Robert Bly
Robert Bly was born on December 23, 1926, in Madison, Minnesota. He attended Harvard University and received his M.A. from the University of Iowa in 1956. As a poet, editor, and translator, Bly has had a profound impact on the shape of American poetry. He is the author of more than thirty books of poetry, including The Night Abraham Called to the Stars (HarperCollins, 2001); Snowbanks North of the House (1999); What Have I Ever Lost by Dying?: Collected Prose Poems (1992); Loving a Woman in Two Worlds (1987); Mirabai Versions (1984); This Body is Made of Camphor and Gopherwood (1977); and The Light Around the Body (1967), which won the National Book Award. As the editor of the magazine The Sixties (begun as The Fifties), Bly introduced many unknown European and South American poets to an American audience. He is also the editor of numerous collections including The Soul Is Here for Its Own Joy: Sacred Poems from Many Cultures (Ecco Press, 1995); Leaping Poetry (1975); The Rag and Bon Shop of the Heart: Poems for Men (1992); News of the Universe (1980); and A Poetry Reading Against the Vietnam War (1967). Among his many books of translations are Lorca and Jiminez: Selected Poems (Beacon Press, 1997); Machado's Times Alone: Selected Poems (1983); The Kabir Book (1977); Friends, You Drank Some Darkness: Three Swedish Poets—Martinson, Ekeloef, and Transtroemer (1975); and Neruda and Vallejo Selected Poems (1971). Bly is also the author of a number of nonfiction books, including The Sibling Society (Addison-Wesley, 1996); The Spirit Boy and the Insatiable Soul (1994); Iron John: A Book about Men (1990); and Talking All Morning: Collected Conversations and Interviews (1980). Bly's honors include Guggenheim, Rockefeller, and National Endowment for the Arts fellowships. He lives on a farm in the western part of Minnesota with his wife and three children.
-Courtesy of poets.org
Selected poems
Essays on Robert Bly
Leaping Into the Unknown: The Poetics of Robert Bly's Deep Image
On "Counting Small Boned Bodies"
Interviews with Robert Bly
Robert Bly, Interviewed by Kevin Power
Interviewed by Peter Johnson
Inteiewed by Bert N. Hoff of M.E.N. Magazine
