List of poets

This is an alphabetical list of internationally notable poets.

A Ab–Ak Jonathan Aaron (born 1941), US poet Aarudhra (1925–1998), Indian Telugu poet, born Bhagavatula Sadasiva Sankara Sastry Chris Abani (born 1966), Nigerian poet Henry Abbey (1842–1911), US poet Eleanor Hallowell Abbott (1872–1958), US poet and fiction writer Siôn Abel (fl. 18th c.), Welsh balladeer Aria Aber (born 1991), Afghan poet and novelist, resides in the US, writes and publishes primarily in English Lascelles Abercrombie (1881–1938), English poet and literary critic Arthur Talmage Abernethy (1872–1956), US journalist, minister, scholar; North Carolina Poet Laureate, 1948-1953 Abu Sa'id Abu'l-Khayr (967–1049), Persian poet Sam Abrams (1935–2023), US poet, editor and critic Seth Abramson (born 1976), US poet Kosta Abrašević (1879–1898), Serbian poet Dannie Abse (1923–2014), Welsh poet in English Kathy Acker (1947–1997), US experimental novelist, punk poet and playwright Diane Ackerman (born 1948), US author, poet and naturalist Duane Ackerson (1942–2020), US writer of speculative poetry and fiction Milton Acorn (1923–1986), Canadian poet, writer and playwright Harold Acton (1904–1994), English writer, scholar and dilettante János Aczél (died 1523), Hungarian poet and provost Tamás Aczél (1921–1994), Hungarian poet Gilbert Adair (1944–2011), Scottish novelist, poet and critic Virginia Hamilton Adair (1919–2004), US poet Helen Adam (1909–1993), Scottish-US poet, collagist and photographer Draginja Adamović (1925–2000), Serbian poet John Adams (1704–1740), US poet Léonie Adams (1899–1988), US poet; U.S. Poet Laureate, 1948–1949 Ryan Adams (born 1974), US singer-songwriter and writer Hendrik Adamson (1891–1946), Estonian poet Fleur Adcock (1934–2024), New Zealand poet mainly in England Joseph Addison (1672–1719), English essayist, poet, writer and politician Kim Addonizio (born 1954), US poet and novelist Artur Adson (1889–1977), Estonian poet Endre Ady (1877–1919), Hungarian poet Mariska Ady (1888–1977), Hungarian poet Aeschylus (525–456 BCE), Athenian tragedian Anastasia Afanasieva (born 1982), Ukrainian physician, poet, writer, translator Lucius Afranius (fl. c. 94 BCE), Roman comic poet John Agard (born 1949), Afro-Guyanese poet and children's writer Patience Agbabi (born 1965), British poet and performer James Agee (1909–1955), US novelist, screenwriter, and poet Deborah Ager (born 1977), US poet and editor István Ágh (1938–2025), Hungarian poet Kelli Russell Agodon (born 1969), US poet Dritëro Agolli (1931–2017), Albanian poet Carlos Martínez Aguirre (born 1974), Spanish poet Delmira Agustini (1886–1914), Uruguayan poet Ishaaq bin Ahmed (1095 – 12th century), Arab scholar, poet and ancestor of the Somali Isaaq clan-family Ai (Florence Anthony, 1947–2010), US poet Ama Ata Aidoo (1940–2023), Ghanaian novelist, poet, playwright and academic Conrad Aiken (1889–1973), US poet and author; U.S. Poet Laureate, 1950–1952 Aganice Ainianos (1838–1892), Greek poet Akazome Emon (956–1041), Japanese poet and historian Mark Akenside (1721–1770), English poet and physician Rachel Akerman (1522–1544), Austrian Jewish poet writing in German Mehdi Akhavan-Sales (1929–1990), Iranian poet, Persian poet Bella Akhmadulina (1937–2010), Russian poet Anna Akhmatova (1889–1966), Russian poet Jan Nisar Akhtar (1914–1976), Indian Urdu poet Javed Akhtar (born 1945), Indian poet, lyricist and scriptwriter Salman Akhtar (born 1946), Indian US professor and poet writing in English and Urdu

Al–Am Amina Al Adwan (born 1944), Jordanian writer, poet and critic Ali al-Marhun (1916–2010), Saudi faqīh and poet Muhammad Taha Al-Qaddal (1951–2021), Sudanese poet Luigi Alamanni (1495–1556), Italian poet and statesman Alasdair mac Mhaighstir Alasdair (c. 1698–1770), Scottish Gaelic poet Ave Alavainu (1942–2022), Estonian poet Gillebríghde Albanach (fl. 1200–1230), Scottish Gaelic poet and crusader Alcaeus (4th c. BCE), Athenian comic poet in Greek Alcaeus of Messene (fl. late 3rd/early 2nd c. BCE), Greek writer of verse epigrams Alcaeus of Mytilene (7th–6th c. BCE), Greek lyric poet from Lesbos Ammiel Alcalay (born 1956), US poet, scholar and critic Alcman (fl. 7th c. BCE), Ancient Greek lyric poet Amos Bronson Alcott (1799–1888), US poet and teacher Richard Aldington (1892–1962), English poet and writer Vasile Alecsandri (1821–1890), Romanian poet Tudur Aled (c. 1465–1525), Welsh poet writing in Welsh Claribel Alegría (1924–2018), Central US poet writing in Spanish Vicente Aleixandre (1898–1984), Spanish poet, Nobel Laureate 1977 Josip Murn Aleksandrov (1879–1901), Slovene symbolist poet Louis Alemayehu (born 1945), US poet, educator and musician Sherman Alexie (born 1966), US poet and writer Felipe Alfau (1902–1999), Catalan US novelist and poet Agha Shahid Ali (1949–2001), Indian, Kashmiri and US poet Taha Muhammad Ali (1931–2011), Palestinian poet Dante Alighieri (1265–1321), Italian poet Ali al-Hujwiri (1009–1072), Persian poet James Alexander Allan (1889–1956), Australian poet August Alle (1899–1952), Estonian poet Dick Allen (1939–2017), US poet, critic and academic Donald Allen (1912–2004), US poet, editor and translator Elizabeth Akers Allen (1832–1911), US author and poet Ron Allen (1947–2010), US poet and playwright Artur Alliksaar (1923–1966), Estonian poet William Allingham (1824 or 1828–1889), Irish poet and man of letters Washington Allston (1779–1843), US painter and poet Damaso Alonso (1898–1990), Spanish poet, philologist and critic Alta (Alta Gerrey; 1942–2024), US poet and writer Natan Alterman (1910–1970), Israeli poet, journalist and translator Alurista (born 1947), Chicano poet and activist Al Alvarez (fl. 1929–2019), English poet Julia Alvarez (born 1950), Dominican-US poet, novelist and essayist Betti Alver (1906–1989), Estonian poet Moniza Alvi (born 1954), Pakistani-British poet and writer Guru Amar Das (1479–1574), Punjabi poet and Sikh guru Ambroise (fl. c. 1190), Norman-French poet of Third Crusade Yehuda Amichai (1924–2000), Israeli poet Indran Amirthanayagam (born 1960), Sri Lankan US poet, essayist and translator Kingsley Amis (1922–1995), English author and poet Majeed Amjad (1914–1974), Indian/Pakistani poet in Urdu A. R. Ammons (1926–2001), US author and poet

An–Aq Anacreon (570–488 BCE), Greek lyric poet Alfred Andersch (1914–1980), German writer and publisher Mir Anees (or Anis) (1803–1874), Indian poet in Urdu Guda Anjaiah (1955–2016), Telugu Indian poet, singer, lyricist and writer from Telangana Anvari (1117–1157), Persian poet Temsüla Ao (1945–2022), Indian Naga poet, short story writer, and ethnographer Hans Christian Andersen (1805–1875), Danish poet and children's writer Victor Henry Anderson (1917–2001), US poet, kahuna and teacher of the Feri Tradition Carlos Drummond de Andrade (1902–1987), Brazilian poet Mário de Andrade (1893–1945), Brazilian poet, novelist and critic Bernard André (1450–1522), French Augustinian poet: poet laureate to Henry VII of England Peter Andrej (born 1959), Slovenian poet and musician Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen (1919–2004), Portuguese poet and writer Bruce Andrews (born 1948), US poet of language Kevin Andrews (1924–1989), Anglo-Greek philhellene writer and archeologist Ron Androla (born 1954), US poet Aneirin (fl. 6th c.), Brythonic epic poet Guru Angad (1504–1552), Sikh Guru and Punjabi poet Ralph Angel (1951–2020), US poet and translator Maya Angelou (1928–2014), US poet James Stout Angus (1830–1923), Shetland poet mainly in Shetland dialect Marion Angus (1865–1946), Scottish poet in Scots J. K. Annand (1908–1993), Scottish children's poet Mika Antić (1932–1986), Serbian poet David Antin (1932–2016), US poet and critic Antler (born 1946), US poet Susanne Antonetta (born 1956), US poet and author Brother Antoninus (1912–1994), US poet Raymond Antrobus (living), British poet and educator Chairil Anwar (1922–1949), Indonesian poet Johannes Anyuru (born 1979), Swedish poet Guillaume Apollinaire (1880–1918), French poet Apollonius of Rhodes (270 – post–245 BCE), Greek poet and librarian in Alexandria Maja Apostoloska (born 1976), Macedonian poet Philip Appleman (1926–2020), US poet and professor Lajos Áprily (1887–1967), Hungarian poet and translator Pawlu Aquilina (1929–2009), Maltese poet

Ar Louis Aragon (1897–1982), French poet, novelist and editor János Arany (1817–1882), Hungarian poet Archilochus (c. 680 – c. 645 BCE), Greek lyric poet Allamraju Subrahmanyakavi (1831–1892), Indian Telugu poet Walter Conrad Arensberg (1878–1954), US dadaist, critic and poet Tudor Arghezi (1880–1967), Romanian poet Ludovico Ariosto (1474–1533), Italian poet Aristophanes (c. 446 – c. 386 BCE), Greek dramatic poet Guru Arjan (1563–1606), Sikh guru and Punjabi poet Rae Armantrout (born 1947), US language poet Simon Armitage (born 1963), English poet, playwright and novelist Richard Armour (1906–1989), US poet and author Ernst Moritz Arndt (1769–1860), German author and poet Bettina von Arnim (1785–1859), German writer, composer and visual artist Ludwig Achim von Arnim (1781–1831), German poet and novelist Craig Arnold (1967–2009), US poet and professor Matthew Arnold (1822–1888), English poet and cultural critic Arnórr Þórðarson jarlaskáld (Poet of Earls, c. 1012 – 1070s), Icelandic skald Franciszka Arnsztajnowa (1865–1942), Polish poet Jean Arp (1886–1966), German-French sculptor, painter and poet Antonin Artaud (1896–1948), French playwright, poet and essayist

As–Az Asadi Tusi (1000–1073), Persian poet

M. K. Asante (born 1982), US author, poet and professor John Ashbery (1927–2017), US poet, 1976 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry Cliff Ashby (1919–2012), English poet and novelist Renée Ashley, US poet and novelist Anton Aškerc (1856–1912), Slovenian poet and Roman Catholic priest Asjadi (10th–11th c.), Persian poet Adam Asnyk (1838–1897), Polish poet and dramatist Herbert Asquith (1881–1947), English poet Mina Assadi (born 1942), Iranian poet, Persian poet, author and songwriter Vishnu Raj Atreya (1944–2020), Nepali poet, author, songwriter and novelist Margaret Atwood (born 1939), Canadian poet, novelist and essayist W. H. Auden (1907–1973), Anglo-US poet, essayist Imre Augustich (Imre Augustič, 1837–1879), Slovenian/Hungarian poet Joseph Auslander (1897–1965), US poet, anthologist and novelist; U.S. Poet Laureate, 1937–1941 Ausonius (c. 310–395), Latin poet and rhetorician at Burdigala (Bordeaux) Paul Auster (1947–2024), US poet, novelist, playwright, essayist, and translator James Avery (1945–2013), US actor, poet and screenwriter Margaret Avison (1918–2007), Canadian poet Krayem Awad (born 1948), Viennese painter, sculptor and poet of Syrian origin Gennady Aygi (1934–2006), Russian poet Ayo Ayoola-Amale (born 1970), Nigerian poet Ayinampudi Srilakshmi (born 1967), Telugu poet Pam Ayres (born 1947), English humorous poet Robert Aytoun (1570–1638), Scottish poet Maryam Jafari Azarmani (born 1977), Iranian poet, Persian poet, essayist, critic and translator Azraqi (11th c.), Persian poet Jody Azzouni (born 1954), US philosopher and poet

B Ba Baba Tahir (11th c.), Persian poet Mihály Babits (1883–1941), Hungarian poet and translator Ken Babstock (born 1970), Canadian poet Jimmy Santiago Baca (born 1952), US poet and writer of Apache/Chicano descent Bacchylides (fl. 5th c. BCE), Greek lyric poet Bellamy Bach (fl. 1980s), joint pseudonym of fiction writers and poets Harivansh Rai Bachchan (fl. 20th c.), Hindi poet Joseph M. Bachelor (also Joseph Morris, 1889–1947), US author, poet and educator Simon Bacher (1823–1891), Hebrew poet in Hungary Ingeborg Bachmann (1926–1973), Austrian poet and author Sutardji Calzoum Bachri (born 1941), Indonesian poet George Bacovia (1881–1957), Romanian poet Krzysztof Kamil Baczyński (1921–1944), Polish poet and soldier Vahshi Bafqi (1532–1583) Persian poet Julio Baghy (1891–1967), Hungarian Esperanto author and poet Mohammad-Taqi Bahar (1886–1951), Persian poet Bai Juyi (772–846), Chinese poet of the Tang dynasty