ALA Panel, Boston, May 25-28, 2017

Sponsored by the Elizabeth Bishop Society

Chaired by Thomas Travisano, Hartwick College

Bishop’s layered and nuanced handling of voice, tone and music in her poetry and prose has long been the object of admiration, but what was she actually doing in her writing? And how did she actually do it? This panel invites papers on Bishop’s handling of voice and tone, and her subtle and influential treatment of the music of poetry. Targets of exploration might include her complex handling of personae, her deployment of irony, understatement, or word play, her mastery of timing, her legerdemain with rhyming, metrics and free verse, or the various ways in which she achieves surprise. Papers may look at specific writings or examine persistent characteristics that run throughout her work. Please send abstracts of approximately 250 words to travisanot@hartwick.edu by January 15, 2017.