Frank Bidart: Lamont Poet

Frank Bidart, a Pulitzer Prize nominee and highly decorated poet, will give a reading of his works for this year’s Class of 1945 Library Lamont Poetry Series. The Series is financed by the Lamont Fund, which was established in 1982 by alumni Corliss Lamont ’20, and annually invites two poets to campus for readings. The reading will be held in the Assembly Hall on Wednesday at 7:30 pm.As head of the Lamont Poet Committee, English Instructor Todd Hearon made the initial recommendation to invite Bidart to the Academy.“We try for a variety of voices and styles and look for poets at different stages of their careers. Bidart, one of America’s foremost and most celebrated poets, has had quite an illustrious career spanning over forty years,” Hearon said.Instructor in English Ellen Wolff felt that Bidart’s talent as a poet would continue the Series’ tradition of excellence. “The Lamont Poetry Series brings the highest caliber poets to campus. Frank Bidart is a natural and exciting choice,” she said.Bidart is a household name in literary circles, and his work as a widely published poet has earned him various accolades, such as the Wallace Stevens Award, the Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Writers’ Award, the Poetry Society of America’s Shelley Memorial Award and the 2007 Bollingen Prize for American Poetry. Bidart has been teaching English at Wellesley College since 1972, where he is the Andrew W. Mellon Professor in Humanities.His volume of poetry, Desire, was the recipient of the Theodore Roethke Memorial Poetry Prize and the 1998 Bobbitt Prize for Poetry, and also received nominations for the Pulitzer Prize, National Book Award, and National Book Critics Circle Award.Instructor in English Barbara Desmond, who was Bidart’s student at Wellesley College, spoke of his gifts as a teacher and poet. “I was lucky enough to study Modern Poetry with Bidart in my freshman year at Wellesley. He is a great poet and an inspiring teacher who gives his students an insider’s view on the Modernists: he knew Elizabeth Bishop and Robert Lowell well, and he edited Lowell’s Collected Poems,” she said.Desmond added that Bidart’s curiosities as a poet led him to visit the poet Ezra Pound. “I remember him talking about visiting Pound at St. Elizabeth’s hospital in Washington, where he was sent after he was charged with treason and subsequently declared unfit for trial.”Wolff, like Desmond, had the opportunity to study under Bidart. “In addition to knowing and admiring Mr. Bidart’s work, I took his course in Modern Poetry while I was studying at Brandeis University,” she said. “In addition to being a highly acclaimed poet, he is a wonderful teacher: passionate and generous.”Students around campus are excited to attend another Lamont Poet Series reading.“I’m interested to hear what he’s written and why he started poetry. I’m also interested in hearing about his different experiences, since poetry can often be thought of as mundane,” senior Chinazor Okeke said.“I think that the reading is an interesting discussion and I like how when I went last year, it was interesting to listen to the depths of what they wrote. It’s interesting to hear their stories and it gives students more inspiration for writing in the future – like a nice key and guide to working in English and writing different poems and essays.”Lower Amy Azubuike was also excited to hear Bidart’s reading. “I think that hearing a reading in person adds another level to your understanding of any literature, whether it be a book or poetry. One of the best aspects of Harkness discussion is that you do get to hear a lot of people’s opinions, but when the author himself is reading his work, I feel like a new side of interpretation is opened up,” she said.Many English instructors will be covering Bidart’s work in their classes over the next week, in preparation for his reading.“Teachers in the department generally do teach the Lamont poet at different levels. We will look at some of his poems in my classes next week, in preparation for the visit and reading,” Hearon said. “I’m looking forward to his reading and Q&A time with students the following day, as well as to his talk with English Department members on his association and friendship with Robert Lowell and Elizabeth Bishop. Bidart is a hugely innovative and original voice in American poetry as well as an engaging, charismatic teacher.”