Brain Snacks: Tasty Tidbits of Knowledge
Not to be a bummer or anything, but we've got to tell you that Bishop's father died when she was eight months old, and her mother was committed to a mental institution. In her early years she was raised by her grandparents in Nova Scotia. No wonder her poetry has so much doom and gloom. (Source.)
Dear old Lizzy Bishop went to Vassar college and intended to major in music composition and piano. She hated performing, though, and switched to English, which we think was the right call. (Source.)
In college, Bishop helped start a short-lived, but respected literary journal called Con Spirito. Too bad it's not still around. (Source.)