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(#1) Gertrude Stein
- Dec. at 72 (1874-1946)
Gertrude Stein is a true icon in the world of feminist literature and poetry. She was famously in a relationship with Alice B. Toklas.
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(#2) Sappho
- Dec. at 55 (624 BC-569 BC)
Sappho's sensual poetic style and themes of female friendship and love have led many to believe that she was a lesbian. The name of her island home – Lesbos – is the root of the term "lesbian."
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(#3) Emily Dickinson
- Dec. at 56 (1830-1886)
Not much is known about Emily Dickinson's private life. However, some believe that she may have had a relationship with her sister-in-law, Susan, due to letters written by the famous poet.
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(#4) Mary Oliver
- 83
Mary Oliver was in a 40-year relationship with her partner, Molly Malone Cook, who died of cancer in 2005.
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(#5) Audre Lorde
- Dec. at 58 (1934-1992)
Audre Lorde described herself as a "black feminist lesbian poet warrior mother." She fought for equal rights with her words and activism until her death from breast cancer in 1992.
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(#6) Kay Ryan
- 73
Openly gay writer and poet Kay Ryan was named U.S. Poet Laureate in 2008. She has been with her partner, Carol Adair, for decades.
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(#7) Adrienne Rich
- Dec. at 83 (1929-2012)
Feminist activist and poet Adrienne Rich helped to start the conversation on identity politics.
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(#8) Elizabeth Bishop
- Dec. at 68 (1911-1979)
Elizabeth Bishop was in a relationship with Lota de Macedo Soares. She was known to spend several years penning a single poem.
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(#9) June Jordan
- Dec. at 66 (1936-2002)
Poet June Jordan has said, "Bisexuality means I am free and I am as likely to want to love a woman as I am likely to want to love a man, and what about that? Isn’t that what freedom implies?"
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(#10) Staceyann Chin
- 46
In 2016, poet Staceyann Chin declared it to be "a good year to be out, to be proud."
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(#11) Marilyn Hacker
- 76
Marilyn Hacker writes about many personal topics in her poetry including her experience as a lesbian, a feminist, and a cancer survivor.
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(#12) Minnie Bruce Pratt
- 72
Author and activist Minnie Bruce Pratt has not only fought for LGBTQ rights, but speaks out against antisemitism and racism. Her book, Crime Against Nature, has been honored with many awards.
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(#13) Djuna Barnes
- Dec. at 90 (1892-1982)
"The truth is how you say it, and to be 'one's self' is the most shocking custom of all," said Djuna Barnes. She had a relationship with Thelma Wood while living in Paris.
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(#14) Judy Grahn
- 78
Judy Grahn, who has published three collections of poetry, co-founded the Gay Women’s Liberation and the Women’s Press Collective in 1969.
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(#15) Eileen Myles
- 70
Eileen Myles' poems were featured in the hit Amazon series, Transparent. She has fearlessly written about feminist issues throughout her career.
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(#16) Alix Olson
- 44
Alix Olson's works have been featured in several volumes of poetry. She has contributed to such publications as The Progressive, The Advocate, Girlfriends Magazine, and OUT Magazine.
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(#19) Andrea Gibson
- 43
Andrea Gibson clarified her thoughts on identity during a Reddit AMA. "I think each individual person is going to have a different relationship with being labeled, by others, by themselves, by culture," she said. "I've found labels at once limit my knowing of myself, and expand it. I try to go day by day and lean towards whatever brings me closer to myself and others in each moment. I identify as queer/genderqueer, I also identify as a dyke, as a boi, and a pansy, and if someone called me a lesbian I would 't necessarily say 'no I'm not' but I wouldn't always say yes, as I don't identify fully as a woman and am not only attracted to people who identify as women."
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(#20) Stacy Szymaszek
- 49
"The first time I got a palpable sense of the suffering of a poet was through reading about Hart Crane," Stacy Szymaszek said in an interview. "What I wanted so badly then, as a refusing young butch lesbian poet, was access—to people’s experiences of their bodies, their relationships, anything you can’t see from the outside/breaking social codes around those things."
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(#22) Maureen Seaton
- 72
Maureen Seaton won the Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Poetry and her book, Venus Examines Her Breast, received the Publisher’s Triangle Audre Lorde Award for Lesbian Poetry.
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(#23) Jenny Factor
- 50
Jenny Factor has had her work featured in Not for the Academy: Lesbian Poets Speak Out and other anthologies.
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(#24) Andrea Jenkins
"Five years from now, with the advent of social media and the internet, I really believe the transgender movement will be where the gay, lesbian, and bisexual movement is now," said Andrea Jenkins.
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(#25) Leslea Newman
Leslea Newman is a poet and children's book author. She wrote the kids' story, Heather Has Two Mommies, the first children's book to portray lesbian families in a positive way.
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(#26) Maya Chinchilla
Maya Chinchilla wrote The Cha Cha Files: A Chapina Poética.
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(#27) Kirya Traber
Kirya Traber is a board member for The Audre Lorde Project.
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(#28) Rogena Mitchell-Jones
According to the Lesbian Authors Guild, Rogena Mitchell-Jones "lives in South Jersey with her wife, Karen, and their extremely pampered cats."
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(#29) Roxana Preciado
Roxana Preciado's book, Not a Fairytale, trades the typical autobiographical prose for poetry.
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(#30) Meg Day
Meg Day won The Publishing Triangle's 2015 Audre Lorde Award for her work.
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(#31) Cathy Arellano
Cathy Arellano refers to herself as "Just another Mexican lesbian writer from San Francisco’s Mission District."
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(#32) Ana Božičević
Ana Bozicevic won the Lambda Literary Award for Best Lesbian Poetry.
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About This Tool
There are many plots about homosexuality in various literature works, and It is no surprise there are countless homosexual poets, especially outstanding lesbian poets who are worthy of admiration. A few outstanding lesbian poets with historical records wrote many beautiful poems and even recorded their own love experiences and feelings, which are collected in the poetry collections. Pride month is approaching, it is a good time to know some queer female poets.
The random tool introduced 32 famous lesbian poets who are influential for the development of modern poetry, they have left lots of great poems we should read. We would like to recommend this interesting tool if you are interested in more hot topics.
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