Cynthia Voigt was born on February 25, 1942 in Boston, Massachusetts and grew up in Connecticut. Voigt went to Smith College where she earned her bachelor's degree. She went on to do her graduate work at St. Michael's College and later got a teacher's certification from Christian Brothers College. After college, Voigt worked for an advertising agency. She has also been a secretary, and she was a high school English teacher in Glen Burnie and Annapolis, Maryland. She was the English department chair from 1971 to 1979. Homecoming was the first book that she finished and published. It was published in 1981 by Atheneum. Voigt's children's books address such issues at child abuse and racism,… topics that are not often talked about in books designed for children. She won the Notable Children's Trade Book in the field of social studies for Homecoming, the Newbery Medal, ALA in 1983 for Dicey's Song, and the Edgar Allan Poe Award in 1984 for The Callender Papers. In 1995, Voigt received the MAE Award.