Anne Sexton's Life

List the titles of some of Sexton's most famous poems..

Live or Die, To Bedlam & Part Way Back, Transformations

Which poets influenced Anne Sexton's work?

W.D. Snodgrass & Dr. Martin Orne

For what type of poetry is Anne Sexton most famous?

autobiographical/confessional poetry

From what illness did Anne Sexton suffer throughout much of her life?

depression & mania

Why did Anne Sexton start writing poetry?

her analyst wanted writing poetry to be "therapy" to treat her mental illness

Describe Sexton's book of poems, Transformations

it was a retelling of Grim's fairy tales marking a shift away from the confessional manner of her earlier work

Which award did she win? In what year did she win it?

pulitzer prize for poetry in 1967

What event in her life occurred on October 4, 1974?

she committed suicide by carbon monoxide poisioning

Describe Anne Sexton's early life

she had 2 older sisters, she spent most of her childhood in Boston, MA. In 1945, she enrolled in Rogers Hall boarding school

Describe Sexton's book of poems, To Bedlam and Part Way Back.

there was intensely personal & self-revelatory nature in the poem, recording her nervous breakdown & recovery (psychiatric struggles).