Robert Bly

Robert Bly
Bly at the "Poetry Out Loud" finals, Minnesota 2009
BornRobert Elwood Bly
(1926-12-23)December 23, 1926
Lac qui Parle County, Minnesota, U.S.
DiedNovember 21, 2021(2021-11-21) (aged 94)
Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.
Occupation
  • Poet
  • activist
Alma materHarvard University (BA)
University of Iowa (MFA)
Period1962–2018
SubjectsMasculinity
Literary movement
Notable works
Spouse
(m. 1955; div. 1979)
    Ruth Counsell
    (m. 1980)
    Children4, including Mary Bly
    Website
    robertbly.com

    Robert Elwood Bly (December 23, 1926 – November 21, 2021) was an American poet, essayist, activist and leader of the mythopoetic men's movement. His best-known prose book is Iron John: A Book About Men (1990), which spent 62 weeks on The New York Times Best Seller list, and is a key text of the mythopoetic men’s movement. He won the 1968 National Book Award for Poetry for his book The Light Around the Body.