Inspired by her experiences of disenfranchisement as a butch lesbian, she became a feminist poet, highly-regarded in underground circles before achieving public fame.
A major influence in her work is Metaformic Theory, tracing the roots of modern culture back to ancient menstrual rites, though she does not regard the philosophy as exclusively feminist.
Grahn described her childhood as taking place in "an economically poor and spiritually depressed late 1950s New Mexico desert town near the hellish border of West Texas.
[2] Grahn experienced a fair amount of homophobia during the odd jobs she did to earn money for school, trying to find housing, and was beat up for her butch attire.
This contributed the basis of the Women's Press Collective (WPC), which strived to devote "itself exclusively to work by lesbians disfranchised by race or class."
"[6] A collection of selected and newer poems, love belongs to those who do the feeling (2008) won the 2009 Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Poetry.
[7] Grahn's poetry has been used as a source of empowerment and a way to reestablish possession of words and signs of lesbian culture that are often used as derogatory by outsiders.
In a short poem from the She Who collection (1971–1972) she confidently asserts, "I am the dyke in the matter, the other / I am the wall with the womanly swagger / I am the dragon, the dangerous dagger / I am the bulldyke, the bulldagger.
"[4] In 1993, Grahn wrote her second book, Blood, Bread, and Roses: How Menstruation Created the World which focuses on menstrual rituals as the origin of human civilization by using anthropology, history, archeology, myths, and stories.
She argues for its "extraordinary impact on its audiences and readers", and attributes this to "Grahn's assumption of an utterly believable, vulnerable poetic voice that fearlessly and scrupulously speaks the truth to an overwhelming but nonetheless nameable, identifiable, and therefore negotiable power.
The couple held regular Sunday gatherings at Mama Bears Coffeehouse and Bookstore on Telegraph Avenue in north Berkeley, to discuss topics related to women’s spirituality.
[15] In 2022, she received the Second Annual Reginald Martin Award for Excellence in Criticism from PEN Oakland for Eruptions of Inanna: Justice, Gender, and Erotic Power.