Pulitzer Prize Poetry Winner
Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror
by John Ashbery
Summary
The title poem meditates on Parmigianino's Mannerist self portrait to investigate how consciousness, art, and time fail to hold a stable image of the self. Ashbery's discursive, digressive sentences move between high diction and offhand speech, allowing meaning to drift and re form. The volume confirmed his standing as the central figure in postwar American poetry's experimental wing.
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Historical Context & Significance
The "Triple Crown" winner: Ashbery won the Pulitzer, the National Book Award, and the National Book Critics Circle Award.