Anne Tyler, born October 25, 1941, is an acclaimed American novelist, short story writer, and literary critic renowned for her deep and nuanced exploration of characters and family dynamics. Her literary journey began with her debut novel, If Morning Ever Comes, published in 1964, marking the start of a prolific career that has spanned over six decades and includes twenty-four novels.

Among her most celebrated works are Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant (1982), The Accidental Tourist (1985), and Breathing Lessons (1988), the latter of which won her the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1989. Tyler's novels, recognized for their "brilliantly imagined and absolutely accurate detail," "rigorous and artful style," and "astute and open language," have earned her a place among the literary elite. She has also been honored with the Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize, the Ambassador Book Award, and the National Book Critics Circle Award, and in 2012, she received The Sunday Times Award for Literary Excellence.

Her twentieth novel, A Spool of Blue Thread, was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2015, and Redhead By the Side of the Road was longlisted for the same award in 2020. Tyler's contributions to literature have been compared to those of John Updike, Jane Austen, and Eudora Welty, cementing her status as a titan in the world of fiction.

Before her illustrious writing career took off, Tyler was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and later grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina. She exhibited her academic prowess by graduating at nineteen from Duke University and went on to pursue graduate studies in Russian studies at Columbia University.