Elizabeth Bishop
(1911-1979)
Elizabeth Bishop was born in 1911 in Worcester, Massachusetts and grew
up there and in Nova Scotia. Her father died before she was a year old and
her mother suffered seriously from mental illness; she was committed to an
institution when Bishop was five. Raised first by her maternal grandparents
in Nova Scotia, Bishop’s wealthy paternal grandparents eventually brought
her to live in Massachusetts.
During her lifetime Bishop was a respected yet somewhat obscure figure in
the world of American literature. Since her death in 1979, however, her
reputation has grown to the point that many critics, like Larry Rohter in
the New York Times, have referred to her as “one of the most important
American poets” of the 20th century.
Bishop was a perfectionist who did not write prolifically, preferring instead
to spend long periods of time polishing her work. She published only 101
poems during her lifetime. Her verse is marked by precise descriptions of the
physical world and an air of poetic serenity, but her underlying themes
include the struggle to find a sense of belonging, and the human experiences
of grief and longing.
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