This article presents lists of historical events related to the writing of poetry during 2004. The historical context of events related to the writing of poetry in 2004 are addressed in articles such as History of Poetry Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature (for instance, Irish or France).
April 1 — Foetry.com Web site is launched for the announced purpose of "Exposing fraudulent contests. Tracking the sycophants. Naming names." Members and visitors contribute information which links judges and prize winners in various poetry contests in attempts to document whether some contests have been rigged.
February 16 — Edwin Morgan becomes Scotland's first ever official national poet, The Scots Makar, appointed by the Scottish Parliament.
Jang Jin-sung defects from North Korea.
Publication of remaining fragments of Sappho's Tithonus poem (6th/7th cent. BCE).
Samizdat poetry magazine, founded in 1998, ceases publication.
David and Helen Constantine relaunch Modern Poetry in Translation, a British journal focusing on the art of translating poetry. The magazine was founded in 1966 by Ted Hughes and Daniel Weissbort.
Listed by nation where the work was first published and again by the poet's native land, if different; substantially revised works listed separately:
2004 in Australian literature
Robert Adamson Reading the River: Selected Poems
Alison Croggon, November Burning, Vagabond
M. T. C. Cronin,
Luke Davies, Totem
Sarah Day, The Ship, winner of the 2005 Arts Queensland Judith Wright Calanthe Award; Blackheath, N.S.W.: Brandl & Schlesinger
Noel Rowe, Next to Nothing
Dipti Saravanamuttu, The Colosseum
Samuel Wagan Watson, Smoke Encrypted Whispers
Les Wicks, Stories of the Feet, published by Five Islands
Anthony Lawrence, editor, The Best Australian Poetry 2004, Publisher: UQP
Les Murray, editor, The Best Australian Poems 2004, Publisher: Black Inc.