|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Audre Lourde This phenomenal poet, writer, and essayist was born on February 18, 1924 in Harlem and died of cancer of on November 17, 1992. Born into a poor hard-working Caribbean family at a young age Audre Lourde began to understand struggle at a young and decided that she didn't want to lead that type of life. So Lourde studied hard and got into Hunter College High School while holding down a low paying job for extra cash. It was at work where Lourde first discovered that she had a preference for women and had an affair with a co-worker at the factory she worked at in Connecticut. After high school Lourde was accepted to National University in Mexico, she majored in English literature and dropped out after a year. Lourde became bored with Mexico 3 months after dropping out and moved back to New York. She began to study at Hunter College, worked as a librarian, and, of course, wrote poetry. She attempted to join the Harlem Writers Guild but the overt homophobia of the group led her to leave. She received a BA in literature and philosophy from Hunter in 1959 and an MLS from Columbia University in 1960. She wrote and published her first book of poetry "The First Cities". Lourde wrote more and more over the years and even taught classes at Some of New York's infamous CUNY schools including John Jay College, City College, and Lehman College. Throughout her entire life Lourde was crusader for change and activist for both black and gay rights. In 1974 Lourde was nominated for a National Book Award for her third volume of poetry "Land Where Other People Live". In 1980 after having a mastectomy Lourde was inspired to bring her fight with cancer to the masses when she wrote "The Cancer Journal" (1980) which documented her battle and treatment as both an African-American and a lesbian. Lourde gained critical acclaimed for her intimate portrayal of such a serious medical condition and her book became one of the most sought after books on cancer. |
|
|| Home | Archives | WYP | Staff || Back to the top
|
