Considering the pig, a single-minded bestiary.
An alphabetical list of poets who have considered the pig.
Howard Nemerov, United States, (1920– 1991), poetry includes: Manners, Bacon & Eggs and Grace to Be Said at the Supermarket. Nemerov served two terms as poet laureate of the United States. He won the National Book Award, the Pulitzer Prize and the Bollingen Prize and was Distinguished Poet at Washington University in St. Louis, MO.
Poetic works by Pablo Neruda in which pigs are the subject, inspiration, a significant component of the imagery, a thematic form or a symbol.
Bob Newman, England, (contemporary), poetry includes: Hogfellow the Poetic Pig, Philosophy For Pigs, Da Porci, the Renaissance Pig and Hogwash the Token Artist. Newman is a poet, computer programmer, educator and software consultant who thinks he may be a vole.
Aimee Nezhukumatathil, United States, (b. 1974), poetry includes: Hell Pig. Nezhukumatathil is a poet and educator. She is the author of four books of poetry. Her honors include a poetry fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Pushcart Prize. She is currently a professor of English in the MFA program at the University of Mississippi.
Kiwao Nomura, Japan, (b. 1951), poetry includes: (spectacle & pigsty) and (or pigsty). Nomura is a poet, writer, critic, and educator. He is considered one of the driving forces behind contemporary Japanese poetry.
Dennis N. O’Brien, Australia, (b. 1952), poetry includes: Police Report – dumb pig murdered, Pigging out, Unmanly Behaviour, The Hog-loving Frog and Vegetarian Animal Lover. O’Brien is a formalist poet. He lives in Queensland, Australia and he has received two Pushcart Prize nominations.
Mark O’Connor, Australia, (b. 1945), poetry includes: The Sun Hunters. O’Connor is a poet, writer, and environmental activist. He has published more than twelve books of poetry, many with a special focus on the natural environment.
Dion O’Reilly, United States, (b. 1957) poetry includes: Why Did I Call My Pig?
O’Reilly is a poet and facilitates workshops with small groups of poets from all over the United States and Canada. Ghost Dogs, O’Reilly’s debut book, was published in 2020 by Terrapin Books. Her second collection, Sadness of the Apex Predator, was chosen for the 2024 Portage Poetry Series from University of Wisconsin’s Cornerstone Press.
Joan Oliver, Spain/Catalonia, (1899-1986), poetry includes: Pig. Oliver was a poet, activist, playwright, narrator, translator and journalist. He was perhaps better known as “Pere Quart”, the name with which he signed his poems. Oliver is regarded as one of the most important Catalan poets of the 20th century.
Michael Brian Oliver, Canada (b. 1946), poetry includes: Pigs. Oliver is a critic, poet, and teacher. Oliver has also published critical reviews of fellow Canadian poets for various journals, and he has published the first critical study of the poetry of Alden Nowlan, Poet’s Progress (1978), and a followup Alden Nowlan and His Works (1990). It is his work on Nowlan that he is best known for.