Frances Mayes

Frances Mayes grew up in Fitzgerald, Georgia, and attended Randolph-Macon Woman's College and the University of Florida. She is a poet, essayist and professor of creative writing at San Francisco State University. She relocated to Cortona, Italy after she bought and renovated a rundown Tuscan farmhouse, Bramasole (literally, "yearning for the sun"), in 1990. Her memoir, `Under the Tuscan Sun: At Home in Italy' was published in 1996, as was named a New York Times Notable Book of 1996, and was followed by a second memoir, 'Bella Tuscany.' Her books of poetry include 'Sunday in Another Country,' 'After Such Pleasures,' 'The Arts of Fire,' 'Hours,' 'The Book of Summer,' and 'Ex Voto.' She is also the author of 'The Discovery of Poetry,' a college textbook. She divides her time between Cortona and San Francisco.