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Insightful Critic and Dedicated Poet

Carolyn Marie Duncan ’02

April 3, 2024, in Portland, Oregon.

An insightful critic and a dedicated poet, Carolyn discovered her love for the written word during childhood. Born August 28, 1980, in Los Angeles, she had memorized poems by E.E. Cummings and T.S. Eliot by the time she was a teenager, and would recite them as she and her sister walked home from the school bus stop.

At Reed, Carolyn wrote her thesis, “The Cultural Storm: Modernism and Mass Culture in Nathanael West’s Miss Lonelyhearts and The Day of the Locust,” under Prof. Lois Leveen [English and humanities 2000–03]. She also earned a master of arts at Portland State University and a master of social work in animal-assisted therapy at the Smith College School for Social Work.

Carolyn enjoyed a distinguished career as a writer. She was published in the Los Angeles Times Book Review, and in 2006, she won first place in the graduate division of the Jane Austen Society of North America’s annual essay contest. Her essay, “Fanny’s Excellence,” was an illuminating plunge into the psyche of Fanny Price, the oft-underestimated protagonist of Austen’s Mansfield Park.

Committed to improving animal welfare, Carolyn was devoted to her four rescue dogs, Angie, Bella, Blue, and Molly. She also worked as an English instructor, a research analyst, and—over the course of a decade—a script judge at the P.I.F.F. and Southeastern Film Festival. One of the crowning achievements of her career was The Wild Part, a book of poetry she self-published in 2023.

Carolyn’s life reflected both her passion for her work and her love of play. Before she passed away, she wrote, “Play is a critical part of life, and it’s unfortunate adults are expected to put it aside. Play can be writing, painting, sports, fashion, beauty—whatever makes you happy. You don’t have to be good at it, or get paid for it, or become famous for it. Sometimes the best work comes out of doing something because it gives you joy.”

Appeared in Reed magazine: Fall 2024

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