Biography of Audre Lorde

Audre Geraldine Lorde (1934-1992) was raised in Harlem during the Great Depression. Lorde was the third and youngest daughter of parents Linda Belmar and Frederic Lorde. Influenced by her mother's love for words and storytelling, Audre learned to appreciate poetry and the power of language at a very early age. Lorde's academic career began in Catholic grammer schools where she experienced her first instances of racism and hositlity. It was at this time Lorde began to find her literary voice and became an active contributor to her school arts magazine and published her first love poem in Seventeen magazine. Lorde then went on to receive her bachelors degree from Hunter College (1954-1959), and her masters degree in library science from Columbia University in 1961. As a prolific poet, talented teacher and artist, and well known activist, Audre Lorde has been acclaimed as a central figure in a nation wide feminist movement. As a self proclaimed "black, lesbian, feminist, mother, warrior, poet," Lorde's life and career was characterized by her hopefull efforts to establish a better humanity through her teaching, activism, poetry and pros.