The Early Years, and Family Life:
Sexton was born in Newton, Massachusetts, and lived near Boston for the majority of her life. In 1945, Sexton began attending a boarding school, Rogers Hall, in Wayne, Michigan. For a time as a young woman, she modeled at Boston's Hart Agency. She eloped in the year 1948 with a man named Alfred Muller Sexton, who was 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.
Depression Meets Poetry:
Sexton spoke candidly about her battle with depression, which she fought for most of her life. Her first breakdown took place in 1954. After a second breakdown in 1955, she met Dr. Martin Orne at Glenside Hospital, who encouraged her to take up poetry, and she enrolled in her first poetry workshop, with John Holmes as the instructor. After the workshop, Sexton experienced remarkably success with her poetry! Her poems were accepted by The New Yorker, Harper's Magazine, and the Saturday Review.
The Final Reading:
Following her last poetry reading at Goucher College in Maryland on October 3, 1974, Anne returned home to commit suicide in her garage on October 4, 1974 by way of carbon monoxide poisoning. The tragic end she brought to her life was the result from her years of battling depression and dissatisfaction with her place in life. Despite her image in her mind, she carved a place in the minds and hearts of the American literary world forever.
http://www.uta.edu/english/tim/poetry/as/bio1.html