Warrior Poet

A Biography of Audre Lorde

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by Alexis De Beaux

W. W. Norton and Co.

Due/Published April 2004, 512 pages, cloth

ISBN 0393019543

During her lifetime, Audre Lorde (1934-1992) created a mythic identity for herself that retains its vitality to this day. Alexis De Veaux demystifies Lorde's iconic status, charting her childhood in Harlem in the conservative household of Caribbean-immigrant parents; her early marriage to a white, gay man with whom she had two children; her emergence as an outspoken black feminist lesbian poet; and her canonization as a significant poet of American literature. Lorde's restless search for a spiritual home finally brought her to the island of St. Croix in 1986, where she died after a decade-long battle with breast cancer.

Drawing on the private archives of the poet's estate, personal journals, and interviews with members of Lorde's family, friends, and lovers, De Veaux assesses the cultural legacy of a woman who personified the defining civil rights struggles of the twentieth century. This landmark biography pays homage to one of the most courageous, singular voices of American letters. 16 pages of photographs.

Review

“How to write of an Audre Lorde who was brilliant, intimidating, visionary: a woman who was creatively ambitious; financially generous toward other women writers, though she was often barely solvent herself; competitive with respect to her peers; sexually aggressive; vulnerable to any real or perceived racial slight; and at once intensely public and intensely private.” – Alexis De Veaux, Warrior Poet

Given Audre Lorde’s immense presence in the literary world and her active role in various social movements, it is somewhat surprising that this the first biography of the poet. Fortunately, Alexis De Veaux, chair of the Women’s Studies Department at the University of Buffalo (SUNY) is more than up to the daunting task of giving shape to Lorde’s complex and fascinating life. De Veaux’s exceptional biography charts Lorde’s life beginning with her Harlem childhood, living with strict Caribbean-immigrant parents, and ending six years before her death, when she moved to the Carribean after being diagnosed with cancer. In between, De Veaux explores Lorde’s marriage to a gay white man, the birth of her two children, and her coming out as a lesbian. De Veaux intelligently places Lorde’s personal life, her acceptance of various identities, and her belief in the importance of eroticism in the context of her poetry and social activism. Warrior Poet also offers an intelligent analysis of the shifting aesthetic and thematic concerns of Lorde’s poetry. De Veaux’s biography draws upon extensive interviews with Lorde’s friends and colleagues as well readings of the poet’s unpublished journals. In her exploration of the intersections between Lorde’s poetry, politics, and personal life, De Veaux has created a nuanced and insightful portrait of the complex, iconic figure.