Mary Ruefle (born 1952) is an American poet, essayist, and professor.
She has published many collections of poetry, the most recent of which, Dunce (Wave Books, 2019), was longlisted for the National Book Award in Poetry and a finalist for the 2020 Pulitzer Prize.
[1] Ruefle's debut collection of prose, The Most Of It, appeared in 2008 and her collected lectures, Madness, Rack, and Honey, in 2012, both published by Wave Books.
[9] The daughter of a military officer, Ruefle was born in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, in 1952,[10] but spent her early years traveling around the U.S. and Europe.
[9] In 2011, she served as the Bedell Distinguished Visiting Professor[11] at the University of Iowa's Nonfiction Writing Program.