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Sexton was born in Newton, Massachusetts in 1928, and spent most of her life near Boston. In 1945, Sexton began attending a boarding school, Rogers Hall, in Lowell, Massachusetts. She eloped in 1948 with Alfred Muller Sexton, known as "Kayo." Before their divorce in the early 1970s, she had two children with Kayo: Linda Gray Sexton , later a novelist and memoirist, and Joyce Sexton.

Tragically, she suffered from depression for most of her life; in fact, her poetry was prescribed as a possible remedyA remedy is the solution or amelioration of a problem or difficulty. In law, a remedy is the legal means employed by a court to help a party recover a right or obtain redress for a wrong. The law of remedies distinguishes between a legal remedy (i. moneta and eventual cure for her condition. Sexton's first breakdownAlthough not a medical term, the phrase nervous breakdown is often used by laymen to describe a sudden and acute attack of mental illness e. clinical depression, anxiety disorder, etc. in a previously outwardly healthy person. Breakdowns are the result of took place in 1954Events January events January 14 The Hudson Motor Car Company merges with Nash-Kelvinator forming the American Motors Corporation January 14 Marilyn Monroe weds Joe DiMaggio. January 15 Mau Mau leader Waruhiu Itote is captured in Kenya January 20 The Nati,

After a second breakdown in 19551955 is a common year starting on Saturday. see link for calendar) Events January events January 2 Panama president Jose Antonio Remon is assassinated. January 19 The Scrabble board game debuts. February events February 8 Nikolai Bulganin ousts Georgi Mal, Anne met Dr. Martin Orne at Glenside Hospital , who encouraged her to take up poetry writing, and she enrolled in her first poetry workshop, with John Holmes as the instructor.

After the workshop finished, Sexton experienced quick success with her poetry, with her poems accepted by The New YorkerThe New Yorker is a weekly American magazine (debuted on February 21, 1925), well known for popularizing the nearly plotless short story as a literary form in English in the mid- 20th century. The magazine also is known for its journalism— John Hersey's H, Harper's MagazineHarper's Magazine (frequently referred to as just Harper's is a monthly magazine, published in the United States. Harper's made its debut in June 1850, the brainchild of the prominent New York City book-publishing firm Harper & Brothers. The initial press, and the Saturday ReviewSaturday Review is a UK publication for which Winston Churchill reported..

She attended a poetry workshop with Sylvia PlathSylvia Plath ( October 27, 1932 February 11, 1963) was an American poet, author, and essayist. Life Born in Boston, Plath showed early promise, publishing her first poem at the age of 8; her father, Otto, a college professor and noted authority on the sub, taught by Robert Lowell. Later, Sexton herself taught workshops at Boston College, Oberlin College, and Colgate College. Anne Sexton is the modern model of the confessional poet, one perhaps begun by the publication of Heart's Needle, by W.D. Snodgrass . In this sense, Sexton helped open the door not only for female poets, but for female issues; Sexton wrote about menstruation, abortion, masturbation, and adultery before such issues were even topics for casual discussion, helping redefine the boundaries of poetry.

Anne Sexton was a stunningly beautiful woman, who, for a brief period had modeled for Boston's Hart Agency. Indeed, with James Dickey, Anne Sexton was one of the poetry celebrities during this time, famous across the United States.

The title for her eighth collection of poetry, The Awful Rowing Toward God, came from her meeting with a Catholic priest who, although he refused to administer the last rites, did tell her: "God is in your typewriter," which gave the poet the desire and willpower to continue living and writing for some more time.

In 1967, she won the Pulitzer Prize for her collection, Live or Die.

She committed suicide in 1974, after winning the admiration of Robert Lowell, close friend Maxine Kumin , James Dickey, Joyce Carol Oates, and Sylvia Plath, among others. She is buried at Forest Hills Cemetery & Crematory, Jamaica Plain, Boston, Massachusetts.

British musician Peter Gabriel wrote a song, Mercy Street, dedicated to Anne Sexton in 1986.