Beth Singer Bentley (October 7, 1921 – February 11, 2021) was an American poet. She was born in St. Paul, Minnesota and received her BA and MFA in creative writing and English from the University of Michigan, where her fiction won the Hopwood Award while still a graduate student.[1] She settled in Seattle and was married to poet Nelson Bentley, a professor at the University of Washington, from 1952 until his death in 1990.[2]
Beth Singer Bentley | |
|---|---|
 Bentley in 1949 | |
| Born | October 7, 1921 |
| Died | February 11, 2021 Mercer Island, Washington |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | University of Michigan |
| Occupation | Poet |
| Spouse | Nelson Bentley |
Life
editHer poems appeared in a number of magazines and journals including Poetry, The New Yorker, and The Paris Review.[1] She published two full-length collections of poems, both with Ohio University Press: Phone Calls From the Dead in 1970 and Country of Resemblances in 1976.[3][4] She also published several chapbooks and edited a selection of the poetry of Hazel Hall.[5] Her poem Northern Idylls was included in The Best American Poetry 1989.[6]
Bentley died in February 2021 at her home on Mercer Island the age of 99.[7]
Selected publications
editAccording to her obituary,
Beth's work has been widely published in dozens of journals and anthologies, including The New Yorker, Poetry, The Atlantic, Paris Review, Poetry Northwest, The Nation, Saturday Review, Seattle Review, and Fine Madness. Her collections include: Little Fires (1998); The Purely Visible (1980); Philosophical Investigations (1977); Country of Resemblances (1976); Field of Snow (1973); and Phone Calls from the Dead (1972). Beth also selected and edited The Selected Poems of Hazel Hall (1980).[7]
References
edit- ^ a b "Beth Singer Bentley papers, 1943-2013". Archives West. University of Washington Special Collections. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
- ^ Macdonald, Sally (29 December 1990). "Nelson Bentley, 72, Poet Laureate Of Northwest And UW Professor". Seattle Times. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
- ^ Bentley, Beth (1970). Phone Calls From the Dead. Athens, Ohio: Ohio University Press.OCLC 133383
- ^ Bentley, Beth (1976). Country of Resemblances. Athens, Ohio: Ohio University Press. ISBN 9780821401965.
- ^ Hall, Hazel (1980). Selected Poems. Boise, Idaho: Ahsahta Press. ISBN 0916272141.
- ^ Lehman, David, and Donald Hall, eds. (1989). The Best American Poetry, 1989. New York: Scribner's. ISBN 9780684190952.
{{cite book}}:|first1=has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ a b "Remembering the life of Beth Bentley 1921–2021". obituaries.seattletimes.com. Retrieved 2021-07-03.