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Woman of the Week: Audre Lorde


Audre Lorde was a spectacular poet, writing about issues deeply personal to her such as sexism, racism, and her battle with cancer. She had a love for poetry from a young age and always expressed her ideas using lines from poems. If she couldn’t find a poem that described how she was feeling at a moment in time, she would write one herself! Lorde attended Hunter College and then got her master's degree in library science at Columbia University.


Lorde’s career took off when she released her first volume of poetry titled First Cities. Just two years later, she released her second volume entitled Cables to Rage. It was generally critically acclaimed and discussed topics such as her sexual orientation, relationships, and family. Following the success of her work, she would begin teaching at Hunter College and at John Jay College. Her third and fourth volumes From a Land Where Other People Live and New York Head Shop and Museum respectively discussed more global and political issues.


Unfortunately, in 1977, Lorde was diagnosed with breast cancer. It didn’t stop her from writing, however. She released a book titled The Cancer Journals, highlighting her experience battling cancer and getting a mastectomy. This book won the American Library Association's Gay Caucus Book of the Year Award in 1981! Additionally, she co-founded Sisters in Support of Sisters in South Africa (SISA) to raise concerns about black women facing segregation and discrimination. Audre Lorde will forever be remembered as a poet who unapologetically wrote about controversial topics at the time such as gay rights, African American rights, and feminism. Her activism through poetry is still felt today as her work lives on for future generations.

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