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Audrae Eugenie Visser was born on June 3, 1919, near Hurley, South Dakota, to Harry J.L. and Addie Mae (Perryman) Visser. She attended rural schools in Turner and Moody counties and graduated from Flandreau High School in 1938. Visser earned degrees from Black Hills Teachers College, South Dakota State University, and the University of Denver.
Her 52-year teaching career began in Moody County country schools (1939–1943) and continued in communities across South Dakota and Minnesota, including Hot Springs, Pierre, Elkton, De Smet, Flandreau, Windom, Verdi, and Lake Benton. From 1954 to 1955, she taught children of U.S. Air Force personnel in Nagoya, Japan.
Visser began writing poetry at age twelve, publishing her first poem in Pasque Petals at twenty-one. Her first poetry collection, Rustic Roads and Other Poems, was published in 1961. She was named South Dakota Poet Laureate in 1974 by Governor Richard Kneip and published nine additional volumes of poetry between 1974 and 1998, often incorporating her own artwork. Her honors include second prize in the 1984 National Federation of State Poetry Societies contest, judged by May Swenson. She also sponsored numerous poetry contests and established the Perryman-Visser scholarship at South Dakota State University. Visser served as associate editor and editor of Pasque Petals during her tenure as Poet Laureate and remained active in the South Dakota State Poetry Society.
She had one son, Lou H. Guardino, and a brother, Donald Visser. Audrae Visser died on October 8, 2001, in Mabank, Texas.
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Field of Activity: Poetry
Occupation: Poets, Teachers