1921 in poetry

Events

• March — Jorge Luis Borges returns to his birthplace, Buenos Aires in Argentina, after a period living with his family in Europe.
• August 3 — Russian poet Nikolay Gumilyov's fate is sealed when he is arrested in the Soviet Union by the Cheka on charges of being a monarchist; on August 24 the Petrograd Cheka decrees execution of all 61 participants of the "Tagantsev Conspiracy", including Gumilyov. The exact dates and locations of their executions and burials are still unknown. He had divorced Russian poet Anna Akhmatova in 1918.
• Autumn-Winter — T. S. Eliot works on The Waste Land in Margate and Lausanne.
• December 31 — Mexican poet Manuel Maples Arce distributes the first Stridentist manifesto, Comprimido estridentista, in the broadsheet Actual n°1.
• Mrs. C. A. Dawson-Scott founds PEN, an international Association of Poets, Playwrights, Editors, Essayists and Novelists, in London with John Galsworthy, who becomes the organisation's first President; first members include Joseph Conrad, George Bernard Shaw and H. G. Wells

  Works published in English

Canada">Canadian poetry">Canada

• Arthur Bourinot, Poems. Toronto: T.H. Best.
• Wilson MacDonald, The Miracle Songs Of Jesus. Toronto: W. MacDonald.

  India">Indian poetry">India in [Indian poetry in English]

• Sri Aurobindo, Love and Death, long poem about the triumph of love over death, concerning the Ruru-Priyumvada legend
• Toru Dutt, Life and Letters of Toru Dutt, London, Milford: Oxford University Press, Indian poet, writing in English, published in the United Kingdom
• Maneck B. Pithawalla, A Wedding Feast, Karachi: M. B. Pithawalla* Poets of John Company, Calcutta: Tahcker, Spink and Co., 134 pages; anthology
• K. S. R. Sastry, The Epic of Indian Womanhood, Madras: Imperial Trading Co.
• Puran Singh, The Sisters of the Spinning Wheel and Other Sikh Poems, London: Dent
• Nanikram Vasanmal Thadani, Ashoka and Other Poems, Delhi: self-published

  United Kingdom">English poetry">United Kingdom

• Nancy Cunard, Outlaws
• Walter de la Mare, The Veil, and Other Poems
• Toru Dutt, Life and Letters of Toru Dutt, London, Milford: Oxford University Press, Indian poet, writing in English, published in the United Kingdom
• T. S. Eliot, The Metaphysical Poets, critical essay on the Metaphysical poets of the 16th and 17th centuries
• Robert Graves, The Pier-Glass
• D. H. Lawrence, Tortoises
• Bertram Lloyd, ed., The Great Kinship: An Anthology of Humanitarian Poetry
• Charlotte Mew, Saturday Market
• Vita Sackville-West, Orchard and Vineyard
• John Collings Squire, Collected Parodies
• Flora Thompson, Bog-Myrtle and Peat
• W. B. Yeats, Irish author published in the United Kingdom:
• * Michael Robartes and the Dancer, includes "The Second Coming" and "A Prayer For My Daughter"
• * Four Plays for Dancers, adds "At the Hawk's Well" and "Calvary" to Two Plays for Dancers, published in 1919

  United States">American poetry">United States

• Conrad Aiken, Punch: The Immoratal Liar
• Sherwood Anderson, The Triumph of the Egg
• Hilda Doolittle, Hymen
• John Gould Fletcher, Breakers and Granite
• Zona Gale, The Secret Way
• Langston Hughes, "The Negro Speaks of Rivers", in The Crisis
• Amy Lowell, Legends
• Edna St. Vincent Millay, Second April
• Marianne Moore, Poems
• Ezra Pound, Poems 1918–1921, New York
• Charles Reznikoff, A Fourth Group of Verse
• Edward Arlington Robinson, Avon's Harvest
• William Carlos Williams, Sour Grapes
• Yvor Winters, The Immobile Wind
• Elinor Wylie, Nets to Catch the Wind

  Other in English

• C. J. Dennis, A Book for Kids, Australia
• Lesbia Harford, special issue of Birth devoted to her poetry, Australia
• Patrick Joseph Hartigan, published under the pen name "Joseph O'Brien", Around the Boree Log and Other Verses, very popular Australian book of poetry which went into five editions and 18,000 copies by 1926; widely popularized across eastern Australia by recitations of John Byrne, praised in Ireland and the United States, made into a film in 1925, and 20 poems of the book were set to music in 1933; includes "Said Hanrahan", from which "We'll all be rooned" became an Australian catch phrase
• W. B. Yeats, Irish author published in the United Kingdom:
• * Michael Robartes and the Dancer, includes "The Second Coming" and "A Prayer For My Daughter"
• * Four Plays for Dancers, adds "At the Hawk's Well" and "Calvary" to Two Plays for Dancers, published in 1919

  Works published in other languages

France">French poetry">France

• André Breton, Les Champs magnétiques
• Max Jacob, Le Laboratoire central
• Francis Jammes:
• * Épitaphes, Paris: Librairie de l'Art catholic
• * Le Tombeau de Jean de la Fontaine, Paris: Mercure de France
• Pierre Reverdy, Étoiles peintes
• Paul-Jean Toulet, Les Contrerimes, French

  Indian">Indian poetry">Indian subcontinent

• Amir Minai, Mina-yi, Urdu-language
• Basavaraju Appa Rao, Basavaraju Appa Rao Gitalu, Telugu-language
• Dimbeshwar Neog, Malika, Assamese-language
• Govindagraj, Vagvaijayanti, 160 poems, including love poems and verses on social and mystic topics; with an introduction by N. C. Kelkar, Marathi-language
• Padmadhar Chaliha, Svaraj Sangit, Indian, Assamese-language
• Vallathol Narayana Menon, Magdalana Mariyam, a Malayalam khanda kavya about a repentant Mary consoled by Christ
• Viswanatha Satyanarayana, Andhra paurusamu, Indian, Telugu-language, written in 1917 but printed in book form this year

  Other languages

• Anna Akhmatova, Plantain, Russian
• August Alle, Carmina Barbata, Estonian
• J. C. Bloem, Het verlangen, Dutch
• H. Leivick, The Golem, "dramatic poem in eight scenes", Yiddish
• Federico García Lorca, Libro de poemas, Spain
• Nikolay Gumilyov, The Pillar of Fire, Russian
• Alexander Lernet-Holenia, Pastorale Austria
• Bernardo Ortiz de Montellano, Avidez, Mexico
• Carlos Pellicer, Colores en el mar, Mexico

  Births

• January 7 – Chester Kallman, American poet, librettist and translator best known for collaborations with Igor Stravinsky
• January 15 – Raymond Souster, Canadian poet
• January 31 – Kurt Marti, Swiss theologian and poet
• March 1 – Richard Wilbur, American poet
• April 6 – Marie Ponsot, née Birmingham, American poet, literary critic, essayist, teacher and translator
• April 13 – Max Harris, Australian poet, critic, columnist, commentator, publisher and bookseller
• April 24 – Gabriel Okara, Nigerian poet and novelist
• May 9:
• * Daniel Berrigan, American Jesuit priest, poet and anti-war activist
• * Mona Van Duyn, American poet
• June 14 – John Bradburne, English poet and missionary
• June 15 – James Emanuel, African American poet and scholar
• July 5 – Nanos Valaoritis, Greek poet, novelist and playwright
• August 14 – Julia Hartwig, Polish poet
• August 16 – Shiv K. Kumar, Indian, English-language poet, playwright and fiction writer
• August 21 – Devarakonda Balagangadhara Tilak, Telugu-language poet and story writer
• August 31 – Hayden Carruth, American poet and literary critic
• September 2 – Shukrullo, Uzbek poet
• October 9 – Tadeusz Różewicz, Polish poet, dramatist and writer
• October 13 – Dimitris Tsaloumas, Greek-born Australian poet, resident in Australia from 1952
• October 17 – George Mackay Brown, Scottish poet, author and dramatist
• December 25 – Nan McDonald, Australian poet and editor
• December 26 – Adebayo Faleti, Nigerian poet, journalist, playwright, actor, broadcaster and translator
• Also:
• * Lex Banning, Australian poet born with cerebral palsy and unable to speak clearly or to write with a pen
• * Divya Prabha Bharali, Indian, Assamese-language poet; a woman
• * Kathan Singh Jamal, Indian, Dogri-Pahadi-language poet
• * Khizar Maghribi, Indian writer of parodies and humorous verse in the Kashmiri language
• * Mangalacharan Chattopadhyay, Indian, Bengali-language Marxist poet
• * Parsram Rohra, Indian, Sindhi-language
• * Ramkrishna Sharma, Indian, Nepali-language critic, essayist, poet and short-story writer called the father of modern literary criticism in Nepali
• * Rasananda Sahu, Indian, Oriya poet and novelist
• * Shambhoo Nath Bhatt Haleem, Indian, Kashmiri-language poet and children's author
• * Sarachchandra Muktibodh, Indian, Marathi-language poet and novelist
• * Shrikrishna Powale, Indian, Marathi-language poet in the "Sthandil" Cult of Kusumagraj and Kant
• * Sugan Ahuja, Indian, Sindhi-language poet and short-story writer

  Deaths

• January 13 – Francis William Bourdillon, 68, British poet and translator
• February 15 – Akbar Allahabadi, 74, Indian, Urdu-language poet known for his satire
• April 21 – Rosa Mulholland, Lady Gilbert, Irish novelist, short-story writer and poet
• May 26 – Donald Evans, American poet, publisher, music critic and journalist
• June 18 – G. H. Gibson, "Ironbark", Australian
• August 7 – Alexander Blok, 40, Russian poet known for his lyrics
• circa August 25 – Nikolay Gumilyov, 35, Russian poet and former husband of Russian poet Anna Akhmatova
• September 2 – Henry Austin Dobson, 61, English poet and essayist
• September 11 – Subramania Bharati, Indian, Tamil-language writer, poet, journalist, Indian independence activist and social reformer, also writing Indian poetry in English
• September 13 – James Hebblethwaite, English-born Australian poet, teacher and clergyman
• November 21 – Ernest Myers, 77, English poet and classicist
• Also:
• * Va. Ba. Patavardhan, Indian, Marathi-language critic and poet

  Awards and honors

• Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: no award given