Bernadette Mayer

Bernadette Mayer (1945-2022) was an American poet, writer, and visual artist associated with the New York School and Language poetry, best known for innovative works like the conceptual project Memory (1971) and the book-length poem Midwinter Day (1982). She authored over 30 books, blending stream-of-consciousness, diary forms, and multimedia elements to explore everyday life and motherhood, and received major honors including a 2015 Guggenheim Fellowship and a 1995 Foundation for Contemporary Arts grant. Mayer edited influential journals like 0 TO 9, directed the Poetry Project (1980-1984), and taught widely until her death from pancreatic cancer complications.