She received the National Book Award in Poetry for The Complete Poems.
Bishop spent the next period of her life living in Brazil with her lover, Lota de Macedo Soares. She committed suicide in 1967. After this loss, Bishop moved back to America to teach at Harvard in the early 70s. She received the National Book Award in Poetry for The Complete Poems. Bishop lived a privileged upper-class life and was, therefore, able to spend time writing, painting, and traveling freely. She died in 1979.