RobertGirouxandLloydSchwartz,editors
JamesMerrilldescribedElizabethBishop'spoemsas"morewrylyradiant,moretouching,moreunaffectedlyintelligentthananywritteninourlifetime"andcalledher"ourgreatestnationaltreasure."RobertLowellsaid,"Ienjoyherpoemsmorethananybodyelse's."LongbeforeawiderpublicwasawareofBishop'swork,herfellowpoetsexpressedastonishedadmirationofherformalrigor,fiercelyobservanteye,emotionalintimacy,andsometimeseccentricflightsofimagination.TodaysheisrecognizedasoneofAmerica'sgreatpoetsofthe20thcentury.Thisunprecedentedcollectionoffersafull-scalepresentationofawriterofstartlingoriginality,atoncepassionateandreticent,adventurousandperfectionist.ItpresentsallthepoetrythatBishoppublishedinherlifetime,insuchclassicvolumesasNorth&South,AColdSpring,QuestionsofTravel,andGeographyIII.Inadditionitcontainsanextensiveselectionofun_publishedpoemsanddraftsofpoems(severalnotpreviouslycollected),aswellasallherpublishedpoetictranslations,rangingfromachorusfromAristophanes'TheBirdstoversionsofBraziliansambas.
Poems,Prose,andLettersbringstogetheraswellmostofherpublishedprosewritings,includingstories;reminiscences;travelwritingabouttheplaces(NovaScotia,Florida,Brazil)thatsoprofoundlymarkedherpoetry;andliteraryessaysandstatements,includinganumberofpiecespublishedhereforthefirsttime.ThebookisroundedoutwithaselectionofBishop'sirresistiblyengagingandself-revelatoryletters.Ofthe53lettersincludedhere,writtenbetween1933and1979,aconsiderablenumberareprintedforthefirsttime,andallarepresentedintheirentirety.TheirrecipientsincludeRobertLowell,MarianneMoore,RandallJarrell,AnneStevenson,MaySwenson,andCarlosDrummonddeAndrade.