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Phyllis McGinley

フィリス・マクギンレイ

Firis Makuginrei

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1905-03-21 （Ontario, Oregon）
Died
1978-02-22 （New York City, NY） age 72
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Religion
Roman Catholic
Residence History
Ontario, Oregon → Ranch near Iliff, Colorado → Utah → New York City → Larchmont, New York

Career

Occupations
poet, children's author, essayist
Active Years
1934-1978
Memberships
National Academy of Arts and Letters, Kappa Kappa Gamma

Education

University of Southern California
Country: United States
attended
University of Utah
musical theater / musical theater
Degree: BA
Year of Graduation: 1927
Country: United States
Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority

Awards

Pulitzer Prize
1961
Work: Times Three
Category: Poetry
Organization: Columbia University
Result: Winner
Laetare Medal
1964
Organization: University of Notre Dame
Result: Recipient
Campion Award
1967
Organization: Catholic Book Club
Result: Winner
Catholic Institute of the Press Award
1960
Organization: Catholic Institute of the Press
Result: Winner

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Times Three: Selected Verse from Three Decades with Seventy New Poems

1960 poetry collection

Collection of selected verse from three decades with seventy new poems. Pulitzer Prize winner.

suburban lifefamilyhumor

Sixpence in Her Shoe

1963 autobiography

Autobiographical work.

domestic lifesuburbia

The Province of the Heart

1959 essays

Essays wryly defending suburbia.

suburbiaheart

The Plain Princess

1945 children's book

Coming-of-age story of a princess learning humility in suburbia.

coming-of-agesuburbiagender roles

The Year Without a Santa Claus

1957 children's book

Rhymed children's story about a year without Santa Claus.

Christmasimagination
Adaptations
  • [record] Narrated by Boris Karloff / Boris Karloff (1968)

Bibliography

  • On the Contrary (1934)
  • One More Manhattan (1937)
  • A Pocketful of Wry (1940, 1959)
  • Husbands Are Difficult (1941)
  • Stones from Glass Houses (1946)
  • A Short Walk from the Station (1951)
  • The Love Letters of Phyllis McGinley (1954)
  • Merry Christmas, Happy New Year (1958)
  • Times Three (1960)
  • Sugar and Spice (1960)
  • A Wreath of Christmas Legends (1967)
  • The Horse That Lived Upstairs (1944)
  • The Plain Princess (1945)
  • All Around the Town (1948)
  • A Name for Kitty (1948)
  • The Most Wonderful Doll in the World (1950)
  • Blunderbus (1951)
  • The Horse Who Had His Picture in the Paper (1951)
  • The Make-Believe Twins (1953)
  • The Year Without a Santa Claus (1957)
  • Lucy McLockett (1959)
  • Mince Pie and Mistletoe (1961)
  • Boys Are Awful (1962)
  • The B Book (1962)
  • How Mrs. Santa Claus Saved Christmas (1963)
  • Wonderful Time (1966)
  • The Province of the Heart (1959)
  • Sixpence in Her Shoe (1963)
  • Saint-Watching (1969)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
light versehumoroussatiric tonedexterous rhyming
Recurring Motifs
suburban lifedomesticitymarriageCatholic faithholidays

Legacy

American light verse poet who celebrated suburban domesticity, awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1961 for Times Three. Defended housewife role amid feminism.

Archives

  • Special Collections Research Center of Syracuse University

In Popular Culture

  • Featured on Time magazine cover, June 18, 1965

Trivia

  • Devout Roman Catholic
  • Daughter Julie Hayden was an author and editor
  • Received nearly a dozen honorary degrees
  • Contributed to The New Yorker, Ladies' Home Journal