Audre Lorde (1934–1992)
Author of Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches
About the Author
An African American lesbian feminist critic and writer, Lorde was born in Harlem and educated at National University of Mexico, Hunter College, and Columbia University. She married in 1962 and divorced in 1970, after having two children. Lorde first came to critical attention with her poetry. Her show more first poem was published in Seventeen magazine while she was in high school; it had been rejected by her high school newspaper because it was "too romantic" (Lorde considered her "mature" poetry, which focuses on her lesbian relationships, to be romantic also). Other early poems were published in many different journals, many of them under the pseudonym Rey Domini. Her first volume of poetry, "The First Cities," was published in 1968. Lorde then quit her job as head librarian at a school in New York City in order to devote her time to teaching and writing. She was a professor of English at Hunter College from 1980 until her untimely death from cancer in 1992. Although many of Lorde's poems are about love, many are about anger, particularly anger about racism, sexism, and homophobia in America. "The Brown Menace or Poem to the Survival of Roaches" likens African Americans to cockroaches---hated, feared, and poisoned by whites but survivors nevertheless. Other poems express a daughter's anger toward her mother; still others eschew anger for affirmation and inspiration, which are represented as coming from lesbian love and traditional African myths because, as Lorde has said, "the master's tools will not dismantle the master's house." Lorde is also well known for her prose. Her courageous account of her struggle with breast cancer and the mastectomy that she underwent is movingly chronicled in "The Cancer Journals" (1980), her first major prose publication. "Zami, a New Spelling of My Name" (1982) is, in Lorde's words, a "biomythography," combining history, biography, and myth. In "Zami," Lorde focuses on her developing lesbian identity and her response to racism in the white feminist and gay communities, and to sexism and homophobia in the African American community. Lorde's critical essays, collected in "Sister/Outsider" (1984) and "A Burst of Light "(1988), have been quite influential, particularly "Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic as Power," in which she discusses the relationship of poetry to politics and the erotic. Lorde was the recipient of several grants---from the National Endowment for the Arts in 1968 and 1981 and from the Creative Artists Public Service in 1972---as well as the Borough of Manhattan President's Award for Literary Excellence in 1987. She was also nominated for the National Book Award for poetry in 1974 for her third volume of verse, "From a Land Where Other People Live"(1973). (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Works by Audre Lorde
Apartheid U.S.A. / Our Common Enemy, Our Common Cause: Freedom Organizing in the Eighties (1986) 9 copies
Revolutionary Hope: A Conversation Between James Baldwin and Audre Lorde — Author — 8 copies
Irmã Marginal 3 copies
Shorelines 2 copies
New Year´s Day 1 copy
Hvem sa det var enkelt 1 copy
Hanging Fire {poem} 1 copy
Echoes 1 copy
Audre Lorde 1 copy
La luz que nos encargaron 1 copy
Lorde, Audre Archive 1 copy
Ημερολόγια Καρκίνου 1 copy
Associated Works
This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color (1981) — Contributor — 1,144 copies, 4 reviews
Race, Class, and Gender in the United States: An Integrated Study (1992) — Contributor, some editions — 561 copies
Chloe Plus Olivia: An Anthology of Lesbian Literature from the 17th Century to the Present (1994) — Contributor — 483 copies, 1 review
Cries of the Spirit: A Celebration of Women's Spirituality (2000) — Contributor — 404 copies, 2 reviews
Weaving the Visions: New Patterns in Feminist Spirituality (1989) — Contributor — 387 copies, 2 reviews
The Norton Anthology of African American Literature {2nd edition} (2003) — Contributor, some editions — 282 copies, 2 reviews
Words of Fire: An Anthology of African-American Feminist Thought (1995) — Contributor — 265 copies, 1 review
African American Poetry: 250 Years of Struggle and Song (2020) — Contributor — 235 copies, 4 reviews
Wise Women: Over Two Thousand Years of Spiritual Writing by Women (1996) — Contributor — 229 copies, 1 review
No More Masks: An Anthology of Twentieth-Century American Women Poets (1993) — Contributor, some editions — 226 copies, 3 reviews
Gay and Lesbian Poetry in Our Time (Stonewall Inn Editions) (1988) — Contributor — 189 copies, 1 review
Daughters of Africa: An International Anthology of Words and Writings by Women of African Descent from the Ancient Egyptian to the Present (1992) — Contributor — 186 copies
Let Nobody Turn Us Around: An African American Anthology (1999) — Contributor — 174 copies, 1 review
Writing Women's Lives: An Anthology of Autobiographical Narratives by Twentieth-Century American Women Writers (1994) — Contributor — 128 copies, 3 reviews
Black Like Us: A Century of Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual African American Fiction (2002) — Contributor — 127 copies, 1 review
Nepantla: An Anthology Dedicated to Queer Poets of Color (2018) — Contributor — 124 copies, 2 reviews
The Glorious American Essay: One Hundred Essays from Colonial Times to the Present (2020) — Contributor — 116 copies
In Search of Color Everywhere: A Collection of African-American Poetry (1994) — Contributor — 105 copies
Every Shut Eye Ain't Asleep: An Anthology of Poetry by African Americans Since 1945 (1994) — Contributor — 97 copies
Poems Between Women: Four Centuries of Love, Romantic Friendship, and Desire (1997) — Contributor — 97 copies, 1 review
Go the Way Your Blood Beats: An Anthology of Lesbian and Gay Fiction by African-American Writers (1996) — Contributor — 91 copies
Bearing Witness: Selections from African-American Autobiography in the Twentieth Century (1991) — Contributor — 74 copies
The Heath Anthology of American Literature, Concise Edition (2003) — Contributor — 73 copies, 1 review
She Rises Like the Sun: Invocations of the Goddess by Contemporary American Women Poets (1989) — Contributor — 71 copies
Queer: A Collection of LGBTQ Writing from Ancient Times to Yesterday (2021) — Contributor, some editions — 65 copies
Poemhood: Our Black Revival: History, Folklore & the Black Experience: A Young Adult Poetry Anthology (2024) — Contributor — 58 copies, 2 reviews
I Wouldn't Thank You for a Valentine: Poems For Young Feminists (1992) — Contributor — 57 copies, 2 reviews
Our Caribbean: A Gathering of Lesbian and Gay Writing from the Antilles (2008) — Contributor — 57 copies, 1 review
Before Stonewall: The Making of a Gay and Lesbian Community [1984 film] (1984) — Self — 54 copies, 2 reviews
Angles of Ascent: A Norton Anthology of Contemporary African American Poetry (2013) — Contributor — 47 copies
Daughters of Latin America: An International Anthology of Writing by Latine Women (2023) — Contributor — 39 copies, 1 review
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Lorde, Audre
- Legal name
- Lorde, Audrey Geraldine (birth name)
- Other names
- Adisa, Gamba
- Birthdate
- 1934-02-18
- Date of death
- 1992-11-17
- Gender
- female
- Education
- Hunter College High School
Hunter College
National University of Mexico
Columbia University (Masters/Library science) - Occupations
- librarian
activist
poet
essayist - Awards and honors
- Publishing Triangle (Bill Whitehead Award for Lifetime Achievement ∙ 1992)
National Book Critics Circle Award (1994)
Honorary Doctorate of Literature, Hunter College (1991)
Walt Whitman Citation of Merit (1991)
Honorary Doctorate of Letters, Oberlin College (1990)
Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters, Haverford College (1989) (show all 8)
Manhattan Borough President's Award for Excellence in the Arts (1988)
New York State Poet (1991-1993) - Relationships
- Clayton, Frances (partner until 1989)
Joseph, Gloria (partner 1989 - 1992) - Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- New York, New York, USA
Harlem, New York, USA - Places of residence
- New York, New York, USA (birth)
St. Croix, Virgin Islands (death)
Jackson, Mississippi, USA
Stamford, Connecticut, USA
Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico
Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico - Place of death
- St. Croix, Virgin Islands
- Associated Place (for map)
- USA
Members
Reviews
Best for:
People interested in some seriously good essays from a poet and activist.
In a nutshell:
This mini book contains five of Lorde’s essays / speeches on revolution and liberation.
Worth quoting:
“To encourage excellence is to go beyond the encouraged mediocrity of our society.”
“Only within a patriarchal structure is maternity the only social power open to women.”
“Can anyone here still afford to believe that the pursuit of liberation can be the sole and particular province of show more any one particular race, or sex, or age, or religion, or sexuality, or class?
Why I chose it:
This was included in one of my subscription boxes.
Review:
I had heard Lorde’s phrase that is the title of this collection, but I had no idea of the context of it - she had been invited to speak at conference on feminism, was told many different concepts and facets of womanhood and feminist would be represented, and instead was faced with a big group of white feminists instead. She was no pleased, and made it known. That talk unfortunately could have taken place a week ago - I think we see it with white liberals a lot. We see it in all industries when they hold conferences - tech only invites men (usually white), except to the one panel on women in tech, where they invite a woman, but she’s also usually white. The problem here, as Lorde elucidates, is that, for example, the patriarchy is part of the problem, and we can’t frame the solution to the problems of patriarchy using the same systems and criteria that the patriarchy set up. We need to acknowledge and inhabit our differences.
There are five other essays in here as well, and the one that I found affected me the most was Uses of Anger: Women Responding to Racism. Lorde looks at why anger is necessary, and why guilt is often ‘just another name for impotence, for defensiveness destructive of communication.’ It made me think of the utter uselessness and dangerousness of white liberals who are so focused on their own white guilt that they can’t move forward in their own anti-racism work. Lorde makes the argument that anger is necessary and good and productive, and translates into action. In a world where the concept of the ‘Angry Black Woman’ is used as a way to discount the opinions shared by Black women whether angry or not, I found this to be an extremely important discussion.
Keep it / Pass to a Friend / Donate it / Toss it:
Keep it show less
People interested in some seriously good essays from a poet and activist.
In a nutshell:
This mini book contains five of Lorde’s essays / speeches on revolution and liberation.
Worth quoting:
“To encourage excellence is to go beyond the encouraged mediocrity of our society.”
“Only within a patriarchal structure is maternity the only social power open to women.”
“Can anyone here still afford to believe that the pursuit of liberation can be the sole and particular province of show more any one particular race, or sex, or age, or religion, or sexuality, or class?
Why I chose it:
This was included in one of my subscription boxes.
Review:
I had heard Lorde’s phrase that is the title of this collection, but I had no idea of the context of it - she had been invited to speak at conference on feminism, was told many different concepts and facets of womanhood and feminist would be represented, and instead was faced with a big group of white feminists instead. She was no pleased, and made it known. That talk unfortunately could have taken place a week ago - I think we see it with white liberals a lot. We see it in all industries when they hold conferences - tech only invites men (usually white), except to the one panel on women in tech, where they invite a woman, but she’s also usually white. The problem here, as Lorde elucidates, is that, for example, the patriarchy is part of the problem, and we can’t frame the solution to the problems of patriarchy using the same systems and criteria that the patriarchy set up. We need to acknowledge and inhabit our differences.
There are five other essays in here as well, and the one that I found affected me the most was Uses of Anger: Women Responding to Racism. Lorde looks at why anger is necessary, and why guilt is often ‘just another name for impotence, for defensiveness destructive of communication.’ It made me think of the utter uselessness and dangerousness of white liberals who are so focused on their own white guilt that they can’t move forward in their own anti-racism work. Lorde makes the argument that anger is necessary and good and productive, and translates into action. In a world where the concept of the ‘Angry Black Woman’ is used as a way to discount the opinions shared by Black women whether angry or not, I found this to be an extremely important discussion.
Keep it / Pass to a Friend / Donate it / Toss it:
Keep it show less
In this "biomythography" Lorde explores the various women who impacted her life, starting with her mother in her childhood, her friend Gennie, and as she grows into young adulthood, the various lovers she had over the years.
This seems to be one of those books that straddle fiction and nonfiction, though it reads like a memoir and includes the emotional truths Lorde experiences as a Black lesbian woman, starting with growing up in Harlem and moving through her young adulthood. The first half show more of the book dealing with her childhood, her mother, and her school friends connected most with me. She kind of lost me when she started talking about her relationships, but I could appreciate the way they each helped her become more herself. It was sometimes harrowing to read - she has an unsafe abortion, and the FBI just casually show up at her door. Lorde explains how, despite being lesbian, she still experienced racism in the gay community and had to deal with not fitting into the molds that even the "gay girls" as she calls them had for relationship roles. Being a Black gay woman in the 1940s and 50s was no easy thing, yet Lorde also experiences joy and love. A powerful read that will stick with me for a long time. show less
This seems to be one of those books that straddle fiction and nonfiction, though it reads like a memoir and includes the emotional truths Lorde experiences as a Black lesbian woman, starting with growing up in Harlem and moving through her young adulthood. The first half show more of the book dealing with her childhood, her mother, and her school friends connected most with me. She kind of lost me when she started talking about her relationships, but I could appreciate the way they each helped her become more herself. It was sometimes harrowing to read - she has an unsafe abortion, and the FBI just casually show up at her door. Lorde explains how, despite being lesbian, she still experienced racism in the gay community and had to deal with not fitting into the molds that even the "gay girls" as she calls them had for relationship roles. Being a Black gay woman in the 1940s and 50s was no easy thing, yet Lorde also experiences joy and love. A powerful read that will stick with me for a long time. show less
Powerful stuff, that is going to stay with me forever. A great collection from an incredible woman. That Lorde's words and insights written 30 years ago remain completely relevant and continue to be true, and her assessment of the truly rotten nature of american society and the world at large in terms of how people are punished for deviating from that mythical "norm" of young, white, able, heterosexual, male, and always pitted against one another, and how horribly evil American foreign show more policy has been with devastating suffering as a result...all of it remains true today and that is both extraordinarily visionary and profoundly sad. Progress and improvement does not happen on its own and in too many cases, is not happening. We must all fight tooth and nail for every bit of progress, social and economic. show less
As the intersection between racism, sexism, homophobia, and other forms of dehumanization gain greater attention, I had to read this books. Lorde's life as a Black lesbian mother really is unique. But as she says, she doesn't want to diminish any of those parts by focusing on them. Instead, at its best ("Scratching the Surface: Some Notes on Barriers to Women and Loving", "The Master's Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master's House", and "Man Child: A Black Lesbian Feminist's Response") she show more unpacks how all of those things tie together. A couple of the pieces were almost too poetic for my taste, but that makes sense seeing as how she is a poet. Still, this is inspired writing and should be read. show less
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Statistics
- Works
- 65
- Also by
- 96
- Members
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- Popularity
- #2,294
- Rating
- 4.2
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- 102
- ISBNs
- 153
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- Favorited
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