John Peale Bishop (May 21, 1892 – April 4, 1944) was an American

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wri ...

and man of letters.

Biography

Bishop was born in

Charles Town, West Virginia Charles Town is a city in Jefferson County, West Virginia, United States, and is also the county seat. The population was 5,259 at the 2010 census. It is named for its founder Charles Washington, youngest brother of President George Washington. ...

, to a family from

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...

, and attended school in Hagerstown, Maryland and

Mercersburg Academy Mercersburg Academy (formerly Marshall College and Mercersburg College) is an independent selective college-preparatory boarding & day high school in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania in the United States. Founded in 1893, the school enrolls approximat ...

. At 18, Bishop fell victim to a severe illness and temporarily lost his sight. He entered

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

in 1913, at age 21, where he became friends with

Edmund Wilson Edmund Wilson Jr. (May 8, 1895 – June 12, 1972) was an American writer and literary critic who explored Freudian and Marxist themes. He influenced many American authors, including F. Scott Fitzgerald, whose unfinished work he edited for publi ...

and

F. Scott Fitzgerald Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (September 24, 1896 – December 21, 1940) was an American novelist, essayist, and short story writer. He is best known for his novels depicting the flamboyance and excess of the Jazz Age—a term he popularize ...

and was the editor of the Nassau Literary Magazine. He graduated from Princeton in 1917 and served with the army for two years in Europe. He was the model for the character Thomas Parke D'Invilliers in Fitzgerald's first novel, ''

This Side of Paradise ''This Side of Paradise'' is the debut novel by American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald, published in 1920. It examines the lives and morality of carefree American youth at the dawn of the Jazz Age. Its protagonist, Amory Blaine, is an attractive ...

''.Redding, Nicholas
"Historic Figures of Jefferson County"
Upon returning to the United States, he wrote poetry as well as essays and reviews for '' Vanity Fair'' in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. In 1922 he married Margaret Hutchins, and they soon moved to France, where they lived until 1933, punctuated by one stint for Paramount Pictures in New York (1925–26). While in France they bought the Château de Tressancourt at Orgeval, Seine et Oise, near

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, where they raised three sons. In 1931 Mr. Bishop won the $5,000 prize in Scribner's Magazine's long short story contest with "Many Thousands Gone," one of his best known works. In 1933 Bishop's family returned to the United States, residing first in

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

, then

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

, and finally in a house on

Cape Cod Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of mainland Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer mont ...

. His novel ''Act of Darkness'', based on the true story of the rape of a prominent Charles Town social figure by a local Charles Town man, caused a scandal in the town when it was published. He became chief poetry reviewer for ''

The Nation ''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper tha ...

'' (1940). In 1941-2 he served as publications director in the

Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs The Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs, later known as the Office for Inter-American Affairs, was a United States agency promoting inter-American cooperation (Pan-Americanism) during the 1940s, especially in commercial and econ ...

, and was then invited to be resident fellow at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

. He died within a few months of his appointment, on April 4, 1944, in

Hyannis, Massachusetts Hyannis is the largest of the seven villages in the town of Barnstable, Massachusetts, in the United States. It is the commercial and transportation hub of Cape Cod and was designated an urban area at the 1990 census. Because of this, many refer t ...

Selected works

* ''Green Fruit'', poetry, 1917 * ''The Undertaker’s Garland'', with

, decorations by

Boris Artzybasheff Boris Mikhailovich Artzybasheff (russian: , 25 May 1899, Kharkiv, Russian Empire – 16 July 1965) was a Ukrainian illustrator active in the United States, notable for his strongly worked and often surreal designs. Life and career Artzybasheff wa ...

, poetry, 1922 * ''Many Thousands Gone'', short stories, 1931 * ''Now With His Love'', poetry, 1933 * ''Act of Darkness'', novel, 1935 * ''Minute Particulars'', poetry, 1935 * ''Selected Poems'', 1941 * ''The Collected Essays of John Peale Bishop'', posthumous, 1948 * ''The Republic of Letters in America'', posthumous collection of letters with

Allen Tate John Orley Allen Tate (November 19, 1899 – February 9, 1979), known professionally as Allen Tate, was an American poet, essayist, social commentator, and poet laureate from 1943 to 1944. Life Early years Tate was born near Winchester, K ...

, 1981

Awards

* ''Golden Tiger Award'', Princeton University, 1918

Biography

Selected works

Awards

References

Further reading