Pre-Reading Week Six

Audre Lorde

February 18, 1934 - November 17, 1992

A librarian with an impressive college background, attending Hunter College to earn her bachelors degree in library science, Lorde was going to school to pursue her love of poetry.In 1954 she started to attend the National University of Mexico where she experimented with her lesbian sexuality. When she returned from the National University of Mexico, Lorde worked as a librarian and became a member of the lesbian scene that was emerging in Greenwich Village. Shortly after she decided to pursue her education further and obtained her Masters in Library Science from Columbia University. Lorde married attorney Edward Rollins in 1962, they had two children, and divorced in 1970 but this did not stop Lorde from pursuing her dreams. By this time Lorde had more titles than "librarian" she was also an activist, poet, and teacher. She began to teach classes focused on racism at the city college. She released two books of poems, the first called: "The First Cities" and the second titles "The Cable Rage". Audre was diagnosed with cancer and wrote an autobiography titled "The Cancer Journals". She struggled with cancer for fourteen years, first struggling with breast cancer, then falling victim to liver cancer. She died on November 17, 1992. Lorde was known not only for her poetry or for her romantic style of writing, but also her activism in issues of racism and feminism.

Cherrie Moraga

September 25, 1952 - 

Cherrie Moraga is a Chicana poet who resided from Los Angeles, CA. She earned her bachelors degree from Immaculate Heart College in L.A. and earned her Masters Degree from San Francisco State University. Moraga writes about her experiences of growing up "La Guerra" meaning  fair skinned, born to a Chicana mother and a white father this is what she refers to herself as. But race was not the only thing that provided inspiration to her writing. She was also a lesbian and wrote about her experiences both as a lesbian and a Chicana. She stated in an interview that once she opened up to her mother about her lesbianism  it created a newfound bond between her and her mother and gave her a newfound appreciation for being a Chicana. Moraga had already been writing before this experience but after it happened it really opened up her writing, Cherrie now felt like she could fully express herself without difficulty. She became an educator, teaching writing classes and drama classes at different universities across the U.S. Soon after Moraga started writing plays, these plays dealt with a range of issues, from racism, sexuality and feminism. Moraga is still a playwright to this day, having had her play premiere in January of this year and has had books published as well as published books. 

Word Count: 464