Sister Outsider

A collection of essays and speeches written between 1976 and 1984 by the poet who described herself as Black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet. Several pieces are among the most quoted in feminist writing. “Poetry Is Not a Luxury” argues that poetry gives form to feelings that can then become ideas and action. “The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action”, written after a cancer scare, urges readers to speak because silence will not protect them. “Uses of the Erotic” reclaims the erotic as a source of creative power and knowledge. “The Master's Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master's House” criticises a feminist conference for ignoring differences of race, class and sexuality, and “Age, Race, Class, and Sex” argues that difference should be a source of strength rather than division. “The Uses of Anger” defends anger at racism as useful energy. Other pieces include an open letter to Mary Daly and an interview with a fellow poet.

It contains some of the most influential short essays on difference, anger and solidarity, written with a poet's precision, and still widely taught and cited.