Contemporary Poetry

xiv contemporary poetry

Date Historical Events Literary Events

1964 The Civil Rights Act becomes law in Ted Berrigan, Sonnets;

the USA, outlawing the unequal Philip Larkin, The Whitsun

application of voter registration Weddings; John Berryman,

requirements and racial segregation in 77 Dream Songs

schools.

1965 American Civil Rights campaigners Amiri Baraka, ‘State/

march from Selma to Montgomery on Meant’; Sylvia Plath, Ariel

7 March and 9 March, they fi nally

complete the journey at the third

attempt on 21 March; militant

African-American rights activist

Malcolm X is assassinated in New

York.

1966 England, the host nation, wins the Amiri Baraka, Black Art

World Cup by defeating Germany

4 – 2 at Wembley stadium after extra

time.

1967 Israeli military forces win the Six-Day Roland Barthes ‘Death of

war fought against its Arab the Author’

neighbours in Egypt, Syria and

Jordan; race riots in Newark, New

Jersey, USA; The Beatles release Sgt.

Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band;

hippies and other counter-cultural

elements descend on San Francisco

for the ‘Summer of Love’; in Britain

the Abortion Act legalises abortions

by registered practitioners.

1968 The Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Michel Foucault, ‘What is

army strike against American forces in an Author?’

the ‘Tet offensive’ with limited

military but huge propaganda success;

Richard Nixon is elected President of

the USA – defeating the Democratic

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