Van Doren, Mark (1894-1972), was an American poet, critic, and educator. He wrote more than 50 works of prose and poetry and won a Pulitzer Prize in 1940 for his Collected Poems (1939).
Many of Van Doren’s poems describe the beauty of nature and New England’s changing seasons. Others are based on American legends and show his love for the nation’s cultural heritage. Some poems that Van Doren wrote in the 1940’s reflect his somber thoughts about World War II (1939-1945). These poems are included in Collected and New Poems: 1924-1963 (1963). In Good Morning: Last Poems (published in 1973 after his death), he expressed calm acceptance of the prospect of death.
Van Doren’s career as a critic began with Henry David Thoreau (1916), a study of Thoreau’s writings. He also wrote essays on the works of other writers, including John Dryden, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and William Shakespeare. His major critical writings appear in Private Reader (1942) and The Happy Critic (1961). He also wrote novels, plays, short stories, and Autobiography (1958).
Mark Albert Van Doren was born on July 13, 1894, in Hope, Illinois, near Urbana. From 1920 to 1959, he taught English at Columbia University. He died on Dec. 10, 1972. His older brother, Carl Clinton Van Doren, was also a noted writer.
