Anne Sexton (1928–1974) grew up in Newton, Massachusetts, in a household that was financially stable but emotionally complicated. Lacking formal literary training, she turned to poetry later in life, inspired by her psychiatrist Martin Orne, who suggested that writing could help her process her mental illness. That advice significantly influenced American poetry.
In 1958, she attended Robert Lowell's seminar at Boston University, where she met Sylvia Plath and George Starbuck. Lowell observed that Sexton and Plath had nearly opposite approaches: Plath was meticulous and controlled, while Sexton wrote instinctively, embracing a unique looseness. Their bond was forged through shared experiences of mental illness, motherhood, and an enduring fascination with death. When Plath died in 1963, Sexton experienced a complex grief tinged with rivalry, which she expressed in her poem "Sylvia's Death."
“Her debut collection, To Bedlam and Part Way Back (1960), laid bare her themes: mental breakdown, institutionalization, and the challenging return to everyday life.”
One of her most famous poems, "Her Kind," used the witch figure to delve into how society punishes women who defy norms. Her third collection, Live or Die (1966), earned her the Pulitzer Prize. In 1971, Transformations showcased a different side of her work: a sharp, darkly humorous retelling of Grimm's fairy tales that infused the classic stories with a feminist perspective and a contemporary American voice.
Sexton preferred to think of herself as a storyteller rather than just a confessional poet, making a clear distinction between poetic truth and literal autobiography. Nonetheless, her work was deeply rooted in her experiences with bipolar disorder, suicide attempts, hospitalization, and her complex relationships with her husband and daughters. Maxine Kumin, her closest friend and collaborator, highlighted the range of topics Sexton addressed during a time when women were often discouraged from speaking about such issues publicly.
