William Matthews, 55, American poet and essayist, of a heart attack November 17 – David Ignatow, 83, American poet November 30 – Kathy Acker, 53, American postmodernist experimental novelist and punk poet December 13 – Claude Roy, pen name of Claude Orland (born 1915), French poet, novelist, essayist, art critic and journalist; an activist in the Communist Party until his expulsion in 1956 December 20 – Denise Levertov, 74, of lymphoma See also Poetry List of years in poetry List of poetry awards References 20th-century poetry Poetry