamus Heaney, Northern Ireland native living at this time in the United States:
** An Open Letter, Field Day
** Translator: Sweeney Astray: A version from the Irish, Field Day
* Adrian Henri, Penny Arcade
* Geoffrey Hill, The Mystery of the Charity of Charles Peguy
* Frances Horovitz, Snow Light, Water Light
* Ted Hughes, River
* Jenny Joseph, Beyond Descartes
* Peter Levi, The Echoing Green
* Christopher Middleton, 111 Poems, Carcanet Press, ISBN 978-0-85635-457-1
* Pete Morgan, A Winter Visitor
* Andrew Motion, Secret Narratives
* Paul Muldoon, Quoof, Northern Ireland native published in the United Kingdom
* Grace Nichols, I is a Long-Memoried Woman, Caribbean Cultural International
* Sean O'Brien, The Indoor Park (Bloodaxe)
* Tom Paulin, Liberty Tree, including "Desertmartin", "Off the Back of a Lorry" and "A Written Answer", Faber and Faber, Irish poet published in the United Kingdom
* J. H. Prynne, The Oval Window
* Carol Rumens, Star Whisper
* Peter Scupham, Winter Quarters

### United States

* A.R. Ammons, Lake Effect Country
* Maya Angelou, Shaker, Why Don't You Sing?
* Elizabeth Bishop, Collected Poems 1927-1979, posthumous (died 1979)
* Amy Clampitt, Kingfisher
* James Dickey, The Central Motion
* Alice Fulton, Dance Script with Electric Ballerina
* Nikki Giovanni, Those Who Ride the Nightwinds
* Frank Graziano, editor, Georg Trakl: A Profile, Logbridge-Rhodes, criticism
* H.D. (Hilda Doolittle), Collected Poems, 1912–1944, posthumous (died 1961)
* Seamus Heaney, Northern Ireland native living at this time in the United States:
** An Open Letter, Field Day
** Translator: Sweeney Astray: A version from the Irish, Field Day
* Joy Harjo, She Had Some Horses
* John Hollander, Powers of Thirteen
* Paul Hoover, Somebody Talks a Lot (The Yellow Press)
* Richard Howard, Lining Up
* W. S. Merwin, Opening the Hand, New York: Atheneum
* Gary Miranda, Grace Period
* Mary Oliver, American Primitive
* Carl Rakosi, Spiritus I
* James Reiss, Express
* Adrienne Rich, Sources
* William Saroyan, My Name Is Saroyan, a miscellany of fiction, nonfiction, drama and verse; published posthumously (died 1981)
* James Schevill, The American Fantasies: Collected Poems, 1945–1981
* Peter Seaton, Crisis Intervention (Berkeley, CA: Tuumba Press)
* Ntozake Shange, A Daughter's Geography
* Louis Simpson, The Best Hour of the Night
* Gary Snyder, Axe Handles
* Eleanor Ross Taylor, New and Selected Poems
* David Wagoner, First Light
* Robert Penn Warren, Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce

### Other in English

* M. Nourbese Philip, Salmon Courage, Caribbean

## 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:

### French language

* Claude Esteban, Conjoncture du corps et du jardin suivi de Cosmogonie, Flammarion; France
* Abdellatif Laabi, translator, Rien qu'une autre année translated from the original Arabic of Mahmoud Darwich into French; Paris: Unesco/Éditions de Minuit
* Pierre Nepveu, Mahler et autres matières, Montréal: Le Noroît; Canada

### Germany

* H. Bender, Deutsche Gedichte 1930-1960, anthology
* Hiltrud Gnüg, Entstehung und Krise lyrischer subjektivität. Vom Klassischen Lyrischen Ich zur Modernen Erfahrungswirklichkeit, Stuttgart (scholarship)
* Walter Hinderer, editor, Geschichte der deutschen Lyrik vom Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart, Stuttgart (scholarship), called "indispensable" by the Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics (1993)
* Klaus Weissenberger, editor, Die deutsche Lyrik, 1945-1975 (scholarship)

### India

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

#### Hindi

* Kedarnath Singh, Yahan Se Dekho, Delhi: Radhakrishan Prakashan; Hindi
* Rituraj, Abacus, Hapur: Sambhavana Prakashan
* Teji Grover, Yahan Kucch Andheri Aur Tikhi Hai Nadi, New Delhi: Bharati Bhasha Prakashan

#### Other languages in India

* Ajmer Rode, Chubhchintan, Amritsar: Nanak Singh Pustakmala; Punjabi-language
* Dilip Chitre, Daha by Daha, Mumbai: Pras Prakashan, Mumbai; Marathi-language
* K. Satchidanandan; Malayalam-language:
** Randu Deergha Kavyangal, ("Two Long Poems")
** Satchidandandante Kavithakal 1962-82, ("Poems (1962-82)")
* K. Siva Reddy, Bharamiti, Hyderabad: Jhari Poetry Circle; Telugu-language
* Mallika Sengupta, Challish Chander Ayu, Virus publication; Bengali-language
* Manushya Puthiran, Manushya Puthiranin Kavithaigal, Chennai: Manimegalai Prasuram, Tamil language
* Namdeo Dhasal, Khel Marathi-language
* Nirendranath Chakravarti, Ghor-duwar, Kolkata: Ananda Publishers; Bengali-language
* Prathibha Nandakumar, Navu Hudugiyare Heege ("We Girls Are Thus"), Bangalore: Kannada Sangha, Christ College; Kannada-language

### Poland

* Zbigniew Herbert, Raport z oblężonego Miasta i inne wiersze ("Report from the Besieged City and Other Poems"), Paris: Instytut Literacki
* Ryszard Krynicki, Ocalenie z nicości ("Salvation from Nothingness"); Krakow: Swit
* Jarosław Marek Rymkiewicz, Ulica Mandelsztama ("Mandelstam Street")
* Piotr Sommer, Kolejny świat
* Jan Twardowski, Który stwarzasz jagody, Krakow: Wydawnictwo Literackie
* Wiktor Woroszylski, Lustro. Dziennik internowania ("Mirror: An Internment Journal")

### Spain

* Matilde Camus:
** Tierra de palabras ("Land of words")
** Coral montesino ("Chorale of Monte")

### Other languages

* Mia Couto, Raiz de Orvalho, Mozambican Portuguese
* Luo Fu, Wine-Brewing Stone, Chinese (Taiwan)
* Klaus Høeck, Denmark:
** Eno High, with Asger Schnack, publisher: Schønberg
** Metamorphoses, publisher: Gyldendal
* Marlene van Niekerk, Groenstaar, South Africa

## Awards and honors
### Australia

* Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry: Vivian Smith, Tide Country

### Canada

* Gerald Lampert Award: Diana Hartog, Matinee Light
* 1983 Governor General's Awards: David Donnell, Settlements (English); Suzanne Paradis, Un goût de sel (French)
* Pat Lowther Award: Rhea Tregebov, Remembering History
* Prix Émile-Nelligan: Lucien Francœur, Les Rockeurs sanctifiés

### United Kingdom

* Cholmondeley Award: John Fuller, Craig Raine, Anthony Thwaite
* Eric Gregory Award: Martin Stokes, Hilary Davies, Michael O'Neill, Lisa St Aubin de Terán, Deidre Shanahan
* Commonwealth Poetry Prize: Grace Nichols, i is a long memoried woman

### United States

* Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize: Kate Daniels, The White Wave
* AML Award for poetry to Clinton F. Larson for "A Romaunt of the Rose: A Tapestry of Poems"
* Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: Galway Kinnell - Selected Poems
* Fellowship of the Academy of American Poets: James Schuyler and Philip Booth

## Births

* July 2 – Tao Lin 林韬, Chinese novelist and poet
* December 6 – Jason Reynolds, African American children's novelist and poet
* Sarah Howe, Hong Kong-born English poet

## Deaths

Birth years link to the corresponding "[year] in poetry" article:
* February 18 – Robert Payne, 71 (born 1911), English professor of English literature in the U.S., lecturer in naval architecture, novelist, historian, poet and biographer
* May 4 – Shūji Terayama 寺山 修司 (born 1935), Japanese avant-garde poet, playwright, writer, film director and photographer
* May 21 – Amal Abul-Qassem Donqol (born 1940), Egyptian poet
* June 17 – Miron Białoszewski (born 1922), Polish poet and playwright
* June 19 – Vilmundur Gylfason (born 1948), Icelandic politician, historian and poet, by suicide
* June 27 – Alden Nowlan, 50 (born 1933), Canadian poet and novelist
* July 4 – Ted Berrigan, 48 (born 1934), American poet
* July 12 – Edwin Denby, 80 (born 1903), American dance critic and poet, by suicide
* August 12 – Mikey Smith (born 1954), Jamaican dub poet, stoned to death
* October 2 – Frances Horovitz, 45 (born 1938), English poet, broadcaster and performer of poetry