He was involved with the resistance movement during the Fascist rule of Benito Mussolini.
He was also active in the Italian Communist Party after the war.
He founded a magazine, Società, together with Cesare Luporini and Ranuccio Bianchi Bandinelli in 1945.
[3] As a writer, Bilenchi published novels, short stories and essays.
His literary friends included major 20th-century figures like Eugenio Montale and Ezra Pound.