Anne Boyer
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Anne Boyer (born 1973) is an
American poet The poets listed below were either born in the United States or else published much of their poetry while living in that country. A B C D E F G H I–J K L M N O P Q *George Quasha (born 1942 in poetry, 1942) R ...
and essayist. She is the author of ''The Romance of Happy Workers'' (2008), ''The 2000s'' (2009), ''My Common Heart'' (2011), '' Garments Against Women'' (2015), ''The Handbook of Disappointed Fate'' (2018), and '' The Undying: Pain, Vulnerability, Mortality, Medicine, Art, Time, Dreams, Data, Exhaustion, Cancer, and Care'' (2019). In 2016, she was a featured blogger at the
Poetry Foundation The Poetry Foundation is a United States literary society that seeks to promote poetry and lyricism in the wider culture. It was formed from ''Poetry'' magazine, which it continues to publish, with a 2003 gift of $200 million from philanthrop ...
, where she wrote an ongoing series of posts about her diagnosis and treatment for a highly aggressive form of breast cancer, as well as the lives and near deaths of poets. Her essays about illness have appeared in ''
Guernica Guernica (, ), officially Gernika () in Basque, is a town in the province of Biscay, in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, Spain. The town of Guernica is one part (along with neighbouring Lumo) of the municipality of Gernika-Lumo ...
,
The New Inquiry ''The New Inquiry'' is an online magazine of cultural and literary criticism, established by Mary Borkowski, Jennifer Bernstein and Rachel Rosenfelt in 2009 and administered as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organisation. The magazine's website updates da ...
, Fullstop'', and more. Boyer teaches at the
University of St Andrews The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, f ...
in Scotland. Her poetry, essays, and books have been translated into numerous languages including Icelandic, Spanish, Chinese, French, Hungarian, Persian, and Swedish. With Guillermo Parra and Cassandra Gillig, she has translated the work of 20th century Venezuelan poets Victor Valera Mora, Miguel James, and Miyo Vestrini. In 2020, Boyer was awarded the
Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction The Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are awarded annually for the "Letters, Drama, and Music" category. The award is given to a nonfiction book written by an American author and published du ...
for her book '' The Undying: Pain, Vulnerability, Mortality, Medicine, Art, Time, Dreams, Data, Exhaustion, Cancer, and Care''.


Life and career

Anne Boyer was born in
Topeka, Kansas Topeka ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, in northeastern Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2020 cen ...
in 1973 and grew up in
Salina, Kansas Salina is a city in and the county seat of Saline County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 46,889. In the early 1800s, the Kanza tribal land reached eastward from the middle of the Kansas Territory. In 1858 ...
where she was educated in public schools. She earned a BA in English literature from
Kansas State University Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant coll ...
in 1996 and an MFA in poetry from
Wichita State University Wichita State University (WSU) is a public research university in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The university offers more than 60 undergraduate degree programs in more than 200 areas of study in ...
in 1997. She has taught at the
University of St Andrews The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, f ...
since 2023, having previously taught at the
Kansas City Art Institute The Kansas City Art Institute (KCAI) is a private art school in Kansas City, Missouri. The college was founded in 1885 and is an accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design and Higher Learning Commission. The institute ...
(2007-2023) and
Drake University Drake University is a private university in Des Moines, Iowa, United States. The University offers over 140 undergraduate and graduate programs, including professional programs in business, education, Legal education, law, and pharmacy. Drake U ...
(2005-2007). In 2018-2019 she was the Judith E. Wilson Poetry Fellow at the
University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
, and in 2023 she was the Louis D. Rubin Jr. Writer-in-Residence at
Hollins University Hollins University is a private university in Hollins, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1842 as Valley Union Seminary in the historical settlement of Botetourt Springs, Virginia, Botetourt Springs, it is Timeline of women's colleges in the Un ...
. Her diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer has become the subject of her current work, examining the intersection of social class and medical care. Boyer is the winner of the 2018 Cy Twombly Award in Poetry from the
Foundation for Contemporary Arts The Foundation for Contemporary Arts (FCA), is a nonprofit based foundation in New York City that offers financial support and recognition to contemporary performing and visual artists through awards for artistic innovation and potential. It was ...
, and her book ''Garments Against Women'' won the 2016 Community of Literary Magazines and Presses Firecracker Award in poetry. She was also named "The Best Writer in Kansas City" by ''The Pitch.'' In 2018, she also won the
Whiting Award The Whiting Award is an American award presented annually to ten emerging writers in fiction, nonfiction, poetry and drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, ...
in Nonfiction/Poetry. In March 2020, Boyer was awarded the Windham-Campbell Literature Prize. She resigned from her role as the poetry editor of ''
The New York Times Magazine ''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors. The magazi ...
'' in November 2023, in protest at the newspaper's coverage of the
2023 Israel-Hamas war The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflict, Gaza–Israel conflicts dating ...
. In her resignation letter, she wrote "the Israeli state’s U.S.-backed war against the people of Gaza is not a war for anyone" and that she "won’t write about poetry amid the ‘reasonable’ tones of those who aim to acclimatize us to this unreasonable suffering. No more ghoulish euphemisms. No more verbally sanitized hellscapes. No more warmongering lies.".


Critical reception

Boyer's 2015 book '' Garments Against Women'' spent six months at the top of the
Small Press Distribution Small Press Distribution (SPD) was an "exclusively literary" nonprofit book distributor for the small press that operated from 1969 to 2024. It abruptly closed in March 2024. History SPD was founded in 1969 in Berkeley, California, by Peter Howar ...
's best seller list in poetry. ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' called it "a sad, beautiful, passionate book that registers the political economy of life and literature itself."
Chris Stroffolino Chris Stroffolino (born 20 March 1963 in Reading, Pennsylvania) is an American poet, writer, musician, critic, performer, and author. He worked alongside Steve Malkmus and David Berman on The Silver Jews' '' American Water'' (1998 Drag City) ...
at ''
The Rumpus ''The Rumpus'' is an online literary magazine founded by Stephen Elliott (author), Stephen Elliott, and launched on January 20, 2009. The site features interviews, book reviews, essays, comics, and critiques of creative culture as well as origi ...
'' described it as "widening the boundaries of poetry and memoir." ''Garments Against Women'' was described by ''
Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...
'' as a book that "faces the material and philosophical problems of writing—and by extension, living—in the contemporary world. Boyer attempts to abandon literature in the same moments that she forms it, turning to sources as diverse as
Jean-Jacques Rousseau Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Republic of Geneva, Genevan philosopher (''philosophes, philosophe''), writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment through ...
, the acts of sewing and garment production, and a book on happiness that she finds in a thrift store. Her book, then, becomes filled with other books, imagined and resisted." ''The Undying: Pain, Vulnerability, Mortality, Medicine, Art, Time, Dreams, Data, Exhaustion, Cancer, and Care'' tied for winner of the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction.


Works

* ''Anne Boyer's Good Apocalypse''. Effing Press, 2006. * ''Selected Dreams with a note on Phrenology''. Dusie, 2007. * ''The Romance of Happy Workers''. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Coffee House Press, 2008. * ''Art is War''. Lawrence, Kansas: Mitzvah Chaps, 2008. * ''The 2000s: A history of the future in advance of itself''. 2009. * ''My Common Heart''. Spooky Girlfriend Press, 2011 * ''A Form of Sabotage''. 2013. * ''Garments Against Women.'' Boise, Idaho: Ahsahta Press, 2015. *''A Handbook of Disappointed Fate.'' Brooklyn, New York: Ugly Duckling Presse, 2018. *''Money City Sick as Fuck''. London: Materials, 2019. *'' The Undying: Pain, vulnerability, mortality, medicine, art, time, dreams, data, exhaustion, cancer, and care.'' New York, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2019.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boyer, Anne American women poets 1973 births Living people Writers from Topeka, Kansas Poets from Kansas 21st-century American poets 21st-century American women writers 21st-century American translators People from Salina, Kansas Wichita State University alumni Kansas City Art Institute faculty Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction winners American women academics