For adults
Each year of first publication or revised edition links to its corresponding "[year] in poetry" article, for poetry, or "[year] in literature" article, for plays and prose:
- 1961: Nude Descending a Staircase: Poems, Songs, a Ballad New York: Doubleday (reprint edition in the Classic Contemporary Series, Carnegie Mellon University Press, 1994)
- 1969: Growing into Love, New York: Doubleday
- 1970: Bulsh, Providence, Rhode Island: Burning Deck
- 1971: Breaking and Entering, New York: Oxford University Press
- 1971: Editor, with James Camp and Keith Waldrop: Pegasus Descending: A Book of the Best Bad Verse, New York: Macmillan (Burning Deck, 2003, reprint edition)
- 1974: Emily Dickinson in Southern California, Boston: Godine
- 1974: Celebrations after the Death of John Brennan, Lincoln, Massachusetts: Penmaen
- 1975: With James Camp and Keith Waldrop, Three Tenors, One Vehicle, Columbia, Missouri: Open Places Poet Series
- 1981: Editor: Tygers of Wrath: Poems of Hate, Anger, and Invective, with wood engravings by Michael McCurdy, Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press
- 1983: Translator: French Leave: Translations, (from the French), Edgewood, Kentucky: Robert L. Barth
- 1983: Missing Link, Secaucus, New Jersey: Scheidt Head
- 1984: Hangover Mass, Cleveland: Bits Press
- 1985: Cross Ties: Selected Poems, Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press
- 1990: Winter Thunder, Edgewood, Kentucky: Robert L. Barth
- 1992: Dark Horses: New Poems, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press
- 1994: Jimmy Harlow, Cugiak, Alaska: Salmon Run Press
- 1999: Aristophanes' Lysistrata, a new English version by X.J. Kennedy from Aristophones, Volume 2 (The Penn Complete Greek Drama Series), edited by David R. Slavitt & Palmer Bovie, University of Pennsylvania Press
- 2002: The Lords of Misrule: Poems, 1992&nspace;2001, Johns Hopkins University Press
For students
All but
Literature: An Introduction (1976) are intended as college texts but have been used by high school students:
- 1963: Editor with James Camp: Mark Twain's Frontier: A Textbook of Primary Source Materials Research and Writing, New York: Holt
- 1966: An Introduction to Poetry, Boston: Little, Brown (8th edition, with Dana Gioia, New York: HarperCollins, 1993)
- 1973: Editor: Messages: A Thematic Anthology of Poetry, Boston: Little, Brown
- 1976: An Introduction to Fiction, Boston: Little, Brown (6th edition, with Dana Gioia, New York: HarperCollins, 1995) (Pearson/Longman, 10th edition, 2007)
- 1976: An Introduction to Poetry, Boston: Little, Brown (8th edition, with Dana Gioia, New York: HarperCollins, 1993) (Pearson/Longman, 12th edition, 2007)
- 1976: Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama, Boston: Little, Brown (7th edition, with Dana Gioia, New York: Longman, 1999; 3rd compacted edition, with Dana Gioia, Longman, 2002) (Pearson/Longman, 10th edition; this edition is also available as a boxed set of four separate paperbacks, as Literature, Portable Edition)
- 1982: With Dorothy M. Kennedy: The Bedford Reader, New York: St. Martin's (4th edition, with Jane E. Aaron, 1991; abridged as The Brief Bedford Reader, 1994) (Bedford/St. Martin's Press, 9th edition, 2006); an abridged edition, The Brief Bedford Reader (9th edition) is also available
- 1987: With Dorothy M. Kennedy: The Bedford Guide for College Writers, New York: St. Martin's (4th edition, with Dorothy M. Kennedy and Sylvia A. Holliday, 1996), a later edition was written with the same authors and Marcia F. Muth (Bedford/St. Martin's Press, 7th edition)
- 2005: Handbook of Literary Terms, with Dana Gioia, and Mark Bauerlein; Pearson/Longman (also available as a trade paperback as The Longman Dictionary of Literary Terms, 2006)
- 2007: Writing and Revising: A Portable Guide by X.J. Kennedy, Dorothy M. Kennedy, and Marcia F. Muth; Bedford/St. Martin's Press
For children
Each year of first publication or revised edition links to its corresponding "[year] in poetry" article, for poetry, or "[year] in literature" article, for prose:
- 1975: One Winter Night in August and Other Nonsense Jingles, illustrated by David McPhail, New York: McElderry Books
- 1975: The Phantom Ice Cream Man: More Nonsense Verse, illustrated by David McPhail, New York: McElderry Books
- 1982: Did Adam Name the Vinegarroon? (verse), illustrated by Heidi Johanna Selig, Boston: Godine
- 1982: Editor, with his wife, Dorothy M. Kennedy: Knock at a Star: A Child's Introduction to Poetry, illustrated by Karen Lee Baker (Little, Brown & Company, revised edition, 1999)
- 1983: The Owlstone Crown (novel; also see below), illustrated by Michele Chessare, New York: McElderry Books
- 1985: The Forgetful Wishing Well: Poems for Young People, illustrated by Monica Incisa, New York: McElderry Books
- 1986: Brats, humorous verse, illustrated by James Watts, New York: McElderry Books
- 1989: Ghastlies, Goops, and Pincushions: Nonsense Verse, illustrated by Ron Barrett; New York: Margaret K. McElderry Books/Simon & Schuster
- 1990: Fresh Brats (comic verse), illustrated by James Watts; New York: McElderry Books
- 1991: The Kite That Braved Old Orchard Beach: Year-round Poems for Young People, illustrated by Marian Young; New York: McElderry Books
- 1992: Compiler with D. M. Kennedy: Talking like the Rain: A First Book of Poems, illustrated by Jane Dyer, Boston: Little, Brown
- 1992: The Beasts of Bethlehem, illustrated by Michael McCurdy (Margaret K. McElderry Books/Simon & Schuster, 1992); poems about the Nativity, based on the legend that the animals in the stable could speak on Christmas Eve
- 1993: Drat These Brats!, humorous verse, illustrated by James Watts; New York: McElderry Books
- 1997: Uncle Switch: Loony Limericks by X.J. Kennedy and illustrated by John O'Brien; New York: McElderry Books
- 1992: Editor, with Dorothy M. Kennedy: Talking Like the Rain: A Read-to-me Book of Poems, illustrated by Jane Dyer; Boston: Little, Brown & Company
- 1997: The Eagle as Wide as the World, novel for children, sequel to The Owlstone CrownMargaret K. New York: McElderry Books/Simon & Schuster
- 1999: Elympics, a picture book of poetry, illustrated by Graham Percy New York: Philomel Books/Penguin Putnam
- 2002: Exploding Gravy: Poems to Make You Laugh, by X.J. Kennedy, illustrated by Joy Allen, Little, Brown, ISBN 9780316384230
- 2002: Elefantina's Dream, poetry picture book, illustrated by Graham Percy New York: Philomel Books/Penguin Putnam
- 2005: Editor, with Dorothy M. Kennedy: Knee-Deep in Blazing Snow: Growing up in Vermont/Poems by James Hayford, Wordsong/ Boyds Mills