Sappho was an Archaic Greek poet from Eresos or Mytilene on the island of Lesbos. Sappho is known for her lyric poetry, written to be sung while accompanied by music. In ancient times, Sappho was widely regarded as one of the greatest lyric poets and was given names such as the "Tenth Muse" and "The Poetess". Most of Sappho's poetry is now lost, and what is extant has mostly survived in fragmentary form; only the "Ode to Aphrodite" is certainly complete. As well as lyric poetry, ancient commentators claimed that Sappho wrote elegiac and iambic poetry. Three epigrams attributed to Sappho are extant, but these are actually Hellenistic imitations of Sappho's style.
Sylvia Plath was an American poet, novelist, and short story writer. She is credited with advancing the genre of confessional poetry and is best known for two of her published collections, The Colossus and Other Poems (1960) and Ariel (1965), as well as The Bell Jar, a semi-autobiographical novel published shortly before her suicide in 1963. The Collected Poems was published in 1981, which included previously unpublished works. For this collection Plath was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in Poetry in 1982, making her the fourth to receive this honour posthumously.
Thomas Stearns Eliot was a poet, essayist, publisher, playwright, literary critic and editor. Considered one of the 20th century's major poets, he is a central figure in English-language Modernist poetry. Through his trials in language, writing style, and verse structure, he reinvigorated English poetry. He also dismantled outdated beliefs and established fresh ones through a collection of critical essays.
Anna Andreyevna Gorenko, better known by the pen name Anna Akhmatova, was one of the most significant Russian poets of 20th century. She was shortlisted for the Nobel Prize in 1965 and received second-most (three) nominations for the award the following year.
Elizabeth Bishop was an American poet and short-story writer. She was Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 1949 to 1950, the Pulitzer Prize winner for Poetry in 1956, the National Book Award winner in 1970, and the recipient of the Neustadt International Prize for Literature in 1976. Dwight Garner argued that she was perhaps "the most purely gifted poet of the 20th century".
Rita Frances Dove is an American poet and essayist. From 1993 to 1995, she served as Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress. She is the first African American to have been appointed since the position was created by an act of Congress in 1986 from the previous "consultant in poetry" position (1937–86). Dove also received an appointment as "special consultant in poetry" for the Library of Congress's bicentennial year from 1999 to 2000. Dove is the second African American to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, in 1987, and she served as the Poet Laureate of Virginia from 2004 to 2006. Since 1989, she has been teaching at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, where she held the chair of Commonwealth Professor of English from 1993 to 2020; as of 2020 she holds the chair of Henry Hoyns Professor of Creative Writing.
Poetry of the modern-day region called Afghanistan has ancient roots, which is mostly written in Dari and Pashto. Afghan poetry relates to the culture of Afghanistan and is an element of Afghan literature.
Sugathakumari was an Indian poet and activist, who was at the forefront of environmental and feminist movements in Kerala, South India. Her parents were the poet and freedom fighter Bodheswaran and V. K. Karthiyayini Amma, a Sanskrit scholar. She was the founder secretary of the Prakrithi Samrakshana Samithi, an organisation for the protection of nature, and of Abhaya, a home for destitute women and a day-care centre for the mentally ill. She chaired the Kerala State Women's Commission. She played a prominent role in the Save Silent Valley protest.
Zehra Nigah is an Urdu poet and scriptwriter from Pakistan. She was one of two female poets to gain prominence in the 1950s when the scene was dominated by men. She has written several television drama serials. She has also received various awards including Pride of Performance in recognition of her literary works in 2006. She wrote screenplay of the television serial Umrao Jaan Ada based Mirza Hadi Ruswa's Umrao Jaan Ada.
Erling Kittelsen is a Norwegian poet, novelist, children's writer, playwright and translator. He made his literary debut in 1970 with the poetry collection Ville fugler. Kittelsen was part of the poetic action group "Stuntpoetene" during the 1980s, along with Jón Sveinbjørn Jónsson, Triztán Vindtorn, Arne Ruste, Thorvald Steen, Karin Moe, Torgeir Rebolledo Pedersen and others.
Philocles, was an Athenian tragic poet during the 5th century BC. Through his mother, Philopatho, he had three famous uncles: Aeschylus, the famous poet, Cynaegirus, hero of the battle of Marathon, and Ameinias, hero of the battle of Salamis. The Suda claims that Philocles was the father of the tragic playwright Morsimus, who was in turn the father of the tragedian Astydamas.
Agneta Pleijel is a Swedish novelist, poet, playwright, journalist and literary critic. Among her plays are Ordning härskar i Berlin from 1979. Among her novels are Vindspejare from 1987 and Drottningens chirurg from 2006. She has been a professor at Dramatiska Institutet since 1992. She was awarded the Dobloug Prize in 1991 and the Swedish Academy Nordic Prize in 2018.
Ann Jäderlund is a Swedish poet and playwright. She made her literary debut in 1985 with the poetry collection Vimpelstaden. Other collections are Snart går jag i sommaren ut from 1990 and I en cylinder i vattnet av vattengråt from 2006. She was awarded the Dobloug Prize in 2004. Esa-Pekka Salonen used her work Two Poems to Songs for a choral work in 2002.
Fitnat Hanım was the pen name of the Ottoman Turkish woman poet Zübeyde, "considered the most important woman poet of the Ottoman school".
Vijayalakshmi is a Malayalam–language poet from the South Indian state of Kerala.
Hanne Bramness is a Norwegian poet and translator. She made her literary debut in 1983 with the poetry collection Korrespondanse. Other collections are I sin tid from 1986, Nattens kontinent from 1992, and Revolusjonselegier from 1996. She has translated English, Chinese and Japanese poetry into Norwegian language. She was awarded the Dobloug Prize in 2006.
Fadl al-Qaysi or Faḍl al-Shāʻirah was one of "three early ʻAbbasid singing girls ... particularly famous for their poetry" and is one of the pre-eminent medieval Arabic female poets whose work survives.
Ida Börjel is a Swedish poet.
Mohammad Ghazi, known by his pen name Ghazi Sial and by an honorific title in Pashto literature as Baba Sandara, was a Pakistani poet and Pashto folk song writer. He wrote sixteen books in Pashto language.
