Anne Tyler

State: Maryland

Anne Tyler is a Pulitzer Prize–winning American novelist best known for her richly drawn portrayals of everyday family life, often set in Baltimore, Maryland. Born on October 25, 1941, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, she spent her early years in a Quaker commune in North Carolina before graduating from Duke University at age 19. She later studied at Columbia University and settled in Baltimore, where she has lived for decades and where most of her novels are set. Tyler’s breakout novel, Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant (1982), earned widespread acclaim and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, National Book Award, and PEN/Faulkner Award. She eventually won the Pulitzer in 1989 for Breathing Lessons. Her other celebrated works include The Accidental Tourist, A Spool of Blue Thread, and Redhead by the Side of the Road. Known for her compassionate, wry insights into the human condition, Tyler is considered one of the most important contemporary voices in American literary fiction.

Genres: Contemporary, Humor, Romance

Audiences: Adult