1903), Japanese, Shōwa period poet and children's fiction writer April 20 Archibald MacLeish, 89 (born 1892), American poet Aco Šopov, 59 (born 1923), Macedonian poet June 5 – Junzaburō Nishiwaki 西脇順三郎, 88 (born 1894), Japanese, Shōwa period poet and literary critic June 6 – Kenneth Rexroth, 76 (born 1905), American poet, of a heart ailment June 18 – Djuna Barnes, 90 (born 1892), American writer and poet July 20 – Okot p'Bitek, 51 (born 1931), Ugandan poet October 22 – Richard Hugo, 58 (born 1923), American poet, of leukemia November 13 – Babette Deutsch, 87 (born 1895), American poet December 3 – Bishnu Dey, 73 (born 1909), Bengali poet, prose writer and movie critic See also Poetry List of years in poetry List of poetry awards Notes 20th-century poetry Poetry