Marge Piercy was born to a Detroit Jewish family during the Great Depression.

It was a time when money was tight for her family, with her father doing long hours in the auto industry and her mother an unemployed homemaker, which taught young Marge from an early age about class struggle and survival.

Little did she know, that early groundwork would later go on to shape a strong literary career – one that fused her personal narrative with radical politics.

It was a time when Detroit was defined by its assembly line rhythms yet also deeply divided – not just by union power, but by racial segregation and class – and Piercy absorbed these contradictions, later pouring them into her writing with a voice that never feared speaking out against injustice.

Growing up, Piercy loved going to get books from the Detroit Public Library.

A shy child, words gave her courage.

By the age of 16, she already knew she wanted to be a writer when she graduated high school, and she’d go on to graduate from the University of Michigan with a Hopwood Award for poetry – an early indication that her gift could not be ignored.

Marge then left Detroit after graduation to study at the esteemed Northwestern, yet her work never stopped being defined by the place that had shaped her.

Piercy was a political activist in the 1960s, getting involved in the feminist movement, antiwar movement, and radical politics.

Her work shatters conventions:

Novels that feel like manifestos. Poems that are more like a call to arms. Science fiction mixed with social critique.

She was a visionary feminist writer whose books included “Woman on the Edge of Time” (1976) and poetry collections such as “Breaking Camp,” and “The Moon Is Always Female,” which spoke plainly about women’s lives, sexuality, power, and oppression.

Although Piercy worked her entire career outside of Michigan, Detroit never left her.

Her working-class background informed her politics, her Judaic background gave her a sense of cultural identity, and her memory of Motown’s industrial neighborhoods helped her understand society’s margins.

She often described Detroit as “the place where she first experienced inequality” – long before she ever found the words to describe it.

Piercy has wrote over 20 novels and nearly 20 poetry collections, plays, essays and memoirs.

She has had her work translated into several languages and is a pillar of women’s studies, literature, and political science courses, mainly because she has never separated her activism from her art.

Her work has involved antiwar groups, feminist collectives, and environmental movements, always linking her writing to resistance.

It is evident from the life she’s led that Detroit produces music, industry, and groundbreaking literature equally well.

She has used words as a weapon and refuge – from a rough childhood in Motor City to a successful career as one of America’s top feminist writers.

For Detroit, Piercy is a reminder that the most ordinary homes can birth some of the most extraordinary voices – and that sometimes the most radical thing you can do is tell the truth about the world you live in.

Victoria Jackson (Editor In Chief)

Victoria Jackson is a lifelong student and sharp-eyed documentarian of all things Detroit, from its rich musical roots and cultural icons to its shifting neighborhoods, storied architecture, and underground legends. With her finger firmly on the pulse of both the city’s vibrant past and its rapidly unfolding future, she brings a deeply personal, historically grounded lens to every piece she writes.

Published on: August 22, 2025