Michael Bishop (literary scholar)
Michael Bishop is Emeritus McCulloch Professor of French at Dalhousie University and most recently affiliated with the Contemporary Studies Programme at the University of King's College in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He has four daughters, Nadine and Katherine from his first marriage with Anne Franklin, and two others, Danai and Sophia, inherited via his marriage in 1982 to Colette Rose.
His work focuses largely on contemporary French artists and writers, as well as French women's poetry. He is also a poet, translator and editor.
He is the Director of Editions VVV Editions, a small publishing house located in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Education
- B.A. Hons: Victoria University of Manchester, England
- M.A.: University of Manitoba, Canada
- Ph.D.: University of Kent at Canterbury, England
Selection of Principal Publications
· The Language of Poetry: Crisis and Solution, ed., Amsterdam: Rodopi, 1980. 12 essays edited, critical introduction and notes. 268 pages.
· The Contemporary Poetry of France. Eight Studies, Amsterdam: Rodopi, 1985. Eight critical studies : Frénaud, Guillevic, Jaccottet, Deguy, Bonnefoy, Noël, Roche, Dupin. 135 pages.
· La Poésie québécoise depuis 1975, ed. with Eva Kushner, Halifax: Dalhousie French Studies, 1985. 40 essays and inédits edited. 201 pages.
· Michel Deguy, Amsterdam/Atlanta, USA: Rodopi, 1988. Critical monograph. 84 pages.
· René Char. Les Dernières Années, Amsterdam/Atlanta, USA:Rodopi, 1990. Critical monograph. 110 pages.
· Simone de Beauvoir et les féminismes contemporains, ed., with Nicole Trèves, Halifax: Dalhousie French Studies, 1990. 30 essays and inédits edited. 138 pages.
· De Duras et Robbe-Grillet à Cixous et Deguy, ed., Halifax: Dalhousie French Studies, 1990. 15 essays edited. 140 pages.
· Nineteenth-Century French Poetry, New York: Twayne, Twayne's Critical History of Poetry Series, 1993. Ten critical studies: Desbordes-Valmore, Lamartine, Vigny, Baudelaire, Hugo, Mallarmé, Verlaine, Rimbaud, Lautréamont, Laforgue. 367 pages.
· Contemporary French Women's Poetry. Vol. I. From Chedid and Dohollau to Tellermann and Bancquart. Atlanta/Amsterdam: CHIASMA, Edns Rodopi. 1995. Eight critical studies. 157 pages.
· Art and Contemporary Prose, ed., Halifax: Dalhousie French Studies. 1995. 125 pages.
· Contemporary French Women's Poetry. Vol. II. From Hyvrard and Baude to Etienne and Albiach. Atlanta/Amsterdam: CHIASMA, Edns Rodopi. 1995. Eight critical studies. 175 pages.
· Women's Poetry in France, 1960-1995: A Bilingual Anthology, Wake Forest University Press. 1997. Anthology, translations, critical paraphernalia. 392 pages.
· Thirty Voices in the Feminine, ed., Faux Titre, Atlanta/Amsterdam: Edns Rodopi, 1996. 30 essays edited with critical introduction. 300 pages.
· The French Shakespeare: His Language, ed. with Rostislav Kocourek and Lise Lapierre, Dalhousie University: Actes de Langue française et de Linguistique, 1998. 334 pages.
· Cold Water Shielded, London/Newcastle: Bloodaxe Books/UNESCO, 1999. Bilingual edition of selection of work of Salah Stétié: translations and critical introduction. 220 pages.
· Six Hands Amongst the Clouds, Ottawa: Lyric Editions, 2000. Translations of poems by Yves Leclair, watercolours by Chan Ky-Yut.
· Jacques Prévert: From Film and Theater to Art, Poetry and Song, New York/Amsterdam: CHIASMA, Rodopi, 2002. 170 pages.
· French Prose in 2000, ed. with C. Elson, New York/Amsterdam: Rodopi Faux Titre. 272 pages. 25 essays on very recent prose production.
· Contemporary French Poetics, ed. with C. Elson, Atlanta/Amsterdam: Rodopi Faux Titre. 215 pages. 2002. 20 essays on work of last 10 years or so.
· Altérités d'André du Bouchet: de Hugo, Shakespeare et Poussin à Celan, Mandelstam et Giacometti, New York/Amsterdam: Rodopi, CMRLFC, 2003. 150 pages.
· L’Horizon/The Horizon, Halifax: Editions VVV Editions, 2003. Previously unpublished prose text by Yves Bonnefoy, with translation. 28 pages.
· Yves Bonnefoy aujourd’hui, ed., with Christopher Elson, special issue of Dalhousie French Studies. 129 pages.
· In the Lure of Language, Halifax: Editions VVV Editions, 2003. Translation of Yves Bonnefoy’s Dans le leurre des mots. 27 pages.
· L’art français et francophone depuis 1980 / Contemporary French and Francophone Art, ed., with Christopher Elson, New York/Amsterdam: Rodopi Faux Titre, 2005. 275 pages.
· Nomadic Writings: The Art of Fire and Knot-Works, Halifax: Editions VVV Editions, 2005. Translation of Christian Jaccard’s Ecrits nomades 1989-2000. 60 pages.
· Jungle /Jungle, Halifax: Editions VVV Editions, 2005. Previously unpublished collection by Gérard Titus-Carmel, with translation. 85 pages.
· Une variante de la sortie du jardin, suivi de Bouche bée, Halifax : Editions VVV Editions, 2006. Previously unpublished prose texts by Yves Bonnefoy, with translation. 53 pages.
· The Endless Theory of Days: The Art and Poetry of Gérard Titus-Carmel. New York / Amsterdam, 2007. 164 pages.
· Passant, veux-tu savoir? précédé de Ales Stenar. Halifax: Editions VVV Editions, 2006. Previously unpublished poetical texts by Yves Bonnefoy, with translation. 51 pages.
· Un lieu de ce monde / A Place in the World. Halifax : Editions VVV Editions, 2008. Previously unpublished text by Gérard Titus-Carmel, with translation. 113 pages.
· Contemporary French Art 1: Eleven studies. Rodopi, Coll. Faux Titre : New York / Amsterdam, 2008. Chapters on Vautier, Saint Phalle, Morellet, Bourgeois, Hollan, Viallat, Calle, Pagès, Pincemin, Messager, Titus-Carmel. 191 pages.
· The Radiant Space. Halifax : Editions VVV Editions, 2009. Translation with Postface of Yves Bonnefoy’s Le Grand Espace. 75 pages.
· Stupeur et joie des devoirs nouveaux / Stupor and Joy of Fresh Duties. Editions VVV Editions, 2009. Previously unpublished text by Jean-Paul Michel, with translation. 65 pages.
· Quatre images mémorables : Picasso, Ernst, Caillebotte, Bram / Four Memorable Images : Picasso, Ernst, Caillebotte, Bram. Éditions VVV Editions, 2009. Original text of Gérard-Titus Carmel, with translation and postface. 112 pages.
· Contemporary French Art 2. Rodopi, Coll. Faux Titre : New York / Amsterdam, 2011. Chapters on Garouste, Deblé, Rousse, Asse, Raysse, Jaccard, Kermarrec, Perronne, Dezeuze, Favier, Nadaud. 236 pages.
· Placer l’être en face de lui-même / Placing Being before Itself. Previously unpublished text by Jean-Paul Michel, with translation. Éditions VVV Editions, 2011. 110 pages.
· Disorder, précédé de Théâtre et poésie. Translation of Yves Bonnefoy’s Le Désordre, with a previously unpublished preface by Bonnefoy. Éditions VVV Editions, 2012. 59 pages.
· ‘Quand on vient d’un monde d’Idées, la surprise est énorme…’ / ‘When One Comes from a World of Ideas,Vast in the Surprise…’. Selection of poems by Jean-Paul Michel, with translations and post-presentation. William Blake & Co. / Éditions VVV Editions, 2013. 200 pages.
· Un mot : ce n’est pas le sens… Three previously unpublished texts by André du Bouchet, ed. with Victor Martinez : Un mot : ce n’est pas le sens…/Je veux entièrement sombrer avec ma langue/Lettres d’Emily Dickinson à Thomas W. Higginson, with translations and two essays : La langue biface, by Victor Martinez, and Le point monde, by Michael Bishop. Éditions VVV Editions, 2013. 100 pages.
· Dystopie et poïein, agnose et reconnaissance. Seize études sur la poésie française et francophone contemporaine. Coll. Chiasma, Rodopi : New York et Amsterdam, 2014.
. Langue apocryphe / Apocryphal Language. Translation of Jean-Luc Nancy’s previously unpublished text. Éditions VVV Editions, Halifax, 2014. 40 pages.
· La Bouche du temps / The Mouth of Time. Translation of Bernard Noël’s unpublished poem. Éditions VVV Editions, 2015. 40 pages.
. Earth and Mind : Dreaming, Writing, Being. Brill, 2018. 154 pages.
· Various books of prose and poetry, published in French or English, the most recent being La Genèse maintenant, suivi de La Théorie de l’amour, Bordeaux : William Blake & Co., 2010 and Fluvial, Agnose et autres poèmes'', Coll. Poèm, Edns de la revue NU, Nice, 2014.
· Over 370 essays, chapters, articles, prefaces, published in major journals or books in France, UK, USA, Australia, Ireland, Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, Canada, Holland, New Zealand, etc.
· Over 460 reviews published in major journals around the world.
WORK-IN-PROGRESS,
· Essays and various creative texts, poetry and prose.