Elizabeth Bishop: A Very Short Introduction

Jonathan F.S. Post

May 2022 · Tantor Media Inc · Narrated by Stephen Bowlby

About this audiobook

Elizabeth Bishop has been described as the "best-loved" poet in English of the second half of the twentieth century. This Very Short Introduction explores the ninety or so published poems that are at the core of her remarkable canon of verse. Drawing on biographical and critical material, Jonathan Post also makes frequent use of Bishop's letters and commentary by fellow poets, including Marianne Moore, Robert Lowell, and James Merrill to illuminate her writing and contemporary landscape. Throughout, Post places Bishop's lyric poetry alongside her other poetic genres, short stories, and translations within the context of her life and aesthetic values, showing how these shaped her work. Ranging across her poems, the book covers a wide range of core themes, including Bishop's powerful use of description, the environment, balance, and ideas of love and loss, as well as looking at Bishop's interest in the visual arts.

About the author

Jonathan F. S. Post is Distinguished Research Professor of English, UCLA, and former chair of the department and dean of humanities. He is the author of The Oxford Handbook of Shakespeare's Poetry; A Thickness of Particulars; and Shakespeare's Sonnets and Poems: A Very Short Introduction.

Stephen Bowlby, a lifelong performer and filmmaker, loves bringing ideas to life in ways that entertain, inviting both action and reflection. With a career in writing, directing, and film editing, he infuses his narration with a strong sense of story.