 mark van doren (june 13, 1894 &ndash; december 10, 1972) was an american poet, writer and a critic, apart from being a scholar and a professor of english at columbia university for nearly 40 years, where he inspired a generation of influential writers and thinkers including thomas merton, robert lax, john berryman, whittaker chambers, and beat generation writers such as allen ginsberg and jack kerouac. he was literary editor of the nation, in new york city (1924â28), and its film critic, 1935 to 1938.mark van doren encyclopÃ¦dia britannica he won the 1940 pulitzer prize for poetry for collected poems 1922&ndash;1938. amongst his other notable works, many published in the kenyon review,"history" the kenyon review web site, accessed january 26, 2007 include a collaboration with brother carl van doren, american and british literature since 1890 (1939); critical studies, the poetry of john dryden (1920), shakespeare (1939), the noble voice (1945) and nathaniel hawthorne (1949); collections of poems including jonathan gentry (1931); stories; and the verse play the last days of lincoln (1959). ==early life and education== van doren was born in vermilion county, illinois the fourth of five sons of the county's doctor, charles lucius van doren, of remote dutch ancestry, and wife eudora ann butz. he was raised on his family's farm in eastern illinois, before his father decided to move t
1894_births 1972_deaths American_autobiographers American_film_critics American_literary_critics American_literary_editors American_people_of_Dutch_descent American_poets Columbia_University_alumni Columbia_University_faculty English_literature_academics People_from_Vermilion_County,_Illinois Pulitzer_Prize_for_Poetry_winners The_Nation_(U.S._magazine)_people University_of_Illinois_at_UrbanaaChampaign_alumni Van_Doren_family