Beth Ann Fennelly (born May 21, 1971) is an American poet and essayist.[1][2]
She was born in New Jersey and raised in Lake Forest, Illinois. She attended the University of Notre Dame, completing her BA magna cum laude in 1993. For a brief period, she taught English in post-communist East Europe. She returned to the USA and obtained an MFA degree from the [[University of Arkansas, followed by a fellowship at the University of Wisconsin. She taught poetry at Knox College. Currently she teaches poetry and non-fiction at the University of Mississippi.
Fennelly's first collection of poems Open House won multiple awards. Her poems have been included in numerous anthologies, including several editions of The Best American Poetry. She received a grant from the National Endowment of the Arts in 2002 and she has also won the Pushcart Prize. As an essayist, she writes on Southern food, music, and books.
She is married with children and lives in Oxford, Mississippi.