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- Maya Angelou. Acclaimed American poet, author and activist Maya Angelou was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1928. Often referred to as a spokesman for African Americans and women through her many works, her gift of words connected all people who were “committed to raising the moral standards of living in the United States.”
- James Baldwin. Though he spent most of his life living abroad to escape the racial prejudice in the United States, James Baldwin is the quintessential American writer.
- Amiri Baraka. Born in 1934, poet, writer and political activist Amiri Baraka used his writing as a weapon against racism and became one of the most widely published African American writers.
- Octavia Butler. In a genre known for being traditionally white and male, Octavia Butler broke new ground in science fiction as an African American woman.
This is a list of notable African American writers ordered alphabetically by surname. The term writers is here broadly defined to include philosophers, critics, journalists, sociologists, and historians as well as poets and novelists. ( See also African American literature .) Robert Abbott. Kwame Alexander.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
This is a list of Black American authors and writers, all of whom are considered part of African-American literature, and who already have Wikipedia articles. The list also includes non-American authors resident in the US and American writers of African descent.
- Maya Angelou. Maya Angelou gestures while speaking in a chair during an interview at her home in 1978. One of the most prolific writers of our time, Black or otherwise, Maya Angelou's storied career spanned several decades and included the publication of everything from poetry and essays to several autobiographies, including 1969's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.
- Zora Neale Hurston. Zora Neale Hurston (1891-1960) at a book fair, New York, New York, circa 1937. The daughter of two formerly enslaved people, Zora Neale Hurston was a prominent figure in the Harlem Renaissance.
- Chinua Achebe. Chinua Achebe (1930-2013), Nigerian novelist, poet and critic. New York City, New York. March 6, 1988. Chinua Achebe's seminal first novel, Things Fall Apart, has sold an estimated 20 million copies and has been translated into more than 50 languages since its 1958 release.
- Langston Hughes. Portrait of American author Langston Hughes (1902 - 1967), a phonograph record in hand, 1954. Langston Hughes summed up his mission in a 1926 manifesto, “The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain,” writing, “We younger Negro artists who create now intend to express our individual dark-skinned selves without fear or shame.
- Reedsy
- The Sellout by Paul Beatty. Buy on Amazon. In The Sellout, Paul Beatty introduces us to a young, Black watermelon-and-weed grower, named Me. When Me’s father is gunned down by police, and his hometown Dickens is erased from the map, he decides to face one injustice by burying it beneath another.
- The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin. Buy on Amazon. Jemisin’s unmissable, triple Hugo-Award-winning trilogy, The Broken Earth, takes place in the Stillness — a world in which society is structured around surviving nuclear winters.
- Beloved by Toni Morrison. Buy on Amazon. The seminal work from a giant of modern literature, Beloved chronicles the experiences of Sethe, an ex-slave living with her daughter in a house haunted by secrets.
- Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. Buy on Amazon. Originally published in 1937, Their Eyes Were Watching God was out of print for nearly 30 years, due to its readers’ initial rejection of its strong, Black, female protagonist.
Apr 25, 2024 · Here’s a list of famous contemporary Black authors: Colson Whitehead, Jacqueline Woodson, James McBride, Jesmyn Ward, Kevin Young, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Kiese Laymon, Roxane Gay, Marlon James, N.K. Jemisin, Tayari Jones, and Terry McMillan.
Feb 2, 2022 · Rachel Cavanaugh. February 2, 2022. Bettmann // Getty Images. Publish this story. 50 Black writers whose impact went beyond the page. Throughout America's history, African American authors have represented a rich and diverse body of literature.
