Autobiography of a Face

Lucinda Margaret Grealy (1963-2002) was an Irish-American poet and memoirist born in Dublin, Ireland, who moved to the United States at age four. Diagnosed at age nine with Ewing's sarcoma, a rare jaw cancer, she endured surgery removing part of her jaw, chemotherapy, radiation, and over 30 reconstructive surgeries, which she chronicled in her acclaimed memoir Autobiography of a Face (1994), winner of a National Magazine Award in essay form and the 1995 Whiting Award. She also published essays As Seen on TV: Provocations (2000) and poetry, teaching at institutions like Bennington College before dying of a heroin overdose at age 39.