Frank Bidart

Frank Bidart is one of America's most celebrated contemporary poets and authors. His works span five decades and their range and depth bring to light the human condition, relationships, and morality. His writing has been characterized by a unique style–one that interrogates the whole of existence and often takes readers to the depths of an individual’s soul.

Bidart was born in 1939 in Bakersfield, California to a family with farming roots. He attended Fresno State College and received a B.A. in 1962. After college, he continued his education and eventually received an M.A. from Stanford in 1966, and a Ph.D. from Harvard in 1973.

Bidart is best-known for his poetry, which has been described by critics as bringing to light the darker sides of human experience. His earliest collections include 'The Book of the Body' and 'The Sacrifice', as well as 'Star Dust'. In these he explored physicality, trauma, and the intersection of intimacy and violence. His later collections delve further into the subject of morality and the power of being fully and utterly human. These include 'The War of Vaslav Nijinsky' and 'The burning of the three', which focus on human frailty and mortality. Other collections such as 'In the Western Night', 'Let Evening Come' and 'Music Like Dirt' dive into the mysteries of the self and delve into the tension between pleasure and pain.

As a writer, Bidart has been praised for both his raw honesty and his willingness to embrace uncomfortable topics. He writes of the human body and its struggles, of morality, and of the struggle within us to simultaneously strive towards a life of ease and a life of meaning. His words bring to light the struggle of moving beyond fear, guilt and suffering and invite readers to explore their own interiority.

Bidart's work has earned numerous accolades, including the Bobbitt National Poetry Prize, Yale Younger Poets Prize, the Bollingen Prize, the Wallace Stevens Award, and the 2017 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize for lifetime achievement. His work has been anthologized in such collections as Best American Poetry and has been featured in the New Yorker, Atlantic, Paris Review, and numerous other prestigious journals and magazines.

Bidart has also published several works of prose, including 'Desire' and 'In the Western Night'. These short works are broadly autobiographical and explore the terrain between the psychological and physical realms.

Bidart's work is marked by a unique vision which shows us how to more fully engage with the human condition. His words push the bounds of accepted discourse and invite readers to explore difficult topics without judgement. His work holds the power to shift perspectives and help readers embrace the dark and light within their own lives.