Mona Van Duyn facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Mona Van Duyn
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Van Duyn in 1992 or 1993
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| Born | May 9, 1921 |
| Died | December 2, 2004 (aged 83) |
| Alma mater | Iowa State Teachers College State University of Iowa University of Louisville |
| Occupation | Poet Professor |
| Title | United States Poet Laureate |
| Term | 1992-1993 |
Mona Jane Van Duyn (May 9, 1921 – December 2, 2004) was an American poet. She was chosen as the United States Poet Laureate in 1992. This is a special role where a poet advises the Library of Congress on poetry.
Contents
Mona Van Duyn's Life Story
Growing Up and Early Studies
Mona Van Duyn was born on May 9, 1921, in Waterloo, Iowa. She grew up in the small town of Eldora. There, she loved reading many books at the town library. She also secretly wrote poems in notebooks when she was in grade school and high school.
Mona went to Iowa State Teachers College and earned her bachelor's degree in 1942. Then, she studied at the State University of Iowa. She earned her master's degree in 1943. That same year, she married Jarvis Thurston.
In 1946, Mona became a teacher at the University of Louisville. She and her husband started a literary magazine called Perspective: A Quarterly of Literature and the Arts in 1947. She was the editor of this magazine for 20 years. When they moved to St. Louis in 1950, they continued the magazine at Washington University in St. Louis.
Teaching and Literary Work
In St. Louis, Mona Van Duyn taught English at Washington University from 1950 to 1967. She and her husband helped create a special group of writers and critics there. They were known for helping new writers from all over the country. They published early works by many talented authors.
Mona was a friend of the poet James Merrill. She helped make sure his important papers were kept safe at Washington University. She continued teaching at the university until she retired in 1990. In 1987, she became a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
A Poet's Journey
Mona Van Duyn won almost every major poetry award in the United States. These include the National Book Award in 1971 for her book To See, To Take. She also won the Bollingen Prize in 1971 and the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize in 1989. In 1991, she won the Pulitzer Prize for her book Near Changes.
From 1992 to 1993, she served as the U.S. Poet Laureate. This is a very high honor for a poet.
Her poems often explored feelings about love and marriage. Sometimes her poems showed a tough view, and other times they were hopeful. For example, in "What I Want to Say," she wrote:
- It is the absolute narrowing of possibilities
- and everyone, down to the last man
- dreads it
But in "Late Loving," she wrote:
- Love is finding the familiar dear
Her book To See, To Take (1970) brought together poems from three earlier books. It won the National Book Award for Poetry. In 1981, she became a fellow in the Academy of American Poets. She was later chosen as one of the twelve Chancellors who serve for life.
Her book If It Be Not I: Collected Poems, 1959-1982 (1994) included many of her poems. It was published at the same time as a new collection called Firefall.
In 1993, Mona Van Duyn was honored by being added to the St. Louis Walk of Fame. She was also chosen as a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1996.
Mona Van Duyn passed away on December 2, 2004, at her home in University City, Missouri. She was 83 years old and died from bone cancer.
Mona Van Duyn's Books
- Valentines to the Wide World (1959)
- A Time of Bees (1964)
- To See, To Take: Poems (1970) — This book won the 1971 National Book Award for Poetry.
- Bedtime Stories (1972)
- Merciful Disguises:: Poems Published and Unpublished (1973)
- Letters From a Father, and Other Poems (1982)
- Near Changes (1990) — This book won the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.
- Firefall (1992)
- If It Be Not I: Collected Poems, 1959-1982 (1994)
- Selected Poems (2003)
