Elizabeth Bishop is easily considered one of the most distinguished American poets of the twentieth-century. Nearly thirty years after her death there is still great interest in her work and her life, as evidenced by the recent production of the play A Safe Harbor for Elizabeth Bishop, starring Amy Irving.

John Ashbery once called the lesbian poet "a writer's writer's writer” for the mastery of form and music, and the meticulous attention she paid to each of her poems. But you don't have to understand iambic pentameter or the principles of writing the sestina to appreciate the heart of Bishop's slender but profoundly compelling body of work.

Bishop's poetry is quiet, surprising, poignant, and, most importantly, full of sound. Thematically she is interested in what captivates and confuses all of us: love (“The fiery event/of every day in endless/endless assent”), loss, family (“Without thinking at all/I was my foolish aunt,/I—we—were falling, falling”), grief, travel (“Continent, city, country, society:/the choice is never wide and never free”), and searching for a place to call home.

Born in Worchester, Massachusetts, Elizabeth Bishop had a difficult childhood. Her father died of liver disease shortly after she was born and five years later her mother was permanently hospitalized for mental illness.

Bishop spent the first few years of her life with her maternal grandparents in Nova Scotia until her father's parents took her back to Worchester. She was extremely unhappy with the move and soon became ill with asthma and depression, conditions she would battle her entire life. Bishop eventually moved to south Boston to live with her beloved aunt until she left to attend Vassar College.

While at Vassar, Bishop began to develop her voice as a writer. She studied literature and started an avant garde journal, “Con Spirito,” with classmates Mary McCarthy and Muriel Rukeyser. It is actually speculated that McCarthy used Bishop as a model for the lesbian character, Lakey, in her controversial novel The Group.

Through Vassar's librarian, Bishop also met Marianne Moore, who would become a devoted friend and mentor. Moore encouraged Bishop to pursue poetry and helped publish her first poems in an anthology featuring new writers. It was during this time, however, that Bishop began her lifelong struggle with alcoholism.

After graduation, Bishop embarked on her first trip to Europe. The experience ignited a passion for travel and sent her on a series of journeys that would later mark her writing.

Bishop was living in Key West, Florida, with her lover Marjorie Stevens when she published her first volume of poetry, North and South. Though the book received praise from prominent critics such as Robert Lowell, Bishop continued to struggle with depression and alcoholism.

When her relationship with Stevens ended, Bishop moved to Washington, D.C, to work as a poetry consultant (precursor to the Poet Laureate) at the Library of Congress. After winning a fellowship from Bryn Mawr College, she planned an elaborate trip around the world.

Bishop did not, however, get further than Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. While visiting Lota de Macedo Soares, a young woman from a wealthy Brazilian family, Bishop had a serious allergic reaction to the fruit of the cashew nut. Her trip was delayed and while she recovered the two fell in love.

Bishop spent nearly sixteen years living with Soares in Brazil, where she finally felt at home. Soares was notably beautiful, nurturing and vibrant, and she helped Bishop seek treatment for her depression.

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