Audre Lorde

Audre Lorde was an American poet, essayist, and activist whose work confronted racism, sexism, classism, and homophobia.

Born in New York City on February 18, 1934, to Caribbean immigrant parents, Lorde grew up in Harlem and began writing poetry as a teenager. She published her first collection, The First Cities, in 1968, followed by Coal (1976) and The Black Unicorn (1978). Her essays in Sister Outsider (1984) challenged systems of oppression and reshaped feminist thought.

A leader in feminist, civil rights, and LGBTQ+ activism, Lorde also co-founded Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press, the first U.S. publisher for women of color. After a breast cancer diagnosis, she wrote The Cancer Journals (1980), continuing her activism within the health care space and breaking the silence around women’s health.

She died in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, in 1992.