American, from a stroke February 26 – Richmond Lattimore, 77 (born 1906), American poet and translator, of cancer March 3 – Tatsuko Hoshino 星野立子 (born 1903), Japanese, Shōwa period haiku poet and travel writer; founded Tamamo, a haiku magazine exclusively for women; in the Hototogisu literary circle; haiku selector for Asahi Shimbun newspaper; contributed to haiku'' columns in various newspapers and magazines (a woman) April 15 – Sir William Empson, 77 (born 1906), English critic May 19 – Sir John Betjeman, 77 (born 1906), English poet laureate, of Parkinson's disease July 2 – George Oppen, 76 (born 1908), American, of Alzheimer's disease September 14 (possible date) – Richard Brautigan 49 (born 1935), American novelist and poet, of a self-inflicted gunshot wound; the exact date of his suicide is speculative as his body is not found until October 25 September 29 – Hal Porter, 73 (born 1911), Australian writer, novelist, playwright and poet December 8 – Edward James, 77 (born 1907), English poet and patron of the arts and of surrealism December 14 – Vicente Aleixandre, 86 (born 1898), Spanish December 29 – Robert Farren (Roibeárd Ó Faracháin), 75 (born 1909), Irish See also Poetry List of years in poetry List of poetry awards Notes 20th-century poetry Poetry