Poetry, Language, and Self-Definition

Lorde began writing poetry young and described poetry as a fundamental mode of communication. Across collections such as Coal and The Black Unicorn, she used compressed image and sound to examine Blackness, womanhood, sexuality, family, and power.

Her work rejects the demand that a writer make herself simpler for a dominant audience. Speaking from multiple identities becomes an artistic method as well as a refusal of externally imposed definitions.