Yes, I agree that people were trying to be charitable. Nobody was happy with the expression, although nobody disagrees that Bishop is admired by poets all over the stylistic and political map.

No question that Bishop's poetry is widely admired, and deservedly so. But when Gioia brushes aside innumerable other candidates to declare her "the most highly regarded American poet of the second-half of the 20th century" and "the most popular woman poet in American literature after Emily Dickinson" (never mind his airy, dismissive generalization about a feminist/formalist dichotomy that he invented for his own rhetorical purposes), he's not really talking about Bishop at all. He's talking about his own status, his own authority to issue literary fatwas. It's kind of yucky when a mediocre mind battens onto a great one.

Gosh, that's quite a fatwa, Chris. Someone writes a celebratory piece on a poet's 100th anniversary in a major journalistic venue, and it's all about him? The article is much more likely to set people reading Bishop's poetry than Gioia's own critical essays. If you disagree with his opinions on Bishop, please give your reasons rather than unsubstantiated character analysis.

Oh, c'mon, Bill. You really can't see what a grandiose jackass Gioia is being here? There are no other viable candidates for "most highly regarded" American poet of the last half century? Or for "most popular" American woman poet of the last century plus? In the time it takes to read this post, everybody here can compose a mental list of a dozen or more strong contenders. Even if we might eventually vote for Bishop in either category, Gioia makes a pretty shallow and obnoxious campaign manager.

I think "most popular" was the oddest thing he said. Does he mean book sales? I'd guess that Plath sold more books, though I may be wrong, yet I'm sure that Jewel did. And if it's not book sales, then how is he measuring popularity? Number of prom invitations?

Chris, I just don't see the payoff in knocking Gioia on this. Everyone has his or her list, as you say, but the celebration of Bishop's 100th isn't necessarily the occasion to argue about it. How about starting a separate thread, My favorite poet from 1950-2000...? I'll put in my one cent.