Bonnie Lyons was born in Brooklyn, New York and lived there until she was five years old, at which point she moved to Miami Beach, Florida.
She was president of her class at Miami Beach High School, but never graduated from high school, choosing instead to leave early and attend Newcomb College at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana.
She completed her undergraduate and graduate work at Tulane and received her PhD in English Literature in 1973.
While in Boston, she took a photography class at the Cambridge Center for Adult Education with David Akiba, who went on to become a lifelong friend of hers.
She has published articles and interviews in many journals, including The Paris Review and Contemporary Literature.