Pulitzer Prize Poetry Winner
Near Changes
by Mona Van Duyn
Summary
These poems linger over long marriage, illness, gardens, and the small renegotiations of a settled life. Van Duyn writes in flexible, often near formal lines whose plainspoken surface rewards careful pressure, finding metaphysical resonance in ordinary domestic situations. The book treats Midwestern middle class experience as worthy material for serious meditative verse.
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Historical Context & Significance
Van Duyn was the first woman to serve as Poet Laureate and was celebrated for making "the ordinary" feel epic.