1982 in poetry

• March 1 – Dylan Thomas posthumously honoured by a floor plaque in Poets' Corner, Westminster Abbey
• September – The New Criterion founded in New York City
• October – Canadian documentary film Poetry in Motion released
• Final edition of This magazine published in Canada

Listed by nation where the work was first published and again by the poet's native land, if different; substantially revised works listed separately:

• M. Duwell, editor, A Possible Contemporary Poetry (scholarship)^[1]
• Chris Mansell, Head, Heart & Stone (Fling Publishers)
• Les Murray:
  • Equanimities
  • The Vernacular Republic: Poems 1961-1981, Angus & Robertson; Edinburgh, Canongate; New York, Persea Books, 1982 and (enlarged and revised edition) Angus & Robertson, 1988^[2]
• A. Paolucci and L. Dobrez, editors, Review of National Literatures: Australia (scholarship)

• Margaret Atwood, The New Oxford Book of Canadian Verse in English (anthology)^[3]
• Margaret Avison, Winter Sun /The Dumbfounding: Poems 1940-66
• Dionne Brand, Primitive Offensive
• Don Domanski, War in an Empty House
• Robert Finch, Twelve for Christmas.^[4]
• Diane Keating, No Birds or Flowers
• Irving Layton, A Wild Peculiar Joy: Selected Poems, 1945-82 Toronto: McClelland and Stewart.^[5]
• Gwendolyn MacEwen:
  • The Fire Eaters.^[6]
  • The T. E. Lawrence Poems^[7]
  • Earth-Light: Selected Poetry 1963-1982. Toronto: General Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7736-1117-7
• Elizabeth Smart, Eleven Poems
• Michael Ondaatje, Running in the Family, memoir, New York: W. W. Norton,^[8] ISBN 0-393-01637-4, ISBN 0-7710-6884-0
• Wilfred Watson, Mass on Cowback.
• Phyllis Webb, The Vision Tree: Selected Poems^[7]

• Keki Daruwalla, The Keeper of the Dead ( Poetry in English ), winner of the Central Sahitya Academy Award in 1984;^[9] Delhi: Oxford University Press^[10]
• Nissim Ezekiel, Latter-Day Psalms ( Poetry in English ),^[11]
• Arvind Krishna Mehrotra, Distance in Statute Miles ( Poetry in English ),^[12]
• Suniti Namjoshi, The Authentic Lie ( Poetry in English ), Fredericton, New Brunswick: Fiddlehead, ISBN 0-86492-010-5^[13]

• Dermot Bolger, No Waiting America
• Harry Clifton, Comparative Lives, Oldcastle: The Gallery Press, ISBN 978-0-904011-33-3
• Pearse Hutchinson, Selected Poems, including "Malaga" and "Gaeltacht", Oldcastle: The Gallery Press^[14]
• Paul Muldoon, Out of Siberia,^[15] Northern Ireland native published in the United Kingdom
• Seamus Heaney: Poems and a Memoir, Limited Editions Club, Northern Ireland native living at this time in the United States
• Derek Mahon:
  • The Hunt by Night, including "Courtyards in Delft", "Rathlin" and "Tractatus", Oxford University Press, Irish poet published in the United Kingdom^[14]
  • Translator, The Chimeras, Gallery Press, translation from the French of Les Chimères by Nerval
• John Montague, Selected Poems, including "A Drink of Milk", "Family Conference" and "The Cave of Night"^[14]

• Fleur Adcock (New Zealand poet who moved to England in 1963), editor, Oxford Book of Contemporary New Zealand Poetry, Auckland: Oxford University Press^[16]
• Allen Curnow, You Will Know When You Get There: Poems 1979–81^[17]
• W. Ihimaera and D. S. Long, Into the World of Light: An Anthology of Maori Writing^[18]
• Bill Manhire, Good Looks, New Zealand
• Cilla McQueen, Homing In,^[19] winner of the New Zealand Book Award for Poetry and the 1983 Jessie MacKay Award
• W. H. Oliver, Poor Richard: Poems, Wellington: Port Nicholson Press, New Zealand

• Peter Ackroyd, The Great Fire of London^[15]
• James Berry, Lucy's Letters and Loving^[15]
• Sir John Betjeman, Uncollected Poems
• Roald Dahl, Roald Dahl's Revolting Rhymes
• Patric Dickinson, A Rift in Time^[15]
• Carol Ann Duffy, Fifth Last Song, Headland^[20]
• Douglas Dunn, Europa's Lover^[15]
• Gavin Ewart, More Little Ones (see All My Little Ones, 1978)^[15]
• U. A. Fanthorpe, Standing To^[15]
• James Fenton, The Memory of War: Poems 1968-1982, Salamander Press,^[21]
• Geoffrey Grigson:
  • Collected Poems, 1963–1980^[15]
  • The Cornish Dancer, and Other Poems^[15]
• Thom Gunn, The Passages of Joy
• Seamus Heaney: Poems and a Memoir, Limited Editions Club, Northern Ireland native living at this time in the United States
• Seamus Heaney and Ted Hughes, editors, The Rattle Bag, Faber, anthology
• John Heath-Stubbs, Naming the Beasts
• Alan Hollinghurst, Confidential Chats with Boy^[15]
• Ted Hughes, Selected Poems 1957–1981^[15]
• Kathleen Jamie, Black Spiders^[15]
• Roger McGough, Waving at Trains^[15]
• Derek Mahon, The Hunt By Night. Oxford University Press
• Paul Muldoon, Out of Siberia,^[15] Northern Ireland native published in the United Kingdom
• Nerval, The Chimeras, a version of Les Chimères, translated from French by Derek Mahon, Gallery Press
• Norman Nicholson, Selected Poems 1940–82^[15]
• Tom Rawling, Ghosts At My Back
• Jeremy Reed, A Man Afraid^[15]
• E. J. Scovell, The Space Between^[15]
• Muriel Spark, Going Up to Sotheby's and Other Poems^[15]

• A. R. Ammons, Worldly Hopes^[22]
• Louise Simone Bennett, Selected Poems
• Hayden Carruth, The Sleeping Beauty^[22]
• Nicholas Christopher, On Tour with Rita^[22]
• Robert Creeley:
  • Echoes^[23]
  • The Collected Poems, 1945–1975^[23]
• James Dickey, Puella^[22]
• Jack Gilbert, Monolithos
• Allen Ginsberg, Plutonian Ode: Poems 1977–1980^[22]
• H.D. (Hilda Doolittle, died 1961), Notes on Thought and Vision (written in 1919)
• Seamus Heaney: Poems and a Memoir, Limited Editions Club, Northern Ireland native living at this time in the United States
• Jane Hirshfield, Alaya
• Phyllis Janowitz, Visiting Rites
• Galway Kinnell, Selected Poems^[22]
• Denise Levertov, Candles in Babylon^[22]
• William Logan, Sad-faced Men
• James Merrill:
  • The Changing Light at Sandover,^[22] an epic poem
  • From the First Nine Poems^[22]
• W. S. Merwin, Finding the Islands, San Francisco: North Point Press^[24]
• Reynolds Price, Vital Provisions^[22]
• Peter Seaton, The Son Master (New York: Roof Books, The Segue Foundation)^[25]
• Gjertrud Schnackenberg, Portraits and Elegies
• Mona Van Duyn, Letters from a Father and Other Poems^[22]
• Theodore Weiss, Recoveries^[22]
• James Wright, This Journey^[22]

• William Meredith, Reasons for Poetry, and The Reason for Criticism

• Edward Brathwaite, Sun Poem, Caribbean poet living and publishing in the United States^[26]
• Mafika Gwala, No More Lullabies, South Africa
• Dennis Scott, Dreadwalk,^[26] Jamaica

Listed by nation where the work was first published and again by the poet's native land, if different; substantially revised works listed separately:

• Aimé Césaire, Moi, laminaire, Martinique author published in France; Paris: Editions du Seuil
• Odysseus Elytis, Marie de Brumes translated by Xavier Bordes into French from the original Greek^[27]
• Abdellatif Laabi, translator, Rires de l'arbre à palabre from the original Arabic of Abdallah Zrika into French; Paris: L'Harmattan

Listed in alphabetical order by first name:

• Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Sare Sukhan Hamare, Indian, Urdu-language^[28]
• Gitaujali Badruddin, Poems of Gitaujali (posthumously published)
• Jayant Kaikini, Kotitirtha, Sagar, Karnataka: Akshara Prakashana, Indian, Kannada-language poet, short-story writer, and screenwriter^[29]
• K. Satchidanandan, Malayalam-language:
  • Janatayum Kavitayum, ("Poetry and the People"); criticism^[30]
  • Venal Mazha, ("The Summer Rain")^[31]
• Rajendra Kishore Panda, Shailakalpa ("Mountainesque"), Cuttack: Grantha Mandir, Oraya-language^[32]
• Mehr Lal Soni Zia Fatehabadi, Soch ka Safar (The Journey of Thought) - published by R.K.Sehgal, Bazm-e-Seemab, J 5/21, Rajouri Garden, New Delhi in 1982. Urdu
• Saroop Dhruv, Mara Hathni Vat, Ahmedabad: Nakshatra Trust, Ahmedabad; Gujarati-language^[33]

• Ryszard Krynicki, Jeżeli w jakimś kraju ("If in Some Country). Underground publisher S.i.s.n.^[34]
• Ewa Lipska, Nie o śmierć tutaj chodzi, lecz o biały kordonek ("Death Is Not at Stake, But the White Cord"), selected poems, Kraków: Wydawnictwo literackie^[35]
• Czesław Miłosz, Hymn o Perle ("The Poem of the Pearl"); Paris: Instytut Literacki^[36]
• Tadeusz Różewicz, Pułapka ("The Trap"), Warszawa: Czytelnik^[37]
• Adam Zagajewski, List - Oda do wielosci ("Letter - An Ode to Quantity"), Kraków: Pólka Poetów, (republished in 1983, Paris: Instytut literacki)^[38]

• Matilde Camus:
  • Testimonio ("Testimony")
  • La preocupación de Miguel Ángel ("The concern of Miguel Angel")

• Arturo Corcuera, Puente de los Suspiros, Peru
• Odysseus Elytis, Three Poems under a Flag of Convenience (Τρία ποιήματα με σημαία ευκαιρίας), Greece
• Ndoc Gjetja, E përditshme ("The Daily"), Albania^[39]
• Klaus Høeck, Eno Zebra, with Asger Schnack, Denmark^[40]
• Alexander Mezhirov, Проза в стихах ("Prose in Verse") (winner of the USSR State Prize, 1986), Russia, Soviet Union^[41]
• Nizar Qabbani, A Poem For Balqis, Syrian poet writing in Arabic
• Rajendra Shah, Prasang-Spatak, Indian, writing in Gujarati^[42]
• Søren Ulrik Thomsen, Ukendt under den samme måne ("Unknown Under the Same Moon"), Denmark
• Marie Uguay, Autoportraits, French-Canadian (posthumous)
• Silvia Volckmann, Zeit der Kirschen? Das Naturbild in der deutschen Gegenwartslyrik (scholarship), West Germany^[43]

• Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry: Fay Zwicky, Kaddish and Other Poems

• Gerald Lampert Award: Abraham Boyarsky, Schielber and Edna Alford, A Sleep Full of Dreams
• 1982 Governor General's Awards: Phyllis Webb, The Vision Tree: Selected Poems (English); Michel Savard, Forages (French)
• Pat Lowther Award: Rona Murray, Journey
• Prix Émile-Nelligan: Jocelyne Felx, Orpailleuse and Philippe Haeck - La Parole verte

• Cholmondeley Award: Basil Bunting, Herbert Lomas, William Scammell
• Eric Gregory Award: Steve Ellis, Jeremy Reed, Alison Brackenbury, Neil Astley, Chris O'Neill, Joseph Bristow, John Gibbens, James Lasdun

• Academy of American Poets Fellowship: John Ashbery and John Frederick Nims
• Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize: Lawrence Joseph, Shouting at No One
• National Book Award: William Bronk for Life Supports (April 27)
• Bernard F. Connors Prize for Poetry: Gerald Stern, "Father Guzman"
• Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress (later the post would be called "Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress"): Anthony Hecht appointed this year.
• Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: Sylvia Plath: The Collected Poems
• Fellowship of the Academy of American Poets: John Frederick Nims and John Ashbery
• North Carolina Poet Laureate: Sam Ragan appointed.

• January 14
  • Joe Dunthorne, Welsh novelist and poet
  • Luke Wright, English performance poet
• April 27 – Patricia Lockwood, American poet
• Paul-Henri Campbell, German American poet
• Roger Robinson, British dub poet
• Chris Tse, New Zealand poet, short story writer and editor