Biography
Mona Van Duyn (1921-2004) was an award-winning poet, a highly respected editor, and an experienced teacher of younger writers. She was born in Waterloo, Iowa and studied at the University of Northern Iowa where she earned a B.A. and at the University of Iowa where she received an M.A. in 1943. In that same year, Van Duyn married Jarvis Thurston with whom she founded Perspective magazine in 1947. She edited the quarterly with Thurston until 1975.
Van Duyn taught writing at a number of schools, including the University of Iowa, the University of Louisville, and at numerous writing workshops and conferences around the country. At Washington University, she taught in University College, the English Department, and in the Writing Program as a visiting Hurst professor in 1987. Van Duyn also served as poetry consultant for Washington University Libraries’ Modern Literature Collection in the mid-1960s and was instrumental in the acquisition of a number of the literary manuscript collections owned by Washington University Libraries.
She published ten volumes of poetry: Valentines to the Wide World (1959), A Time of Bees (1964), To See, To Take (1970), Bedtime Stories (1972),Merciful Disguises (1973), Letters From a Father and Other Poems (1982),Near Changes (1990), Firefall (1993), If It Be Not I (1993), and Selected Poems (2002). She received many awards for her poetry, including the prestigious Bollingen Award in 1970, the National Book Award for Poetry in 1971 for To See, To Take, and the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry in 1991 for Near Changes.
From 1992-1993, she served as the first woman Poet Laureate of the United States. Van Duyn was also named a Fellow of the Academy of American Poets in 1980 and in 1985 served as one of its chancellors. She received fellowships from The Academy of American Poets, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Guggenheim Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Washington University, Cornell College, the University of Northern Iowa, George Washington University, and the University of the South all awarded her the degree of Honorary Doctor of Letters. Mona Van Duyn died of bone cancer on December 2, 2004.
Finding Aids
- Mona Van Duyn PapersThe Mona Van Duyn Papers contain manuscripts and editorial matter toward her books, including the award-winning To See, To Take and Near Changes. In addition, there are numerous drafts of individual poems and correspondence from and manuscripts by numerous literary figures.
- Mona Van Duyn and Jarvis Thurston PapersThe Mona Van Duyn and Jarvis Thurston Papers make up one of the largest groups within the Modern Literature Manuscript Collection. Included are hundreds of letters of correspondence from and to literary figures, publishers, editors, scholars, family, and friends. Also included are manuscripts and editorial matter towards most of Van Duyn’s books, drafts of individual poems, essays and reviews by both Van Duyn and Thurston, and manuscripts by others authors. Finally, the Van Duyn and Thurston Papers include a large assortment of college and teaching materials, including poems written by Van Duyn as a student; family and other personal papers; artwork, including paintings by William Fett and Fred Becker; ephemera; recordings by Van Duyn, Thurston, and other literary figures; and realia, including family quilts, knickknacks, and graduation hoods.
- Perspective ArchiveThe Perspective Archive consist of three major groupings. The first is a series of correspondence which includes a large group of business and general correspondence and two smaller groups of letters from Wallace Stevens and William Carlos Williams. The second, and largest, series is made up of the manuscripts, correspondence, and editorial matter for individual issues of Perspective. The final portion of the collection consists of the magazine's business records.
- Other collectionsVan Duyn materials in other manuscript collections
Cataloged Items
- Van Duyn as authorBooks, periodicals and other items with content by Van Duyn
- Van Duyn as annotatorBooks, periodicals and other items annotated by Van Duyn
- Van Duyn as donorBooks, periodicals and other items donated by Van Duyn
- Van Duyn as former ownerBooks, periodicals and other items formally owned by Van Duyn
- Van Duyn as subjectBooks, periodicals and other items with content about Van Duyn
Digital Content
- Van Duyn correspondence, drafts, videos and more on MLC50Digitized materials from the Mona Van Duyn collections as part of the Modern Literature Collection's 50th anniversary digital exhibit
- Van Duyn YouTube playlistPlaylist of Van Duyn recordings on the Modern Literature Collection's YouTube channel
Blog Posts
- Mona Van Duyn: The Woman Behind the Modern Literature CollectionA look at Van Duyn's lead role in founding the Modern Literature Collection as well as her and Jarvis Thurston's roles building the writing program at Washington University and publishing Perspective magazine
- Mona Van DuynOn the occasion of what would have been her birthday, we provide an overview of her accomplishments and papers, including an audio recording of her reading a poem
Additional Resources (external links)
- The Library of Congress Mona Van Duyn: Online ResourcesVan Duyn resources on the LIbrary of Congress website and elsewhere online
- Van Duyn on the Poetry Foundation's websiteVan Duyn biographical sketch, poems, prose and bibliography