xvi contemporary poetryDate Historical Events Literary Events
1973 The Yom Kippur War fought Mutabaruka, Outcry;
between Israel and the Arab countries Robert Hass, Field Guide
on its borders results in co-ordinated
action by Arab members of the
Organisation of Petroleum Exporting
Countries and the fi rst Energy Crisis;
under the Paris Peace Accord signed
by Henry Kissinger and Le Duc Tho,
the USA agrees to withdraw its
ground troops from Vietnam; the US
Supreme Court in the case of Roe v.
Wade lifts most federal and state
restrictions on abortion.1974 Richard Nixon becomes the fi rst US
President to resign, his resignation
comes about as a result of the
Watergate scandal ‘cover-up’; Vice
President Gerald Ford assumes offi ce;
a series of strikes, including a major
action by the National Union of
Mineworkers, brings down the
Conservative government of Edward
Heath in the UK.
1975 NBC’s long running game show Seamus Heaney, North;
Wheel of Fortune premieres on Derek Mahon, The
American television; South Vietnam Snow Party; John Ashbery,
falls to the combined forces of the Self Portrait in a Convex
North Vietnamese Army and the Viet Mirror; Iain Sinclair, Lud
Cong; the Khmer Rouge take power Heat
in Cambodia, which they rename
Democratic Kampuchea, a reign of
government terror begins; Australian
Prime Minister Gough Whitlam is
controversially removed from offi ce
by Governor General Sir John Kerr.WILLIAMS PRINT.indd xviWILLIAMS PRINT.indd xvi 08/02/2011 11:4008/02/2011 11: