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Elizabeth Bishop
(1911-1979)

Active: 1931-1977 in USA, North America

By David C. Dougherty (Loyola College in Maryland)

Indexing Data:

  • Active In: USA, North America
  • Born In: USA, North America
  • Activity: Novelist, Playwright, Poet, Travel Writer

Life, Works and Times

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Although well-known primarily among a small circle of poetry lovers during much of her lifetime, Elizabeth Bishop (1911-1979) has emerged since her death as one of the most accomplished female English-language poets of the twentieth century. Her popularity was overshadowed during her most productive years (1946-1975) by the more outspokenly feminist and confessional poets Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton; however, Bishop’s versatile and engaging verse has gone on to command a lasting influence, despite the fact that she published a relatively modest number of poems. She often negotiated with publishers to permit her to combine new poems with recent collections to make up a slim volume, and late in life frequently complained that she s

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First published 10 January 2006

Citation: Dougherty, David C.. "Elizabeth Bishop". The Literary Encyclopedia. 10 January 2006.
[http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=418, accessed 9 February 2010.]