Roman (English, Washington State U.) examines the American poet's national, cultural, and literary politics from the war years in Key West through her tenure as the 1949-50 national poet laureate at the Library of Congress. She alternates a cultural critique of America at mid-century with close, chronological readings of Bishop's work. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Camille Roman is Associate Professor of English at Washington State University and a Visiting Scholar at Brown University, has co-edited nearly a dozen books and is currently co-editing the three volume anthology American Poetry 1650-2000.