* Pulitzer Prize for Poetry (1956) for her collection "Poems"
* National Book Award for Poetry (1970) for her collection "The Complete Poems"
* Bollingen Prize in Poetry (1976)
* National Medal of Arts (1984)
* Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize (1985)
She was also awarded the prestigious Shelley Memorial Award and the National Institute of Arts and Letters grant in poetry.
While Bishop did not win a Nobel Prize in Literature, she was nominated for it on several occasions.