Mona van Duyn was born in Waterloo, Iowa, and now lives in St. Louis, Missouri. Her many books of poetry include Valentines to the Wide World (1959); Bedtime Stories (1972); Near Changes (1990), a Pulitzer Prize winner; Firefall (1993); and If It Be Not I: Collected Poems 1959-1982 (1993). She was named Poet Laureate in 1992.