Poet Phyllis McGinley: Champion of Marriage, the Family, and Tradition

McGinley's poetry boldly preserves the pride of the traditional American housewife

A portrait of Phyllis McGinley from a detailed view of book cover, "The Province of the Heart," in 1959.

Phyllis McGinley (1905–1978) was a victim of cancel culture long before that idea existed.

After she won the 1961 Pulitzer for her poetry—the first American poet ever to be so honored for light verse—W.D. Snodgrass, who was awarded the Pulitzer the previous year, commented that this “was horrifying; she used to write silly little verses for The Saturday Evening Post.”