A major new exhibition celebrating the work of Elizabeth Bishop has opened in Paris, shining a light on the poet’s rich and often overlooked postcard correspondence. The exhibition, developed in collaboration with international partners and building on earlier work at Vassar College, brings together rare materials that offer fresh insight into Bishop’s creative life and global travels.
The display explores dozens of postcards sent by Bishop across her lifetime, revealing how this seemingly modest form became an important medium for artistic expression. Drawn from one of the world’s largest collections of Bishop’s papers, the exhibition highlights how her visual sensibility and literary voice intersected through correspondence.
The project has been co-curated by Dr Jonathan Ellis of the School of English, alongside collaborators in the United States and France. Ellis has played a central role in shaping the research behind the exhibition, which builds on an earlier landmark showcase of Bishop’s postcards and ongoing work to expand public understanding of her visual and literary practice.
By foregrounding postcards as a creative form, the exhibition invites audiences to reconsider Bishop not only as a poet but as an artist working across media. It also forms part of a wider international research project, which includes future publications and events aimed at bringing Bishop’s work to new audiences worldwide.
The exhibition represents a significant example of how humanities research at Sheffield is contributing to global cultural conversations, opening up new perspectives on one of the twentieth century’s most influential writers.