Please note: this timeline has been made for the use of Dr. Dunkelberg's Contemporary Poetry class at MUW. It lists publications and important events for poets taught in this course in 1998 and 2001; therefore, it is not all-inclusive. Some great poets will be left out. Some poets listed here are related to those we are studying this semester. Please let me know if there are any typos on the dates or titles of books, etc. and if there are dates you found in researching poets for your presentations that should be added.
| Confessional / Recent | New York / Beat | Black Mtn / Deep Image | Feminist | African American | British, Irish, etc. | |
1920's 1930's 1940's | BerrymanFiv e Young American Poets, 1940 Lowell prison for CO status, 1943 Land of Unlikeness 1944 Bishop North and South 1946 | 1920's Rexroth opens Chicago club, Green Mask, where he and L. Hughes perform. 1927 Rexroth moves to San Fransisco Kerouac joins merchant marines, 1941 | Olson goes to Black Mtn. C. 1948 Levertov meets Creeley in France, moves to US, 1948 Snyder ships out from NY Creeley goes to Majorca, founds Divers Press, 1949 | Rukeyser arrested at Scottsboro trial, 1932; Theory of Flight, 1935 poem about tunnel drillers in WV, 1936 Life of Poetry 1949 | L. Hughes Harlem Ren. Weary Blues, 1926; Scottsboro Limited, 1932; Jim Crow's Last Stand, 1943 Hayden Heart Shape in the Dust, 1940 Brooks Street in Bronzeville, 1945 | Larkin North Ship, 1945 Levertov Double Image, 1946 |
| 1950 | Olson essay "On Projective Verse" | |||||
| 1951 | Lowell Mills of Kavenaughs | O'Hara moves to New York, works for Art News | Olson in Yukatan to study Mayas | Rich Change of World | L. Hughes Montage | Larkin XX Poems Walcott Poems |
| 1952 | Ferlinghetti & Martin start City Lights bookstore and publishing co. | Creeley Le Fou | ||||
| 1953 | Ashberry Tournadot Ginsberg moves to San Fransisco | Olson Maximus 1-10 | ||||
| 1954 | Creeley to Black Mtn. C. Black Mtn Reveiw | Gunn at Stanford, Fighting Terms | ||||
| 1955 | Berryman hired at U. Minnesota | Six Gallery Reading Howl by Ginsberg is performed Ferlinghetti Pictures of a Gone World Ashberry goes to France on Fullbright | Rich Diamond Cutters | Hayden Figures of Time | ||
| 1956 | Berryman Homage to... | Ginsberg Howl published in England | Black Mnt. C. closes Levertov Here and Now Snyder moves to Japan | |||
| 1957 | Plath teaching at Smith College, attends Lowell's lectures with Sexton | Ginsberg 2nd pr. of Howl intercepted by U.S. Customs | New Lines anthology of Movement poets Larkin Amis Davie & Gunn Hughes Hawk in the Rain | |||
| 1958 | Ferlinghetti Coney Island of the Mind Kerouac records Poetry for the Beat Generation | Snyder reads at Six Galleries | ||||
| 1959 | Lowell Life Studies, 1959 | Kerouac Mexico City Blues | Snyder Riprap | Gunn at UC Berkeley Hill For the Unfallen | ||
| Confessional / Recent | New York / Beat | Black Mtn / Deep Image | Feminist | African American | British, Irish, etc. | |
| 1960 | Sexton Bedlam | Olson Maximus Poems Snyder Myths and Texts Kinnell What a Kingdom | Baraka (Jones) Spring and So Forth | Gunn & Hughes Selected Poems | ||
| 1961 | Ginsberg Kaddish | Wakoski Coins and Coffins Atwood Double Persephone Kumin Halfway | Baraka founds American Theatre for Poets | Gunn My Sad Captains | ||
| 1962 | Plath Colossus | Creeley For Love Bly & Wright, Lion's Tail and Eyes | Baraka (Jones) edits Four Young Lady Poets, includes Wakoski | |||
| 1963 | Plath suicide | Ginsberg Reality Sandwiches | Rich Snapshots of a Daughter-in Law | Brooks Selected Poems | ||
| 1964 | Berryman Short Poems | Levertov O Taste and See | Larkin Whitsun Weddings | |||
| 1965 | Plath Uncollected Poems (p-h.) | Ashberry named editor of Art News | Bly founds American Writers Against the Vietnam War | Wakoski Dream Sheet | Baraka (Jones) Dead Lecturer | Heaney Eleven Poems Walcott Castaway |
| 1966 | Plath Ariel (p-h.) | Rexroth Collected Shorter Poems O'Hara dies | Creeley to SUNY Buffalo | Wakoski Discrepencies & Apparitions Atwood Circle Game | Hayden Selected Poems | Heaney Death of a Naturalist |
| 1967 | Berryman 77 Dream Songs | Ferlinghetti An Eye on the World | Levertov Sorrow Dance | Rich Selected Poems Hacker Terrible Children | Baraka meets Brooks at Fisk Univ. Writer's Conference | Hughes Wodwo Ondaatje Dainty Monsters |
| 1968 | Be-In in S.F. with Ginsberg Snyder, etc. Rexroth Collected Longer Poems | Olson Maximus IV, V, VI | Glück Firstborn | Lorde First Cities, writer in residence at Tougalou, MS Brooks Mecca | Hill Kin Log | |
| 1969 | Sexton Love Poems Berryman Dream Songs | Snyder Back Country | Wakoski Thanking My Mother for Piano Lessons | Clifton Good Times | Gunn Explorers Ondaatje Man with Seven Toes | |
| Confessional / Recent | New York / Beat | Black Mtn / Deep Image | Feminist | African American | British, Irish, etc. | |
| 1970 | Berryman Love and Fame | Levertov Re learning the Alphabet Snyder back to California | Rich husband dies and she comes out as lesbian radical feminist Hacker Presentation Piecew | Brooks Family Pictures Lorde Cables to Rage Hayden Words in the Mourning Time Harper Dear John, Dear Coltrane | Heaney Night Drive | |
| 1971 | Sexton Transformations | O'Hara Collectd Poems (p-h) | J. Wright Collected Poems | Wakoski Motorcycle Betrayal Rich Will to Change | Jordan Some Changes | Muldoon Knowing My Place |
| 1972 | Berryman suicide | Rexroth Sky Sea Birds Trees Earth | Snyder Clear Cut and Manzanita | Clifton Good News About the Earth | Walcott Another Life | |
| 1973 | Rich Diving into the Wreck | Harper Debridement | Gunn Mandrakes | |||
| 1974 | Sexton suicide | Snyder Turtle Island | Lorde teaches at John Jay College CUNY Clifton Ordinary Woman | Larkin High Windows | ||
| 1975 | Hayden Night Blooming Cereus | Heaney Bog Poems | ||||
| 1976 | Lowell Selected Poems | Creeley Selected P | Glück Garden Hacker Separations | Baraka Selected Poetry Lorde Coal | Walcott Sea Grapes | |
| 1977 | Soto Elements of San Joaquin | Komunyakaa Dedications Jordan Things I Do in the Dark | ||||
| 1978 | Soto Tale of Sunlight | Rukeyser: Collected Poems | Lorde Black Unicorn Nelson For the Body | Muldoon Names and Addresses Hill Tenebrae | ||
| 1979 | Wakoski Trophies | Hughes Moortown | ||||
| Confessional / Recent | New York / Beat | Black Mtn / Deep Image | Feminist | African American | British, Irish, etc. | |
| 1980 | Nye Different Ways to Pray | Glück Descending Figure | Jordan Passion | Larkin Aubade Ondaatje Rat Jelly | ||
| 1981 | Sexton Complete Poems | Lorde teaches at Hunter | ||||
| 1982 | Nye Hugging the Jukebox | |||||
| 1983 | Snyder Axe Handles | |||||
| 1984 | Komunyakaa Copacetic Harper Spiritual Warfare | Hughes Poet Laureate Ondaatje Secular Love | ||||
| 1985 | Hayden Collected Poems Nelson Mama's Promises | Larkin Selected Poems | ||||
| 1986 | Li-Young Li Rose Nye Yellow Glove | Wakoski Rings of Saturn | ||||
| 1987 | ||||||
| 1988 | ||||||
| 1989 | Hahn Air Pocket | |||||
| Confessional / Recent | New York / Beat | Black Mtn / Deep Image | Feminist | African American | British, Irish, etc. | |
| 1990 | Nelson Homeplace | |||||
| 1991 | ||||||
| 1992 | Hahn Earshot | Komunyakaa Magic City | ||||
| 1993 | ||||||
| 1994 | Nye Red Suitcase | Nelson Magnificat | ||||
| 1995 | Hahn Unbearable Heart | Harper Honorable Amendments | ||||
| 1996 | ||||||
| 1997 | Levertov dies | Nelson Fields of Praise | ||||
| 1998 | Nye Fuel | |||||
| 1999 | Hahn Volatile Soto A Natural Man | Komunyakaa Pleasure Dome |