Elizabeth Bishop: Nova Scotia’s ＂Home-Made＂ Poet

Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Elizabeth Bishop (1911-1979) is best known as an American author, but she spent formative years in Great Village, Nova Scotia, and in fact called herself ＂3/4ths Canadian.＂ In recent decades there has been a growing movement in Nova Scotia to reconnect appreciation of Bishop with the landscape of her childood. This pictorial biography highlights the early influence of Bishop’s maternal family and the cultural community of Great Village, and the poet’s lifelong ties to Nova Scotia.

Author Sandra Barry takes readers through the significant chapters in Bishop’s life, from her ancestry and early years in Great Village to her first publications, her extended stays in Florida and Brazil, and her final years teaching at Harvard University. The book concludes with an overview of some of the Bishop-inspired work made since her death, and the commemorative efforts undertaken in Nova Scotia and around the world.

With photos throughout, sidebar features on historic events, Bishop’s publications and travels, and background on her awards and other achievements, the book provides a fascinating introduction and important new angle on one of the best-loved poets of the twentieth century.

Sandra Barry is a poet, independent scholar, and freelance editor. She is co-founder and past president of the Elizabeth Bishop Society of Nova Scotia. She is the author of Elizabeth Bishop: An Archival Guide to Her Life in Nova Scotia and is co-editor of Divisions of the Heart: Elizabeth Bishop and the Art of Memory and Place. She lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia.