Rachel Tarby // Blog Writer
Zami: A New Spelling of My Name was written by the profound poet Audre Lorde, who is most well-known for writing about her experiences as both a lesbian woman and a Black woman. The book was published in 1982 and falls under the genre “biomythography.” Biomythography is a genre which combines both biography and myth. In Zami: A New Spelling of My Name, it becomes very evident that, through the telling of Lorde’s life, important lessons can be learned; the book successfully combines both her own biography and the lessons she learned throughout her life. The book follows her experience with growing up, her unstable relationship with her mother, her discoveries within her sexuality, her experiences as a Black woman in racist America, her love for other women in her life, her political views, and her journey of being a Black lesbian in the 1950s.
The book is formatted in chapters that follow Lorde through her coming-of-age experience. The novel begins with experiences in her childhood. Lorde shares her experiences as the only Person of Color in a white private catholic school, the first time her family was turned away from a restaurant because of the color of their skin, the first time she was fascinated by another girl, and her conflicting relationship with her mother. The story follows Lorde through her teenage years, where she experiences her first heartbreak by tragically losing her best friend who was also her first love. Throughout the novel, Lorde connects each aspect of her childhood and teenage years to her later life and shows very well how each lesson learned has affected her in important ways. The novel continues to follow Lorde’s early adulthood and all of the women that she had relationships with in each different place she lived. Lorde learned an important lesson from each woman in her life and story. Although she had loving relationships with women, it was still hidden in a way because of the time she lived in homosexual relations were deeply resented by society. Lorde shows the effects that society’s marginalization of the lesbian community as well as the Black community and how these struggles affected her daily life. An important theme from this book is how Lorde was marginalized within the lesbian community because she was a Black woman, showing the importance and still working journey towards intersectional feminism.
Zami: A New Spelling of My Name drew me in as soon as I began reading it. The stories of Audre Lorde’s life are truly fascinating and put her struggles into perspective. Not only are her stories interesting, but also they leave you thinking and teach you important lessons. The way she writes is very unique and poetic; the book is a captivating read. Zami: A New Spelling of My Name was one of the first books to truly discuss intersectional feminism. Audre Lorde’s journey through her teen years into adulthood includes many life lessons as well as brings awareness to what life is like as a Black lesbian woman in America.