The Elizabeth Bishop Phenomenon

Thomas Travisano is the author of Love Unknown: The Life and Worlds of Elizabeth Bishop and the editor of Words in Air: The Complete Correspondence Between Elizabeth Bishop and Robert Lowell, among other books. He is professor emeritus of English at Hartwick College and the founding president of the Elizabeth Bishop Society.

"No scholar is more responsible for consistently recognizing the 'phenomenon' Bishop has become, and has always been, from his first--the first--critical overview, to his revelatory book placing Bishop among the major modern 'confessional' poets, to his indispensable and profound volume of her complete correspondence with Robert Lowell, to his superb recent biography. These illuminating essays are an extremely welcome addition."--Lloyd Schwartz, Pulitzer Prize-winning critic, poet, and coeditor of Elizabeth Bishop: Poems, Prose, and Letters "Travisano deftly tracks the transit of Bishop's poems in accounts of twentieth-century poetry from the marginalized periphery to the magnetized center: a remarkable story in itself. These essays, grounded in Travisano's unmatched knowledge of the Bishop oeuvre, grant us new insights into her continuing influence on contemporary poetry and the practices of archival scholarship, literary criticism, and biography."--Heather Treseler, author of Auguries and Divinations "Travisano's research, writing, and work as an editor have been essential to the recognition of Bishop as one of the twentieth century's most important poets. Here he has collected foundational essays from across his long career at the forefront of Bishop studies, which explore all facets of her life, writing, and reception. The Elizabeth Bishop Phenomenon is necessary reading for anyone with an interest in the author, from new readers to experienced scholars."--Susan Rosenbaum, coauthor of Travels with Mina Loy: Navigating the Avant-Garde "Under the masterly hand of Thomas Travisano, the acknowledged authority on the many writings of Elizabeth Bishop, The Elizabeth Bishop Phenomenon recounts in breathtaking detail Bishop's sometimes arduous journey from fine miniaturist poet to one of the major literary figures of the twentieth century. It brought back many of my own buried memories of her as a mentor and friend."--David Staines, editor of The Cambridge Companion to Alice Munro and The Worlds of Carol Shields