Anne Boyer is a celebrated American poet and essayist who has profoundly explored themes of labor, emotion, and struggle in her work. Born in Kansas, Boyer completed her BA at Kansas State University and her MFA at Wichita State University. Her notable works include The Romance of Happy Workers (2006), My Common Heart (2011), and Garments Against Women (2015, 2016), which has been described as a deeply moving reflection on the political economy of life and literature. Boyer's career took a poignant turn in 2014 when she was diagnosed with aggressive triple-negative breast cancer, an experience that deeply influenced her subsequent work. This period of her life inspired The Undying: Pain, Vulnerability, Mortality, Medicine, Art, Time, Dreams, Data, Exhaustion, Cancer, and Care (2019), a profound critique of the healthcare system which won the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction. Her writing is internationally recognized, translated into multiple languages, and she has made significant contributions to the translation of 20th-century Venezuelan poetry. Boyer’s accolades include the 2018 Cy Twombly Award for Poetry and the 2018 Whiting Award in nonfiction/poetry. She continues her academic and writing pursuits in Kansas City, Missouri, where she teaches at the Kansas City Art Institute.
