1953 in poetry

• Robert Finch, A Century has Roots.[2]
• Irving Layton, Love the Conqueror Worm. Toronto: Contact Press.[3]
• Douglas Le Pan, The Net and the Sword, Canada[4]
• E. J. Pratt, The Titanic, Canada[5]
• Raymond Souster, Shake Hands with the Hangman: Poems 1940-52 Toronto: Contact Press.[6]

• Nissim Ezekiel, Sixty Poems ( Poetry in English ), Bombay [7]
• Harindranath Chattopadhyaya:
  • I Sing of Man and Other Poems ( Poetry in English ), Bombay: People's Publishing House[8]
  • Spring in Winter ( Poetry in English ), Delhi: Atma Ram[8]
• Manjeri Sundaraman Manjeri, Rhapsody in Red ( Poetry in English ),[8]
• Romen, The Golden Apocalypse, Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram[9]
• Sri Aurobindo, The Future Poetry, essays on literary criticism, drawing on the author's (also published) views of art and life, (first appeared in the Arya, 1917–1920;[10] later expanded with the author's letters on art, literature and poetry in the Centenary Library edition, Volume 9, 1971)[11]

• Charles Causley, Survivor's Leave
• Sir John Betjeman, A Few Late Chrysanthemums
• Louis MacNeice, Autumn Sequel
• Charlotte Mew (died 1928), Collected Poems
• Lewis Spence, Collected Poems
• John Heath-Stubbs, New Poems
• John Heath-Stubbs and David Wright. editors, The Faber Book of Twentieth Century Verse: An Anthology of Verse in Britain 1900-1950, a selection in self-conscious contrast to the Faber Book of Modern Verse
• R.S. Thomas, The Minister

John Heath-Stubbs edited this volume, published in the United Kingdom, which included poems from these writers: Dannie Abse – Drummond Allison – Eurasia Anderson - William Bell – Thomas Blackburn – Maurice Carpenter - Alex Comfort – Yorke Crompton – N. K. Cruikshank – Keith Douglas – George Every – John Fairfax – G. S. Fraser – John Gibbs – W. S. Graham - F. Pratt Green – J. C. Hall – Michael Hamburger – John Heath-Stubbs – Glyn Jones – Sidney Keyes – Francis King – James Kirkup – Norman Nicholson – I. R. Orton – Michael Paffard – Kathleen Raine – Anne Ridler – Walter Roberts – W. R. Rodgers – Joseph Rykwert – John Smith – Muriel Spark – Derek Stanford – J. Ormond Thomas – W. Price Turner – John Wain – John Waller – Vernon Watkins – Gordon Wharton - Margaret Willy – David Wright

• Conrad Aiken, Collected Poems[12]
• John Ashbery, Turandot and Other Poems[13]
• W. H. Auden, "The Shield of Achilles" poem first published; his poetry book of the same name will be published in 1955
• Joseph Payne Brennan, The Humming Stair (Big Mountain Press/Alan Swallow imprint)
• Robert Creeley, American published in Europe:
  • The Kind of Act of[14]
  • The Immoral Proposition[14]
• E. E. Cummings, i — six nonlectures from his Charles Eliot Norton Lectures of 1951-1952 (Harvard University Press)
• Richard Eberhart, Undercliff: Poems 1946–1953[13]
• Jean Garrigue, The Monument Rose[13]
• Kenneth Koch, Poems[13]
• Charles Olson:
  • In Cold Hell, In Thicket, published in Origin as its eighth issue
  • Mayan Letters, letters to the poet Robert Creeley, report on the author's research into Mayan hieroglyphs and discuss Olson's ideas on "objectism" in poetry. (criticism)[15]
• Ezra Pound, translator, The Translations of Ezra Pound[13]
• George Santayana, The Poet's Testament, verse drama[13]
• May Sarton, The Land of Silence[13]
• Karl Shapiro, Poems 1940-1953, New York: Random House[16]
• W. D. Snodgrass, Heart's Needle, New York: Knopf[16]
• David Derek Stacton, An Unfamiliar Country: 25 Poems
• Gertrude Stein, Bee Time Vine and Other Pieces (1913–1927), fiction and verse[13]
• Wallace Stevens, Collected Poems
• Melvin Tolson, Libretto for the Republic of Liberia[13]
• David Wagoner, Dry Sun, Dry Wind[13]
• Robert Penn Warren, Brother to Dragons[13]

• James K. Baxter, The Fallen House, New Zealand
• Nissim Ezekiel, Sixty Poems, verses written from 1945 to 1951; India[11]

• Jean-Guy Pilon, La fiancée du matin: poèmes, Montréal: Éditions Amicitia[17]

• Yves Bonnefoy, Du mouvement et de l'immobilité de douve[18]
• Rene-Guy Cadou, Helene ou le regne vegetal, Volume 2 (see Volume 1 1952), published posthumously (died 1951)[19]
• Maurice Chappaz, Testament du Haut-Rhône, Swiss, French-language
• Andrée Chedid, Textes pour le vivant[19]
• Jean Follain, Territoires[20]
• Philippe Jaccottet, L'Effraie et autres poèmes, the author's first book of poetry to appear in France; publisher: Gallimard[21]
• Saint-John Perse, Vents[20]

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

• R. S. Mugali, Kannada Sahitya Caritre, a history of Kannada literature, written in that language, up to the 19th century[11]
• Siddayya Puranika, Jalapata, lyrics[11]
• Virasaiva Sahitya Mttu Itihasa, literary history of "Veerashaiva" literature in three volumes[11]

• Amir Shah Kreri, Zafar Nama, a masnavi commemorating an episode of Islamic conquest and based on a Persian original; the poem became very popular in some rural areas[11]
• Mohammad Amin Kamil, Saqi Nama, a masnavi[11]
• Rasul Bath ("most probably the same person known now as Rasul Pompur", according to Indian academic Sisir Kumar Das), Ab e Hayat[11]
• Rahman Rahi, Sanavany Saz[11]
• Rasa Javidani, Tuhfa-e bahar, the Urdu-language poet's first book of Kashmiri-language poems[11]

• Elamkulam Kunjan Pillai, Unninilisandesam, commentary on a 14th-century Manipravala poem[11]
• K. Kittunni Nayar, Mahakavi Vallattol, biography of the poet Vallathol[11]
• Ulloor Paramesvara Ayyar, Kerala Sahitya Caritram, in 1995, Indian academic Sisir Kumar Das called this book the "most comprehensive history of the Malayalam and Sanskrit literatures of Kerala"; published posthumously, in five volumes, starting this year, with the last volume coming out in 1955[11]

• Ananta Pattanayak, Santisikhar, Oriya[11]
• Felix Paul Noronha, writing in the Konkani dialect of the Marathi language:
  • Kaviyam Jhelo[11]
  • Kristanu Puranatli Vinchovan[11]
• Ghulan Rabbani Taban, editor, Shikast-i zindan, Urdu-language poems about the independence struggle in India and other Asian countries[11]
• Kripal Singh Kasel and Parminder Singh, Punjabi Sahit Di Utpatti Te Vikas, history of Punjabi literature, written in that language[11]
• Lekhnath Poudyal, Tarun-Tapasi, a poem on contemporary affairs written mostly in the Sikharini meter; considered the magnum opus of the author, who calls it a navya kavya; Nepali[11]
• Nagarjun, Yug Dhara, poems on current affairs; Hindi[11]
• Narayan, also known as "Shyam", Rupa maya, a sequence of 16 sonnets on the myth of Visvamitra and Menaka; Sindhi[11]
• Nanuram Samskarta, Samay Vayaro, in blank verse; Rajasthani[11]
• Nidudavolu Venkatarao, Telugu Kavula Caritra, biographical information about many Telugu poets (see also a larger work of the same nature, Daksina Desiyandhra Vangmayamu 1954)[11]
• Nilmani Phookan, Surya Heno Nami Aahe Eyi Nadiadi, Rangiya, Assam: Prakashan Ghar, Assamese-language[22]
• Priyakant Maniar, Pratik, the author's first book of verses; 65 poems Gujarati[11]
• Shri Shrimat Kumar Vyas, editor, Alagojo, anthology of poems by Rajasthani authors[11]
• Sudhindra Nath Datta, Sambarta, called "[o]ne of the major works in modern Bengali poetry", according to Sisir Kumar Das[11]

• Arturo Corcuera, Cantoral, Peruvian writing in Spanish
• Hermann Hesse, Die Gedichte, German

• King's Gold Medal for Poetry: Arthur Waley

• American Academy of Arts and Letters Gold Medal for Poetry: Marianne Moore
• National Book Award for Poetry: Archibald MacLeish, Collected Poems: 1917-1952
• Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: Archibald MacLeish: Collected Poems 1917-1952
• Bollingen Prize: Archibald MacLeish and William Carlos Williams
• Fellowship of the Academy of American Poets: Robert Frost
• North Carolina Poet Laureate: James Larkin Pearson appointed.