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Lisel Mueller
b. 1924

   
“ At fifteen you want more than anything to be accepted ... and though I was never to overcome my natural condition as a loner, the motivation to blend into the prevailing culture was strong, if not entirely conscious.

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As the recipient of the 1997 Pulitzer Prize for poetry, Lisel Mueller�s works explore the vision of self, both private and public. Born in Hamburg, Germany in 1924, Mueller became naturalized in 1945. She received a B.A. from the University of Evansville, 1944, and attended a graduate program at Indiana University, 1950-53. In addition to her work as a social worker, assistant librarian, and a translator, she has taught at Elmhurst College, 1969-72, and as the instructor in a M.A. writing program at Goddard College, 1977--.

Her work has been published in a variety of periodicals, including New Yorker, Poetry, Saturday Review, Shenandoah, Poetry Northwest, as well as in numerous anthologies. Some of her collections and chapbooks include Life of a Queen, 1970, The Private Life, 1976, and Voices From the Forest, 1977. Alive Together: New and Selected Poems, 1996, won the Pulitzer Prize in 1997. Through Mueller�s use of metaphoric figures like a piece of jewelry or a highway, she presents reflective truths and insights.

Mueller said, "At fifteen you want more than anything to be accepted ... and though I was never to overcome my natural condition as a loner, the motivation to blend into the prevailing culture was strong, if not entirely conscious."