1983 in poetry

	… 1973 ; 1974; 1975; 1976; 1977; 1978; 1979; ; 1980; 1981; 1982; 1983; 1984; 1985; 1986; ; 1987; 1988; 1989; 1990; 1991; 1992; 1993 … ;
	In literature 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986
	Art; Archaeology; Architecture; Literature; Music; Philosophy; Science; +...

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

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