Van Duyn, Mona (Jane) (1921– )

US poet. Critics praised her for her accurate depiction of the everyday world, her graceful use of rhyme, and her ability to make the ordinary seem extraordinary. In 1971 her ‘To See, To Take’ won the National Book Award and ‘Near Changes’ won the Pulitzer Prize in 1991. Her poems have appeared in a wide range of publications, including the New Yorker, Kenyon Review, and Atlantic. From the 1980s, Van Duyn increasingly appeared in anthologies of US poetry. In 1992–93 she was poet laureate of the US Library of Congress.

Van Duyn was born in Waterloo, Iowa. Born and educated in Iowa, she had a successful career both as an academic and a poet. From 1950, she taught mainly at Washington University (St Louis, Missouri).