Mona Van Duyn

After first beginning her writing in secret, Mona Van Duyn began taking poetry seriously when she enrolled at Iowa State Teachers College. She became a world-renowned poet, Pulitzer Prize winner and the first woman to be named Poet Laureate Consultant to the Library of Congress. 

Born in Waterloo and raised in Eldora, she graduated with honors from the Iowa State Teachers College in 1942 with three majors: English, Speech and French. She was very involved on campus, writing for clubs such as The Pen, Old Gold and Writers’ Club. She was also involved in Student-Faculty Cooperation, Iowa Teachers First and was president of Sigma Tau Delta, somehow also finding time to play the saxophone. 

As a student, Van Duyn was known for taking a three-mile walk often to visit and learn from poet James Hearst. In a 1971 issue of “The Alumnus,” Hearst discussed the originality of her poetry and the kind of student she was in college:

“Mona was a bright, energetic and ambitious student,” he said. “She wasn’t afraid to break new ground — which was something very unusual for students in those days.” 

Van Duyn went on to win every major U.S. poetry prize, including the National Book Award in 1971 for “To See, To Take” and the Pulitzer Prize in 1991 for “Near Changes.”

National recognition was soon followed by honors closer to home. Following her Pulitzer win, the University of Northern Iowa awarded her an Honorary Doctor of Literature Degree. She addressed graduates at spring commencement that year and held a reading of her poetry at the Hearst Center for the Arts.

The following summer, Van Duyn was named the Poet Laureate Consultant to the Library of Congress – the first woman to be named to the position.

“Miss Van Duyn is one of the most distinguished writers to have graduated from the UNI Department of English Language and Literature,” said President Curris at the time. “She has won every honor and award a poet can receive.”

Some of her most famous poems include “Letters from a Father,” “Late Loving,” “Marriage with Beasts,” “A Time of Bees,” “Earth Tremors Felt in Missouri” and “The Gentle Snorer.”

American poet Alfred Corn described her poem “Late Loving” as “the most moving (and honest) poem ever written about marriage.”

Her own marriage was also a creative partnership. Van Duyn worked closely with her husband Jarvis Thurston to produce the literary journal “Perspective: A Quarterly of Literature and the Arts.” The pair published this magazine from 1947 to 1975. 

Mona Van Duyn’s final publication, “Selected Poems,” was in 2003. 

“[Selected Poems] illuminates many brave new worlds and shows us that they are beautiful not in spite of but, because of their imperfections,” said American poet and literary critic Richard Wakefield.