Meet Linda.
Linda Gray Sexton is an acclaimed author and memoirist whose writing delves deeply into the complexities of family, mental health, and personal resilience. Born in 1953 in Newton, Massachusetts, she is the daughter of Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Anne Sexton. From an early age, Linda was immersed in a literary environment, often collaborating with her mother on writing projects. She graduated cum laude from Harvard University in 1975 with a degree in literature, becoming her mother’s estate’s literary executor at the age of twenty-one; as such, she edited several of Anne Sexton’s posthumous works, including Anne Sexton: A Self-Portrait in Letters.
Linda’s own literary career encompasses both fiction and memoir. Her novels—Rituals, Mirror Images, Points of Light, and Private Acts—explore intricate emotional landscapes and have garnered critical acclaim, with Points of Light adapted into a Hallmark Hall of Fame television special. Her memoirs offer candid reflections on her life and family; Searching for Mercy Street examines her relationship with her mother, and Martin Scorsese took the film under his wing as the proposed director for Miramax Films. While her second memoir, Half in Love, confronts the legacy of suicide and her personal struggles with mental illness, in Bespotted she shares her family’s unique bond with Dalmatians and highlights moments of joy amidst those of adversity.
Currently residing in Annapolis, Maryland, Linda continues to write and to engage with her readers through her weekly Substack newsletter essays, “Born Survivors.” She also is an editorial consultant, helping both aspiring and established writers find and express their literary voices. Her life, enriched by her husband, son and three grandchildren, in addition to her two cherished Dalmatians, Mac and Cody, serves as both inspiration and subject matter for her ongoing literary endeavors.
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