A national poet or national bard is a poet held by tradition and popular acclaim to represent the identity, beliefs and principles of a particular national culture. The national poet as culture hero is a long-standing symbol, to be distinguished from successive holders of a bureaucratically-appointed poet-laureate office. The idea and honoring of national poets emerged primarily during Romanticism, as a figure that helped consolidation of the nation states, as it provided validation of their ethno-linguistic groups.
Most national poets are historic figures, though a few contemporary writers working in relatively new or revived national literatures are also considered "national poets". Though not formally elected, national poets play a role in shaping a country's understanding of itself. Some nations may have more than one national poet; the idea of a single one is always a simplification. It has been argued that a national poet "must write poetry that closely identifies with the nation's cause – or is thought to do so",John Neubauer, "Figures of National Poets", in Marcel Cornis-Pope and John Neubauer, eds., Figures of National Poets (2004), p. 11. with an additional assumption being that "a national poet must write in a national language".Michael Baron, Language and Relationship in Wordsworth's Writing (1995), p. 13.
The following is a list of nations, with their associated national poets. It is not a list of sovereign states or countries, though many of the nations listed may also be such. The terms "nation" (as cultural concept), "country" (as geographical concept) and "state" (as political concept) are not synonyms.
Africa
Country or TerritoryPoet Si Mohand, Moufdi ZakariaAgostinho NetoTitinga Frédéric PacéréJorge BarbosaAntoine-Roger Bolamba (J'ongungu) [when the country was known as Congo–Zaire]Victor Hugo M'Gonagall Ahmed ShawqiGraves, R. (2014). Good-bye to All That: An Autobiography. United Kingdom: Penguin Books Limited. Gibreab Teferi, Tsegaye Gabre-Medhin Atukwei Okai, Kofi AwoonorAbdilatif AbdallaThomas MofoloMelvin B. TolsonAhmed Rafiq Almhadoui Jean-Joseph Rabearivelo Fily Dabo SissokoLéoville L'Homme Mohammed AwzalJosé CraveirinhaMvula ya Nangolo Christopher OkigboNwakanma, O. (2010:90). Christopher Okigbo, 1930-67: Thirsting for Sunlight. Nigeria: James Currey.The Oxford Handbook of Nigerian Politics. (2018:623). United Kingdom: OUP Oxford. Francisco José Tenreiro, Alda Neves do Espírito Santo Léopold Sédar SenghorMoore, G. (1980:38). Twelve African Writers. United Kingdom: Hutchinson University Library for Africa.Davidson NicolRice, G. T. (1985:238). The Bold Experiment: JFK's Peace Corps. United States: University Press of Virginia. Hadrawi S. E. K. Mqhayi Shaaban bin Robert Aboul-Qacem Echebbi Zaim Allal
Asia Country (or region)PoetRumi, Khushal KhattakKazi Nazrul IslamDu Fu, Li BaiWard, J. E. (2008). Li Bai: an Homage To. United Kingdom: Lulu.com.Preah Botumthera SomRabindranath Tagore, Ramdhari Singh Dinkar, Kuvempu, Govinda Pai, G. S. Shivarudrappa, Maithili Sharan Gupt, Subramania Bharati, KalidasaAnnals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Poona. (1987). India: Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute.Bhawe, S. S. (1964). Kalidasa: The National Poet of India. India: Good Companions.Chairil Anwar, Sapardi Djoko DamonoFerdowsi, Rumi, Hafez, Attar of Nishapur, Omar Khayyám, Saadi Shirazi, Nizami Ganjavi, Rudaki, Mohammad-Hossein Shahriar, Mohammad-Taqi Bahar, Mehdi Akhavan-Sales, Aref Qazvini, Ahmad Shamlou, Parvin E'tesamiViestad, A. (2023). Dinner in Rome: A History of the World in One Meal. United Kingdom: Reaktion Books.Muthaffar al-Nawab, Al-Mutanabbi, Muhammad Mahdi al-JawahiriWonders of creation: manuscripts of the Bavarian State Library from the Islamic world. (2010). Germany: Harrassowitz Verlag.Zeidel, R. (2020). Pluralism in the Iraqi Novel After 2003: Literature and the Recovery of National Identity. United States: Lexington Books.Yehuda Amichai, Hayim Nahman Bialik, Natan Alterman,Matsuo Bashō, Lafcadio Hearn, Murasaki Shikibu, Tanikawa Shuntaro, Ishikawa TakubokuJapan Quarterly. (1960:47). Japan: Asahi Shinbun.Mustafa Wahbi al-TalAbai Qunanbaiuli KoreaCho Ki-chon, Yun Dongju, Han Yong-un, Park Mok-wol, Chŏng Ch'ŏlEhmedê Xanî, Cigerxwîn, Sherko Bekas, Hemin Mukriyani, Abdurrahman SharafkandiToktogul SatylganovCoşkun, M. (2020:64). Improvising the Voice of the Ancestors: Heritage and Identity in Central Asia. Germany: Lit Verlag.Kahlil Gibran, Said AklSalameh, F. (2010:220). Language, Memory, and Identity in the Middle East: The Case for Lebanon. Ukraine: Lexington Books.Usman AwangOchirbatyn Dashbalbar, Dulduityn Danzanravjaa, Dashdorjiin Natsagdorj, Byambyn Rinchen, Hadaa SendooMin Thu WunMadhav Prasad GhimireAllama Muhammad IqbalMahmoud DarwishFrancisco BalagtasParakrama KodituwakkuBeyond Borders: An Anthology of SAARC Poetry. (2002). India: Academy of Fine Arts and Literature and Rainbow Publishers. Nizar QabbaniYang Mu, Yu YourenWong, L. L. (2009:170). Rays of the Searching Sun: The Transcultural Poetics of Yang Mu. Austria: P.I.E. Peter Lang. Sadriddin Ayni, Bozor Sobir, Mirzo Tursunzoda Rudaki, Rumi, Gulnazar Keldi Sunthorn PhuTsering WoeserRumi, Nâzım Hikmet, Ziya Gökalp, Mehmet Âkif ErsoyMagtymguly PyragyAli-Shir Nava'i, Abdulla Oripov, Erkin Vohidov, Gʻafur Gʻulom, MirtemirNguyễn Du, Nguyễn Đình Chiểu, Hồ Xuân HươngAbdullah Al-Baradouni, Waddah al-Yaman
Europe Country (or region)Poet Gjergj Fishta, Naim Frashëri Dmitry GuliaHovhannes Tumanyan, Sayat-Nova, Yeghishe Charents Franz Grillparzer, Johann Nepomuk Nestroy, Georg Trakl, Rainer Maria RilkeAustria today. (1984:7). Austria: Austria Today Limited.Nizami Ganjavi, Fuzûlî, Imadaddin Nasimi, Samad VurgunSamad Vurgun Rami Garipov, Mustai KarimBernard Etxepare Yanka Kupala, Yakub KolasMartin, T. D. (2001:436). The Affirmative Action Empire: Nations and Nationalism in the Soviet Union, 1923-1939. United Kingdom: Cornell University Press.Tourist Mosaic of Belarus. (2017:480). Russia: ЛитРес. Emile Verhaeren, Maurice MaeterlinckCultures in Flux: Lower-Class Values, Practices, and Resistance in Late Imperial Russia. (1994:140). Ukraine: Princeton University Press. (Catalan Countries) Ausiàs March, Jacint Verdaguer Abuzar AydamirovAbdulah Sidran, Mak Dizdar, Izet SarajlićMahmutćehajić, R. (2015). The Praised and the Virgin. Netherlands: Brill.Théodore Claude Henri, vicomte Hersart de la Villemarqué Hristo Botev, Ivan VazovHristo Botev’s birth anniversary , Radio Bulgaria History and Religion, posted January 6, 2007, updated on January 12, 2007, accessed 9 March 2007 Alexander Dukhnovych Marko Marulić, Ivan Gundulić Vasilis MichaelidesIoannides, C. P. (2018:12). Cyprus Under British Colonial Rule: Culture, Politics, and the Movement Toward Union with Greece, 1878–1954. United States: Lexington Books. (Czech lands) Karel Hynek Mácha, Jan NerudaSalcman, M. (2016:90). A Prague Spring, Before & After. United States: Evening Street Press. Rasul Gamzatov, Suleyman Stalsky Adam Oehlenschläger, Hans Christian Andersen, Søren Kierkegaard, N. F. S. Grundtvig William Heinesen, Nólsoyar Páll, Mikkjal á RyggiCadence. (1984:60). United States: B. Rusch. Geoffrey Chaucer, William Shakespeare, William Blake, William Wordsworth, Thomas Hardy, W. H. Auden, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Philip LarkinLachman, G. (2013). The Caretakers of the Cosmos: Living Responsibly in an Unfinished World. United Kingdom: Floris Books. Kristjan Jaak Peterson, Lydia KoidulaWeissmann Travel Planner for Western and Eastern Europe. (1994:59). United States: Weissmann Travel Reports. Eino Leino, Johan Ludvig Runeberg Émile Verhaeren, Hendrik Conscience, Guido Gezelle, Hugo Claus Gysbert Japicx (or Japiks)Linguist. (1962). United Kingdom: Linguists' Club..Charles Baudelaire, Molière, Victor Hugo Rosalía de Castro, Ramón CabanillasThe Harp and the Constitution: Myths of Celtic and Gothic Origin. (2015). Netherlands: Brill. Shota Rustaveli Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Friedrich von Schiller, Heinrich Heine, Bertolt Brecht, Friedrich Hölderlin, Novalis, Friedrich Nietzsche, Hermann Hesse, Stefan GeorgeDecker, G. (2018:157). Hesse: The Wanderer and His Shadow. United States: Harvard University Press. Homer, Sappho, Pindar, Solon, Dionysios Solomos, Odysseus ElytisPindar: Victory Odes: Olympians 2, 7 and 11; Nemean 4; Isthmians 3, 4 and 7. (1995:109). United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. George Métivier Sándor Petőfi, János Arany Jónas Hallgrímsson, Hallgrímur Pétursson Thomas Moore, William Butler Yeats, Seamus Heaney, Patrick Pearse T. E. Brown Ovid, Virgil, Horace, Dante Alighieri, Francesco Petrarca, Giosuè Carducci, Giacomo Leopardi, Ugo Foscolo, Gabriele D'AnnunzioHroch, M. (2015). European Nations: Explaining Their Formation. United Kingdom: Verso. Wace Ali Podrimja Rainis, Andrejs Pumpurs Kristijonas Donelaitis, Maironis, Justinas Marcinkevičius, Adomas Mickevičius Edmond de la Fontaine, Michel Lentz Dun Karm Psaila Grigore Vieru, Mihai Eminescu Louis Notari Petar II Petrović-Njegoš Joost van den Vondel, Jacob Cats Kočo Racin Kosta Khetagurov Özker YaşınHenrik WergelandFrédéric Mistral, Arnaut Daniel, Bernart de Ventadorn, Comtessa de Dia Adam Mickiewicz, Juliusz Słowacki, Zygmunt Krasiński Luís de Camões, Fernando Pessoa Frédéric Mistral, Comtessa de Dia Mihai Eminescu Alexander Pushkin, Anna Akhmatova, Boris Pasternak, Sergei Yesenin, Ivan Turgenev, Ivan Bunin Anders Fjellner Robert Burns, Hugh MacDiarmidMacDiarmid, H., MacGill-Eain, S. (2010:44). The Correspondence Between Hugh MacDiarmid and Sorley MacLean: An Annotated Edition. United Kingdom: Edinburgh University Press. Desanka Maksimović, Petar II Petrović-Njegoš, Jovan Sterija Popović, Jovan Jovanović Zmaj Pavol Országh Hviezdoslav France Prešeren Miguel de Cervantes, Lope de Vega, Federico García LorcaCommemorating Writers in Nineteenth-Century Europe: Nation-Building and Centenary Fever. (2014). United Kingdom: Palgrave Macmillan. Peter Rosegger Carl Michael Bellman, Gustaf Fröding, Verner von Heidenstam, Esaias Tegnér Gottfried Keller, Carl Spitteler Ğabdulla Tuqay, Musa Cälil, Ravil Fayzullin, Yunus Emre, Mehmet Akif Ersoy, Nâzım Hikmet Lesya Ukrainka, Taras Shevchenko, Ivan Franko Dylan Thomas, Dafydd ap Gwilym
North America Country or TerritoryPoetsKamau Brathwaite Margaret Atwood, E. Pauline Johnson, E. J. Pratt, Al Purdy, Milton Acorn Aquileo J. Echeverría, Jorge DebravoJosé Martí, Lezama Lima, Agustín Acosta (1955), Nicolás Guillén (1961), Nancy Morejón (2018)Pierre LaufferPedro MirRoque DaltonHenning Jakob Henrik LundGuy TirolienRafael LandívarOswald Durand Roberto Sosa Claude McKayAimé CésaireBate, J. (2013). The Genius of Shakespeare. United Kingdom: Pan Macmillan.Octavio Paz, Ramón López Velarde, Sor Juana Inés de la CruzRubén DaríoRicardo MiróJulia de Burgos, Giannina Braschi, Juan Antonio Corretjer, Lola Rodríguez de Tió, Nimia VicénsPoets, Philosophers, Lovers: On the Writings of Giannina Braschi. Pittsburgh, 2020. Émile Nelligan, Gaston Miron, Gilles Vigneault, Octave CrémazieDerek WalcottLasana M. SekouE. M. RoachWalt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, William Carlos Williams, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Carl Sandburg, Maya Angelou, Gwendolyn Brooks, Langston Hughes, Jack Kerouac, James Wright, Allen GinsbergNathanael O'Reilly, "Imagined America: Walt Whitman's Nationalism in the First Edition of 'Leaves of Grass", Irish Journal of American Studies.Cusic, D. (1991:82). The poet as performer. United Kingdom: University Press of America.
Oceania CountryPoetsDorothea Mackellar, Mary Gilmore, Judith Wright, Henry Lawson, Adam Lindsay Gordon, A. B. "Banjo" Paterson, C.J. DennisJames K. Baxter, Thomas Bracken, Allen CurnowKonai Helu Thaman
South America