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Frank Bidart

フランク・ビダート

Furanku Bidāto

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1939-05-27 （Bakersfield, California, U.S.）
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Residence History
Bakersfield, California, U.S. → Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.

Career

Occupations
Poet, Professor
Active Years
1965-
Affiliations
Wellesley College, Brandeis University
Memberships
American Academy of Arts and Sciences (Fellow)
Influenced By
T. S. Eliot, Ezra Pound, Robert Lowell, Elizabeth Bishop
Influenced
James Franco (collaborator)

Education

University of California, Riverside
Degree: BA
Period: 1957–1961
Year of Graduation: 1961
Country: United States
Introduced to writers such as T.S. Eliot and Ezra Pound; began to pursue poetry.
Harvard University
English / Poetry
Degree: MA
Period: 1961–1963
Year of Graduation: 1963
Country: United States
Studied with and befriended Robert Lowell and Elizabeth Bishop.

Awards

Bollingen Prize in Poetry
2007
Organization: Yale University (Bollingen Prize)
Result: Won
National Book Award (Poetry)
2017
Work: Half-light: Collected Poems 1965–2016
Category: Poetry
Organization: National Book Foundation
Result: Won
Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
2018
Work: Half-light: Collected Poems 1965–2016
Category: Poetry
Organization: Pulitzer Prize (Columbia University)
Result: Won
National Book Critics Circle Award (Poetry)
2013
Work: Metaphysical Dog
Category: Poetry
Organization: National Book Critics Circle
Result: Won
Griffin Poetry Prize Lifetime Recognition
2017
Organization: Griffin Poetry Prize
Result: Won
PEN/Voelcker Award for Poetry
2014
Organization: PEN America
Result: Won
Wallace Stevens Award
2000
Organization: American Academy of Arts and Letters
Result: Won
Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Foundation Writers' Award
1991
Organization: Wallace Foundation
Result: Won
Shelley Memorial Award
1997
Organization: Unknown organization
Result: Won

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Golden State

1973 Poetry

An early collection containing poems that explore regional identity and personal voice, often evoking California landscapes and memories.

regional identitymemoryself

Desire

1997 Poetry

A mid-career collection dealing with desire, family, and personal history, marked by confessional elements.

desirefamilyconfession

Star Dust

2005 Poetry

A collection including individual poems and pieces from chapbooks; notable for formal experiments and varied voices.

varied voicesformal experimentation

Metaphysical Dog

2013 Poetry

A collection that illuminates personal history and cultural issues from philosophical and metaphysical perspectives; a National Book Award finalist.

metaphysicspersonal historycultural critique

Half-light: Collected Poems 1965–2016

2017 Collected Poems / Poetry

A collected volume spanning 1965–2016, gathering representative works across his career; winner of the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize.

career-spanningself-explorationevolving voice

Against Silence

2021 Poetry

A recent collection addressing voices against silence and the articulation of memory.

resistance to silencememory

Bibliography

  • Golden State (1973)
  • The Book of the Body (1977)
  • The Sacrifice (1983)
  • In the Western Night: Collected Poems 1965–90 (1990)
  • Desire (1997)
  • Music Like Dirt (2002)
  • Star Dust (2005)
  • Watching the Spring Festival (2008)
  • Metaphysical Dog (2013)
  • Half-light: Collected Poems 1965–2016 (2017)
  • Against Silence (2021)
  • Collected Poems of Robert Lowell (editor, with David Gewanter) (2003)

Adaptations

  • Short film 'Herbert White' (based on the poem; director: James Franco, 2010)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
confessional poetrydramatic monologueformal experimentation (long poems, lineation)shifting, sharp voices
Recurring Motifs
familydesireidentitypsychopathology (e.g., depictions of psychopathy)eating disordersdeath and metaphysical questions

Legacy

One of America's leading contemporary poets, known for confessional and dramatic voices and formal experimentation. Recipient of major awards (National Book Award, Pulitzer Prize, Bollingen Prize, etc.) and influential in the poetry world.

Academic Societies

  • American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Archives

  • Wellesley College Archives (holds related materials)

In Popular Culture

  • Collaboration with James Franco (including short film adaptations)

Trivia

  • He is openly gay.
  • Co-edited Robert Lowell's 'Collected Poems' with David Gewanter.
  • Longtime English professor at Wellesley College.
  • The poem 'Herbert White' was adapted into a short film by James Franco.