Poetry Is Not a Luxury

Argues that poetry is a vital necessity rather than an aesthetic indulgence. Lorde describes poetry as a way of giving language to feelings, possibilities, and forms of knowledge that have not yet been fully articulated.

First published in 1977, the essay is collected in Lorde’s Sister Outsider.

Audre Lorde (1934–1992) was an American poet and essayist who described herself as a Black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet.