List of African-American writers
Encyclopedia
This is a list of African American
author
s and writer
s, all of whom are considered part of African American literature
.
Note: Consult Who is African American? to gain a better sense as to who can be listed as an African American writer.
See also
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
s and writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
s, all of whom are considered part of African American literature
African American literature
African-American literature is the body of literature produced in the United States by writers of African descent. The genre traces its origins to the works of such late 18th century writers as Phillis Wheatley and Olaudah Equiano, reaching early high points with slave narratives and the Harlem...
.
Note: Consult Who is African American? to gain a better sense as to who can be listed as an African American writer.
See also
A
- Larry D. AlexanderLarry D. AlexanderLarry Dell Alexander is an American artist, Christian author and teacher from Dermott, Arkansas in Chicot County. Alexander is best known for his creations of colorful and black & white "pen and ink" drawings in his "crosshatching" technique, and, his personal rendition of a "Clinton Family...
(born 1953) author and artist - Zamounde S. Allie Jr.Zamounde S. Allie Jr.Zamounde S. Allie, Jr. , is an American poet from Detroit, Michigan. He is the author of two books of poetry, As the World Burns and The First Time I: Performance Poetry and More , and also has works featured in the anthology Journey to TimBookTu: An African-American Poetic Odyssey...
(born 1965) author and poet - Muhammad AliMuhammad AliMuhammad Ali is an American former professional boxer, philanthropist and social activist...
- Maya AngelouMaya AngelouMaya Angelou is an American author and poet who has been called "America's most visible black female autobiographer" by scholar Joanne M. Braxton. She is best known for her series of six autobiographical volumes, which focus on her childhood and early adult experiences. The first and most highly...
(born 1928), author and poet - Tina McElroy AnsaTina McElroy AnsaTina McElroy Ansa is an African American novelist, filmmaker, teacher, and journalist. Born Tina McElroy to Walter J. and Nellie McElroy in Macon, Georgia, where she grew up in the Pleasant Hill neighborhood...
- M.K. Asante, Jr., author, poet, screenwriter, professor
- Jabari AsimJabari AsimJabari Asim is an associate professor of writing, literature and publishing at Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts., and since August 2007, has been the Editor-in-Chief of The Crisis magazine, a journal of politics, ideas and culture published by the NAACP and founded by historian and social...
- Mechelle AveyMechelle AveyFelice Mechelle Avey is an African-American author. Avey founded the now-defunct Multicultural Writers Group on AOL. After the group disbanded, Avey completed her first novel: A Lifetime Loving You, which she self-published under the Cadeau imprint for Yeva Corporation. Avey's second book: Ms...
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- Michael BaisdenMichael BaisdenMichael Baisden is an American author, motivational speaker, host of the TV One talk show Baisden After Dark, and host of his own nationally-syndicated radio show.-Career:...
- James BaldwinJames Baldwin (writer)James Arthur Baldwin was an American novelist, essayist, playwright, poet, and social critic.Baldwin's essays, for instance "Notes of a Native Son" , explore palpable yet unspoken intricacies of racial, sexual, and class distinctions in Western societies, most notably in mid-20th century America,...
(1924–1987), - Toni Cade BambaraToni Cade BambaraToni Cade Bambara, born Miltona Mirkin Cade was an African-American author, documentary film-maker, social activist and college professor.- Biography :...
- Leslie Esdaile BanksLeslie Esdaile BanksLeslie Esdaile Banks was an American writer. She wrote in various genres, including African American literature, romance, women's fiction, crime suspense, dark fantasy/horror and non-fiction...
- Amiri BarakaAmiri BarakaAmiri Baraka , formerly known as LeRoi Jones, is an American writer of poetry, drama, fiction, essays, and music criticism...
- Steven BarnesSteven BarnesSteven Barnes is an African American science fiction writer, lecturer, creative consultant, and human performance technician....
- Carol S. BateyCarol S. BateyDr. Carol S. Batey was born in Nashville, Tennessee on September 11, 1955. At the age of 49, she decided to change her life after 21 years of marriage. By the age of 54, she was a professional model contracted to a major modeling agency...
- Paul BeattyPaul BeattyPaul Beatty is a contemporary African-American author. Beatty received an MFA in creative writing from Brooklyn College and an MA in psychology from Boston University. A 1980 graduate of El Camino Real High School in Woodland Hills, California.In 1990, Paul Beatty was crowned the first ever Grand...
- Derrick BellDerrick BellDerrick Albert Bell, Jr. was the first tenured African-American professor of Law at Harvard University, and largely credited as the originator of Critical Race Theory. He was the former dean of the University of Oregon School of Law.- Education and early career :Born in the Hill District of...
- Lerone Bennett, Jr.Lerone Bennett, Jr.Lerone Bennett, Jr. is an African-American scholar, author and social historian, known for his revisionist analysis of race relations in the United States. His works include "When the Wind Blows" and "History of Us".-Biography:...
- Bertice BerryBertice BerryDr. Bertice Berry is an American sociologist, author, lecturer, and educator.Berry grew up in Wilmington, Delaware. She graduated magna cum laude from Jacksonville University in Florida, and earned a Ph.D. in sociology from Kent State University in Ohio, at the age of 26.She later worked as an...
- Kole BlackKole BlackKole Black is an African-American screenwriter and author. He is the co-creator of Over The Rhine: The Series, a crime drama that centers around a Cincinnati police officer in the homicide unit who is investigating a series of brutal slayings in the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood...
- Marita BonnerMarita BonnerMarita Bonner was an African American writer, essayist, and playwright who is commonly associated with the Harlem Renaissance. She was also known as Marita Occomy, Marita Odette Bonner, Marita Odette Bonner Occomy, Marita Bonner Occomy, Joseph Maree Andrew.- Life :Marita Bonner was born in Boston...
- Arna BontempsArna BontempsArnaud "Arna" Wendell Bontemps was an American poet and a noted member of the Harlem Renaissance.- Life and career :...
- David Bradley (novelist)David Bradley (novelist)David Henry Bradley, Jr. is an associate professor of creative writing at the University of Oregon and author of South Street and the The Chaneysville Incident, which won the PEN/Faulkner Award in 1982....
- Gwendolyn BrooksGwendolyn BrooksGwendolyn Elizabeth Brooks was an American poet. She was appointed Poet Laureate of Illinois in 1968 and Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1985.-Biography:...
- Claude BrownClaude BrownClaude Brown is the author ofManchild in the Promised Land, published to critical acclaim in 1965, which tells the story of his coming of age during the 1940s and 1950s in Harlem...
- Hallie Quinn BrownHallie Quinn BrownHallie Quinn Brown was an African American educator, writer and activist.-Biography:Brown was born March 10, 1850 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, one of six children. Her parents Frances Jane Scroggins and Thomas Arthur Brown were freed slaves. She attended Wilberforce University in Ohio, gaining a...
- Sterling A. BrownSterling Allen BrownSterling Allen Brown was an African-American professor, author of works on folklore, poet and literary critic. He was interested chiefly in black culture of the Southern United States.-Early life:...
(1901–1989), poet, literary critic, professor, poet laureate of the District of Columbia - William Wells BrownWilliam Wells BrownWilliam Wells Brown was a prominent African-American abolitionist lecturer, novelist, playwright, and historian. Born into slavery in the Southern United States, Brown escaped to the North in 1834, where he worked for abolitionist causes and was a prolific writer...
- Ed BullinsEd BullinsEd Bullins is an African American playwright. He was also the Minister of Culture for the Black Panthers. In addition, he has won numerous awards, including the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award and several Obies. He is one of the best known playwrights to come from the Black Arts Movement...
- Olivia Ward BushOlivia Ward BushOlivia Ward Bush Banks was an American author, poet and journalist of African American and Montaukett Native American descent. Ward celebrated both of her heritages in her poetry and writing...
- Octavia Butler
- Ida B. WellsIda B. WellsIda Bell Wells-Barnett was an African American journalist, newspaper editor and, with her husband, newspaper owner Ferdinand L. Barnett, an early leader in the civil rights movement. She documented lynching in the United States, showing how it was often a way to control or punish blacks who...
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- Bebe Moore CampbellBebe Moore CampbellBebe Moore Campbell , was the author of three New York Times bestsellers, Brothers and Sisters, Singing in the Comeback Choir, and What You Owe Me, which was also a Los Angeles Times "Best Book of 2001"...
- Stokely CarmichaelStokely CarmichaelKwame Ture , also known as Stokely Carmichael, was a Trinidadian-American black activist active in the 1960s American Civil Rights Movement. He rose to prominence first as a leader of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and later as the "Honorary Prime Minister" of the Black Panther Party...
- Ben CarsonBen CarsonBenjamin Solomon "Ben" Carson, Sr., M.D., is an American neurosurgeon and the Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States by President George W...
- Stephen L. CarterStephen L. CarterStephen L. Carter is an American law professor, legal- and social-policy writer, columnist, and best-selling novelist.-Education:...
- Cyrus CassellsCyrus Cassells-Life and work:Cassells was born in Dover, Delaware, grew up in the Mojave Desert north of Los Angeles, and began writing poetry in high school. He graduated in 1979 from Stanford University with a degree in film and broadcasting, and landed a job creating poetry filmstrips in the film division of...
- Charles W. ChesnuttCharles W. ChesnuttCharles Waddell Chesnutt was an American author, essayist, political activist and lawyer, best known for his novels and short stories exploring complex issues of racial and social identity in the post-Civil War South, where the legacy of slavery and interracial relations had resulted in many free...
(1858–1932), novelist and short-story writer - Cheril N. ClarkeCheril N. ClarkeCheril N. Clarke is a Canadian-born contemporary author and playwright of gay and lesbian romance, drama and comedy. She has lived in the United States for the majority of her life. Though born in Toronto, Canada, Clarke’s family moved to Miami, FL when she was just six months old...
- John Henrik ClarkeJohn Henrik ClarkeJohn Henrik Clarke , born John Henry Clark, was a Pan-Africanist American writer, historian, professor, and a pioneer in the creation of Africana studies and professional institutions in academia starting in the late 1960s.He was Professor of African World History and in 1969 founding chairman of...
- Troy CLETroy CLETroy Tompkins, known as Troy CLE, is an American fiction writer from East Orange, New Jersey. He is the author of The Marvelous Effect, the first book in The Marvelous World Saga. The book follows young African-American protagonist Louis Proof. The book was released by Simon & Schuster and Random...
- Pearl CleagePearl CleagePearl Cleage is an African-American author whose work, both fiction and non-fiction, has been widely recognized. Her novel, What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day was a 1998 Oprah’s Book Club selection. Cleage is known for her feminist views, particularly regarding her identity as an...
- Eldridge CleaverEldridge CleaverLeroy Eldridge Cleaver better known as Eldridge Cleaver, was a leading member of the Black Panther Party and a writer...
- Michelle CliffMichelle CliffMichelle Cliff is a Jamaican-American author whose notable works include No Telephone to Heaven, Abeng and Free Enterprise.Cliff also has written short stories, prose poems and works of literary criticism...
- Lucille CliftonLucille CliftonLucille Clifton was an American writer and educator from Buffalo, New York. From 1979–1985 she was Poet Laureate of Maryland...
- Wendy Coakley-ThompsonWendy Coakley-ThompsonWendy Coakley-Thompson , is a mainstream fiction author. Coakley-Thompson's work is part of emerging millennial contemporary African American literature...
- Wanda ColemanWanda ColemanWanda Coleman is an American poet. She is known as "the L.A. Blueswoman," and "the unofficial poet laureate of Los Angeles."-Biography:...
- Marvel CookeMarvel CookeMarvel Cooke was an American journalist, writer, and civil rights activist. She was the first African American woman to work at a mainstream white-owned newspaper....
- Anna J. CooperAnna J. CooperAnna Julia Haywood Cooper was an author, educator, speaker and one of the most prominent African American scholars in United States history. Upon receiving her Ph.D in history from the University of Paris-Sorbonne in 1924, Cooper became the fourth African American woman to earn a doctoral degree...
- J. California CooperJ. California CooperJ. California Cooper is an African American playwright and author.Alice Walker has said that "Her style is deceptively simple and direct and the vale of tears in which her characters reside is never so deep that a rich chuckle at a foolish person's foolishness cannot be heard."-Bibliography:* 1984:...
- Jayne CortezJayne CortezJayne Cortez is an American poet, and performance artist.-Biography:She grew up in California. She is the author of ten books of poems and performer of her poetry with music on nine recordings. Her voice is celebrated for its political, surrealistic, dynamic innovations in lyricism, and visceral...
- Bill CosbyBill CosbyWilliam Henry "Bill" Cosby, Jr. is an American comedian, actor, author, television producer, educator, musician and activist. A veteran stand-up performer, he got his start at various clubs, then landed a starring role in the 1960s action show, I Spy. He later starred in his own series, the...
- Donald CrewsDonald CrewsDonald Crews is a U.S. writer and illustrator of several well-known children's picture books. He won the Caldecott Honor twice. Common subjects of his include modern technology , and childhood memories. His stories often include few humans.-Biography:Donald Crews was born in Newark, New Jersey, in...
, (born 1938), children's book author. - Stanley CrouchStanley CrouchStanley Crouch is an American music and cultural critic, syndicated columnist, and novelist, perhaps best known for his jazz criticism, and his novel Don't the Moon Look Lonesome?- Biography :...
- Countee CullenCountee CullenCountee Cullen was an American poet who was popular during the Harlem Renaissance.- Biography :Cullen was an American poet and a leading figure with Langston Hughes in the Harlem Renaissance. This 1920s artistic movement produced the first large body of work in the United States written by African...
- Christopher Paul CurtisChristopher Paul CurtisChristopher Paul Curtis is an American children's author and a Newbery Medal winner who wrote The Watsons Go to Birmingham: 1963 and the critically acclaimed Bud, Not Buddy. Bud, Not Buddy is the first novel to receive both the Coretta Scott King Award and the Newbery Medal...
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- Jeffrey DanielsJeffrey Daniels (author)Jeffrey Sean Daniels is a Chicago-raised African American poet, artist, and professor at Harold Washington College. He has previously taught at Columbia College Chicago and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.-Works:...
- Angela DavisAngela DavisAngela Davis is an American political activist, scholar, and author. Davis was most politically active during the late 1960s through the 1970s and was associated with the Communist Party USA, the Civil Rights Movement and the Black Panther Party...
- Frank Marshall DavisFrank Marshall DavisFrank Marshall Davis was an American journalist, poet, and political and labor movement activist.-Early life:...
- Samuel R. DelanySamuel R. DelanySamuel Ray Delany, Jr., also known as "Chip" is an American author, professor and literary critic. His work includes a number of novels, many in the science fiction genre, as well as memoir, criticism, and essays on sexuality and society.His science fiction novels include Babel-17, The Einstein...
(born 1942), novelist - Eric Jerome DickeyEric Jerome DickeyEric Jerome Dickey is a New York Times best-selling American author best known for his novels about contemporary African-American life...
- Anita Doreen DiggsAnita Doreen DiggsAnita Doreen Diggs is an American editor, novelist, and lecturer.Diggs grew up in New York City where she attended public schools in the Hell's Kitchen section of Manhattan....
- Lonnie DixonLonnie DixonLonnie Dixon is a NCAA Division I men’s basketball official, working in the Mountain West Conference, Big 12 Conference, Sun Belt Conference, and several other conferences.-Controversy:...
- Frederick DouglassFrederick DouglassFrederick Douglass was an American social reformer, orator, writer and statesman. After escaping from slavery, he became a leader of the abolitionist movement, gaining note for his dazzling oratory and incisive antislavery writing...
- Rita DoveRita DoveRita Frances Dove is an American poet and author. From 1993-1995 she served as Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress, a position now popularly known as "U.S. Poet Laureate"...
- Sharon DraperSharon DraperSharon M. Draper is an African-American author who has won multiple awards for her books, including the Coretta Scott King Award for Forged by Fire and Copper Sun ....
- W. E. B. Du Bois
- Henry DumasHenry DumasHenry Dumas was an African American writer and poet.Dumas was born in Sweet Home, Arkansas in 1934 and he lived there until the age of ten, when he moved to New York City; however, he always kept with him the religious and folk traditions of his hometown. In Harlem, he attended public school and...
- Paul Laurence DunbarPaul Laurence DunbarPaul Laurence Dunbar was a seminal African American poet of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Dunbar gained national recognition for his 1896 "Ode to Ethiopia", one poem in the collection Lyrics of Lowly Life....
(1872–1906), poet - Alice Dunbar-Nelson
- David Anthony DurhamDavid Anthony DurhamDavid Anthony Durham is an American novelist, author of historical fiction and fantasy.Durham's first novel, Gabriel's Story, centered on African American settlers in the American West. Walk Through Darkness followed a runaway slave during the tense times leading up to the American Civil War...
- Michael Eric Dyson
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- Jessie Fauset
- Antwone FisherAntwone FisherAntwone Quenton Fisher is an American director, screenwriter, author and film producer. His 2001 autobiographical book Finding Fish is a New York Times Best Seller...
- Rudolph FisherRudolph FisherRudolph Fisher was an African-American physician, radiologist, novelist, short story writer, dramatist, musician, and orator. Fisher's parents were John Wesley Fisher, a clergyman, and Glendora Williamson. Fisher had three children.His first published work, "City of Refuge", appeared in the...
- Sharon G. FlakeSharon G. FlakeSharon Flake is an author of young adult literature. She was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and has resided in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with her daughter for many years...
- Leon ForrestLeon ForrestLeon Richard Forrest was an African American novelist. His novels concerned mythology, history, and Chicago....
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- Ernest GainesErnest GainesErnest James Gaines is an African-American author. His works have been taught in college classrooms and translated into many languages, including French, Spanish, German, Russian and Chinese. Four of his works have been made into television movies.His 1993 novel, A Lesson Before Dying, won the...
(born 1933), fiction writer - Marcus GarveyMarcus GarveyMarcus Mosiah Garvey, Jr., ONH was a Jamaican publisher, journalist, entrepreneur, and orator who was a staunch proponent of the Black Nationalism and Pan-Africanism movements, to which end he founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League...
- Henry Louis Gates, Jr.Henry Louis Gates, Jr.Henry Louis “Skip” Gates, Jr., is an American literary critic, educator, scholar, writer, editor, and public intellectual. He was the first African American to receive the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Fellowship. He has received numerous honorary degrees and awards for his teaching, research, and...
- Nikki GiovanniNikki GiovanniYolande Cornelia "Nikki" Giovanni is an American poet, writer, commentator, activist, and educator. Her primary focus is on the individual and the power one has to make a difference in oneself and in the lives of others. Giovanni’s poetry expresses strong racial pride, respect for family, and her...
- Roy GlennRoy Glenn-Career:Glenn's career spanned five decades, beginning in radio with shows such as Amos 'n Andy and The Jack Benny Show. He made numerous appearances on television, from its early days until 1970. His first film appearance was in 1937; his career included roles in A Raisin in the Sun , with Sidney...
(fiction writer of Is It A Crime, Payback and others) - Donald GoinesDonald GoinesDonald Goines was an African American writer of urban fiction. His novels were deeply influenced by the work of Iceberg Slim.-Life:...
- Lawrence Otis GrahamLawrence Otis GrahamLawrence Otis Graham is an African-American attorney, speaker, and a named best-selling author by The New York Times.-Biography:Lawrence Otis Graham was born in New York, New York and raised in Westchester County, NY....
- Dick GregoryDick GregoryRichard Claxton "Dick" Gregory is an American comedian, social activist, social critic, writer, and entrepreneur....
- Sutton E. GriggsSutton E. GriggsSutton Elbert Griggs was an African American author, Baptist minister, and social activist. He is best known for his novel Imperium in Imperio, a utopian work that envisions a separate African American state within the United States.-Life:Griggs was born Elbert Sutton Griggs in 1872 in...
- Angelina Weld GrimkeAngelina Weld GrimkeAngelina Weld Grimké was an African-American journalist, teacher, playwright and poet who was part of the Harlem Renaissance and was one of the first African-American women to have a play performed.- Biography :...
- Charlotte Forten GrimkéCharlotte Forten GrimkéCharlotte Louise Bridges Forten Grimké was an African-American anti-slavery activist, poet, and educator.-Biography:...
- John Langston GwaltneyJohn Langston GwaltneyJohn Langston Gwaltney was an African-American writer and anthropologist focused on African American culture, best known for his book Drylongso: A Self Portrait of Black America.-Academic background:...
, anthropologist, author of Drylongso
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- Alex HaleyAlex HaleyAlexander Murray Palmer Haley was an African-American writer. He is best known as the author of Roots: The Saga of an American Family and the coauthor of The Autobiography of Malcolm X.-Early life:...
- Virginia HamiltonVirginia HamiltonVirginia Esther Hamilton was an award-winning author of children's books. She wrote 41 books, including M. C. Higgins, the Great, for which she won the National Book Award in 1974 and the 1975 Newbery Medal....
- Henry HamptonHenry HamptonHenry Hampton was an American filmmaker. He was the son of surgeon Henry Hampton Sr. and Julia Veva Hampton. A native of St. Louis, Missouri, Hampton would later move to Boston where he founded his film production company Blackside, Inc., in 1968. It became one of the largest minority-owned...
- Lorraine HansberryLorraine HansberryLorraine Hansberry was an African American playwright and author of political speeches, letters, and essays...
- Vincent HardingVincent HardingVincent Gordon Harding is an African American historian and a scholar of religion and society. An activist as well, he is best known for his work with and writings about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.-Education:...
- Montice L. Harmon
- Frances HarperFrances HarperFrances Ellen Watkins Harper was an African American abolitionist and poet. Born free in Baltimore, Maryland, she had a long and prolific career, publishing her first book of poetry at twenty and her first novel, the widely praised Iola Leroy, at age 67.-Life and works:Frances Ellen Watkins was...
- E. Lynn HarrisE. Lynn HarrisEverette "E." Lynn Harris was an American author. Openly gay, he was best known for his depictions of African American men who were on the down-low and closeted...
- Robert HaydenRobert HaydenRobert Hayden was an American poet, essayist, educator. He was appointed Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1976.-Biography:...
- Chester HimesChester HimesChester Bomar Himes was an American writer. His works include If He Hollers Let Him Go and a series of Harlem Detective novels...
- Kameisha Jerae HodgeKameisha Jerae HodgeKameisha Jerae Hodge was born on November 1, 1989 and is an African American writer from Washington, D.C. Rising to prominence in 2007, her activity in the literary and media communities became promising. Kameisha became locally recognized and continued writing - delving mostly into journalism and...
- Corey J. HodgesCorey J. HodgesCorey James Hodges is an African-American preacher and a columnist for The Salt Lake Tribune Newspaper. He is a regular host of the television program This week in the Word which airs weekly on Utah's KTMW...
- bell hooksBell hooksGloria Jean Watkins , better known by her pen name bell hooks, is an American author, feminist, and social activist....
(sic) - Pauline HopkinsPauline HopkinsPauline Elizabeth Hopkins was a prominent African-American novelist, journalist, playwright, historian, and editor. She is considered a pioneer in her use of the romantic novel to explore social and racial themes. Her work reflects the influence of W. E. B...
- Nalo HopkinsonNalo HopkinsonNalo Hopkinson is a Jamaican science fiction and fantasy writer and editor who lives in Canada. Her novels and short stories such as those in her collection Skin Folk often draw on Caribbean history and language, and its traditions of oral and written storytelling.Hopkinson has...
- George Moses HortonGeorge Moses HortonGeorge Moses Horton was an African-American poet.-Biography:He was born into slavery on William Horton's plantation in Northampton County, North Carolina. As a very young child, he and several family members were moved to a tobacco farm in rural Chatham County, when his owner relocated. Horton...
- Detrick HughesDetrick HughesDetrick Oliver Hughes, best known as Detrick Hughes, is an American Poet, and spoken word artist. Hughes is known for urban commentary and life expressions offered via the genre of poetry.-Personal:...
- Langston HughesLangston HughesJames Mercer Langston Hughes was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist. He was one of the earliest innovators of the then-new literary art form jazz poetry. Hughes is best known for his work during the Harlem Renaissance...
(1902–1967), Poet - Zora Neale HurstonZora Neale HurstonZora Neale Hurston was an American folklorist, anthropologist, and author during the time of the Harlem Renaissance...
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- Brenda JacksonBrenda JacksonBrenda Jackson is an American novelist who writes contemporary multicultural romance novels. She was the first African-American author to have a novel published as part of the Silhouette Desire line, and has seen many of her novels reach the USAToday Bestseller list.-Biography:Brenda Jackson was...
- Jesse C. JacksonJesse C. JacksonJesse Jackson, was an African-American novelist, born in Columbus, Ohio in 1908.Jackson was one of the first young adult novelists whose works focused on contemporary experiences of African-American children, often those experiencing life as a minority in a white community...
(born 1908), young-adult novelist - Harriet Jacobs
- T.D. Jakes
- John JeaJohn JeaJohn Jea was an African-American slave, best known for his 1811 autobiography, The Life, History, and Unparalleled Sufferings of John Jea, the African Preacher.-Biography:...
- Georgia Douglas JohnsonGeorgia Douglas JohnsonGeorgia Blanche Douglas Camp Johnson better known as Georgia Douglas Johnson was an American poet and a member of the Harlem Renaissance.-Early life and education:...
- Helene JohnsonHelene JohnsonHelen Johnson, who was better known as Helene Johnson was an African American poet during the Harlem Renaissance. She was also a cousin of author Dorothy West.She spent her early years at her grandfather’s house in Boston...
- Charles R. JohnsonCharles R. JohnsonCharles R. Johnson is an American scholar and author of novels, short stories, and essays. Johnson, an African-American, has directly addressed the issues of black life in America in novels such as Middle Passage and Dreamer....
- James Weldon JohnsonJames Weldon JohnsonJames Weldon Johnson was an American author, politician, diplomat, critic, journalist, poet, anthologist, educator, lawyer, songwriter, and early civil rights activist. Johnson is remembered best for his leadership within the NAACP, as well as for his writing, which includes novels, poems, and...
- Mat JohnsonMat JohnsonMat Johnson is an American writer of literary fiction.-Biography:Born and raised in the Germantown and Mount Airy, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Johnson writes primarily about the lives of African-Americans, using fiction, nonfiction and graphic novels as mediums...
- Edward P. JonesEdward P. JonesEdward Paul Jones is an American novelist and short story writer. His 2003 novel The Known World received the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.-Biography:...
- Gayl JonesGayl JonesGayl Jones is an African American writer from Lexington, Kentucky.-Early life:After earning the Frances Steloff Award for Fiction while attending Connecticut College, Jones graduated with a Masters in creative writing at Brown University.-Career:The same year, she published her first book...
- Tayari JonesTayari JonesTayari Jones is an African American author and winner of the Hurston-Wright Legacy Award for Debut Fiction...
- June JordanJune JordanJune Millicent Jordan was a Caribbean American poet, novelist, journalist, biographer, dramatist, teacher and committed activist...
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- Ron KarengaRon KarengaMaulana Karenga is an African-American professor of Africana Studies, scholar/activist, author and best known as the creator of the pan-African and African American holiday of Kwanzaa...
- Elizabeth Keckley
- Randall KenanRandall KenanRandall Kenan is an American author of fiction and nonfiction. Raised in a rural community in North Carolina, Kenan has focused his fiction on what it means to be black and gay in the southern United States. Among his books is the collection of short stories Let the Dead Bury Their Dead, which was...
- John Oliver KillensJohn Oliver KillensJohn Oliver Killens was a black American fiction writer whose novels of African American life received two Pulitzer Prize nominations.-Early life and education:...
- Jamaica KincaidJamaica KincaidJamaica Kincaid is a Caribbean novelist, gardener, and gardening writer. She was born in the city of St. John's on the island of Antigua in the nation of Antigua and Barbuda...
- Martin Luther King, Jr.Martin Luther King, Jr.Martin Luther King, Jr. was an American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for being an iconic figure in the advancement of civil rights in the United States and around the world, using nonviolent methods following the...
- Etheridge KnightEtheridge KnightEtheridge Knight was an African-American poet who became a notable poet in 1968 with his debut volume, Poems from Prison. The book recalls in verse his eight-year-long sentence after Etheridge was arrested for robbery in 1960...
- Yusef KomunyakaaYusef KomunyakaaYusef Komunyakaa is an American poet who currently teaches at New York University and is a member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers. Komunyakaa is a recipient of the 1994 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award, for Neon Vernacular and the 1994 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. He also received the Ruth Lilly...
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- Nella LarsenNella LarsenNellallitea 'Nella' Larsen Nellallitea 'Nella' Larsen Nellallitea 'Nella' Larsen (born Nellie Walker (April 13, 1891 – March 30, 1964), was an American novelist of the Harlem Renaissance. She published two novels and a few short stories. Though her literary output was scant, what she wrote earned...
(1891–1964), novelist - Victor LaValle
- David Levering LewisDavid Levering LewisDavid Levering Lewis is the Julius Silver University Professor and Professor of History at New York University. He is twice winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography, for part one and part two of his biography of W. E. B. Du Bois...
- Alain Locke
- Audre LordeAudre LordeAudre Lorde was a Caribbean-American writer, poet and activist.-Life:...
(1934–1992), author, poet, activist - Glenville LovellGlenville LovellGlenville Lovell is a writer, dancer, novelist and playwright.Lovell was born in a Chattel house in Parish Land, Christ Church, Barbados and grew up around rich storytelling among the sugar cane workers. His first novel, Fire in the Canes was published in 1995 and was met with critical acclaim...
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- Nathaniel MackeyNathaniel MackeyNathaniel Mackey is an American poet, novelist, anthologist, literary critic, editor and Professor of Literature at UC Santa Cruz. Mackey is a Chancellor of The Academy of American Poets. Mackey is currently teaching a poetry workshop at Duke University....
- Haki R. MadhubutiHaki R. MadhubutiHaki R. Madhubuti is a renowned African-American author, educator, and poet. He received a Master of Fine Arts degree from the Iowa Writers' Workshop at the University of Iowa, and served in the U.S...
- Manning MarableManning MarableWilliam Manning Marable was an American professor of public affairs, history and African-American Studies at Columbia University. Marable founded and directed the Institute for Research in African-American Studies. Marable authored several texts and was active in progressive political causes...
- Paule MarshallPaule MarshallPaule Marshall is an American author. She was born Valenza Pauline Burke in Brooklyn to Barbadian parents and educated at Girls High School, Brooklyn College and Hunter College . Early in her career, she wrote poetry, but later returned to prose...
- Hans MassaquoiHans MassaquoiHans-Jürgen Massaquoi is a German American journalist and author. He was born in Hamburg, Germany, to a German mother and Liberian Vai father, the grandson of Momulu Massaquoi the consul general of Liberia in Germany at the time....
- Brandon MasseyBrandon MasseyBrandon Massey was born June 9, 1973, in Waukegan, Illinois. He grew up in Zion, a suburb north of Chicago. Brandon is a writer of thriller fiction who has at this writing six published novels, one story collection, and has edited three anthologies....
- Nathan McCallNathan McCallNathan McCall is an African-American author who grew up in the Cavalier Manor section of Portsmouth, Virginia.As the stepson of a Navy man, McCall also grew up in various locations, such as Morocco and Norfolk, Virginia. After serving three years in prison, he studied journalism at Norfolk State...
- Claude McKayClaude McKayClaude McKay was a Jamaican-American writer and poet. He was a seminal figure in the Harlem Renaissance and wrote three novels: Home to Harlem , a best-seller which won the Harmon Gold Award for Literature, Banjo , and Banana Bottom...
- Terry McMillanTerry McMillanTerry McMillan is an American author. Her interest in books comes from working at a library when she was sixteen. She received her BA in journalism in 1986 at University of California, Berkeley. Her work is characterized by strong female protagonists.Her first book, Mama, was published in 1987...
- James Alan McPhersonJames Alan McPherson-External links:*...
- Oscar MicheauxOscar MicheauxOscar Devereaux Micheaux was an American author, film director and independent producer of more than 44 films...
- E. Ethelbert MillerE. Ethelbert MillerEugene Ethelbert Miller, best known as E. Ethelbert Miller is an African American poet and teacher.-Life:...
- Mary MonroeMary MonroeMary Monroe is a New York Times bestselling African-American fiction author. Her first novel, The Upper Room, was published by St. Martin's Press in 1985...
- Anne MoodyAnne MoodyAnne Moody is an African-American author who has written about her experiences growing up poor and black in rural Mississippi, joining the Civil Rights Movement, and fighting racism against blacks in the United States beginning in the 1960s-Life:Born Essie Mae Moody, she was the oldest of nine...
- Toni MorrisonToni MorrisonToni Morrison is a Nobel Prize and Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist, editor, and professor. Her novels are known for their epic themes, vivid dialogue, and richly detailed characters. Among her best known novels are The Bluest Eye, Song of Solomon and Beloved...
(born 1931), author, Nobel laureateNobel PrizeThe Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
1993 - Walter MosleyWalter MosleyWalter Ellis Mosley is an American novelist, most widely recognized for his crime fiction. He has written a series of best-selling historical mysteries featuring the hard-boiled detective Easy Rawlins, a black private investigator and World War II veteran living in the Watts neighborhood of Los...
- Thylias MossThylias MossThylias Moss is an American poet, writer, experimental filmmaker, sound artist and playwright, of African American, Indian, and European heritage, who has published a number of poetry collections, children’s books, essays, and multimedia work she calls poams, products of acts of making, related to...
- Willard MotleyWillard MotleyWillard Motley was an African-American writer, related to the noted artist Archibald Motley. The two were raised as brothers, although in actuality Archibald was Willard's uncle...
- Jess MowryJess MowryJess Mowry is an American author of books and stories for children and young adults. He has written fourteen books and many short stories for and about black children and teens in a variety of genres, ranging from inner-city settings to the forests of Haiti...
- Albert Murray
- Walter Dean MyersWalter Dean MyersWalter Dean Myers is an African American author of young adult literature. Myers has written over fifty books, including novels and nonfiction works. He has won the Coretta Scott King Award for African American authors five times...
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- ZZ PackerZZ PackerZZ Packer is an African-American author, notable for her works of short fiction.-Life:She grew up in Atlanta, Georgia and Louisville, Kentucky. "ZZ" was a childhood nickname; her given name is Zuwena...
- Eric PeteEric PeteEric Pete is an African American author who writes novels and short stories.He was born in Seattle, Washington at University of Washington hospital. He is a graduate of McNeese State University and a U.S. Army veteran. He is a member of Delta Sigma Pi, professional business fraternity...
- Ann PetryAnn PetryAnn Petry was an American author who became the first black woman writer with book sales topping a million copies for her novel The Street.-Early life:...
- Ann PlatoAnn PlatoAnn Plato was a nineteenth century mixed race educator and author. She was the second woman of color to publish a book in America and the first to publish a book of essays and poems.-Early years:...
- Alvin F. PoussaintAlvin F. PoussaintAlvin Francis Poussaint is a noted professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and the author of numerous books on child psychiatry, with a particular focus on the raising of African American children.-Biography:...
- William Powell Jr.William Powell Jr.William Powell Jr. is an author, stage actor and comedian. He wrote and published his first poem at seven and spent many of his childhood years telling fantastic stories to and talking for his three sisters and brother. William wrote poems and plays in college, some of which were published or...
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- Alice RandallAlice RandallAlice Randall is an American author and songwriter. Randall grew up in Washington, D.C.. She attended Harvard University, where she earned an honors degree in English and American literature, before moving to Nashville in 1983 to become a country songwriter. She currently lives in Nashville,...
- Dudley RandallDudley RandallDudley Randall was an African American poet and poetry publisher from Detroit, Michigan. He founded a publishing company called Broadside Press in 1965, which published many leading African American writers. Randall's most famous poem is "The Ballad of Birmingham", written during the 1960s, about...
- Francis RayFrancis RayFrancis Ray is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling African-American writer of romance novels. She is a native Texan and lives in Dallas. INCOGNITO, her sixth title, was the first made-for-TV movie for BET...
, fiction, romance, mainstream,women's fiction - Andy Razaf
- Ishmael ReedIshmael ReedIshmael Scott Reed is an American poet, essayist, and novelist. A prominent African-American literary figure, Reed is known for his satirical works challenging American political culture, and highlighting political and cultural oppression.Reed has been described as one of the most controversial...
(born 1938), poet, essayist and novelist - Octavia V. Rogers AlbertOctavia V. Rogers AlbertOctavia V. Rogers Albert was a chronicler of slavery in the United States. She was born Octavia Victoria Rogers in Oglethorpe, Georgia, where she lived in slavery until the Emancipation. She attended Atlanta University where she studied to be a teacher.Unlike many others, Octavia Rogers saw...
- Al RokerAl RokerAlbert Lincoln "Al" Roker, Jr. is an American television meteorologist as well as an actor and book author. He is best known as being the weather anchor on NBC's Today. On Monday, July 20, 2009, he began co-hosting his new morning show, Wake Up with Al, on The Weather Channel, which airs weekdays...
- Fran RossFran RossFran Ross was an African American author best known for her novel Oreo. She briefly wrote comedy for Richard Pryor.-Early childhood:...
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- Sonia SanchezSonia SanchezSonia Sanchez is an African American poet most often associated with the Black Arts Movement. She has authored over a dozen books of poetry, as well as plays and children's books...
- Sapphire
- Charles R. SaundersCharles R. SaundersCharles R. Saunders also credited as Charles Saunders is an African American author and journalist currently living in Canada. During his long career, he has written everything from novels both fiction and non-fiction, to screenplays and radio plays.- Background :Saunders was born in Elizabeth,...
- Arturo Alfonso SchomburgArturo Alfonso SchomburgArturo Alfonso Schomburg, a.k.a. as Arthur Schomburg, , was a Puerto Rican historian, writer, and activist in the United States who researched and raised awareness of the great contributions that Afro-Latin Americans and Afro-Americans have made to society. He was an important intellectual figure...
- George SchuylerGeorge SchuylerGeorge Samuel Schuyler , was an African American author, journalist and social commentator known for his conservative views.-Early life:George Samuel Schuyler was born in Providence, Rhode Island to George Francis and Eliza Jane Schuyler...
- Gil Scott-HeronGil Scott-HeronGilbert "Gil" Scott-Heron was an American soul and jazz poet, musician, and author known primarily for his work as a spoken word performer in the 1970s and '80s...
- Victor SéjourVictor SéjourJuan Victor Séjour Marcou et Ferrand was an American expatriate writer who worked in France. Though mostly unknown to later African American authors, his short story "Le Mulâtre" is the earliest known work of fiction by an African American author.Séjour was born in New Orleans to a free mulatto...
- Tupac ShakurTupac ShakurTupac Amaru Shakur , known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper and actor. Shakur has sold over 75 million albums worldwide as of 2007, making him one of the best-selling music artists in the world...
- Ntozake ShangeNtozake ShangeNtozake Shange born October 18, 1948, is an American playwright, and poet. As a self proclaimed black feminist, much of the content of her work addresses issues relating to race and feminism....
- Iceberg SlimIceberg SlimIceberg Slim aka Robert Beck was a reformed pimp and American author of urban fiction.-Early life:Born Robert Lee Maupin, in Chicago on August 4, 1918, he spent his childhood in Milwaukee and Rockford, Illinois until he returned to Chicago...
- Amanda SmithAmanda SmithAmanda Berry Smith was a former slave who became an inspiration to thousands of women both black and white. She was born in Long Green, Maryland, a small town in Baltimore County. Her father's name was Samuel Berry while her mother's name was Mariam...
- Charles SmithCharles Smith (playwright)Charles Smith is an African-American playwright born in Chicago. Many of his plays consider political and historical themes from anAfrican-American perspective....
- Thomas SowellThomas SowellThomas Sowell is an American economist, social theorist, political philosopher, and author. A National Humanities Medal winner, he advocates laissez-faire economics and writes from a libertarian perspective...
- Sister SouljahSister SouljahSister Souljah is an American hip hop-generation author, activist, recording artist, and film producer. She gained prominence for Bill Clinton's criticism of her remarks about race in the United States during the 1992 presidential campaign...
- Anne SpencerAnne SpencerAnnie Bethel Spencer was an American Black poet and active participant in the New Negro Movement and Harlem Renaissance period....
- Aurin SquireAurin squireAurin Squire is an American award-winning playwright, screenwriter, and reporter . He has written numerous plays, typically comedies and dramas, while his reporting has appeared in the Chicago Tribune, Miami Herald, and ESPN, among other publications....
- Brianna StewartBrianna StewartTreva Throneberry is an American who pretended to be a teenage victim of sexual or satanic ritual abuse. She spent several years traveling the country, residing in foster homes and colleges, using several aliases...
- Maria W. StewartMaria W. StewartMaria Stewart was an African American essayist, public speaker, abolitionist, and women's rights activist.-Life and career:...
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- Mildred D. TaylorMildred D. TaylorMildred DeLois Taylor is an African American author, known for her works exploring the struggle faced by African-American families in the Deep South....
- Susie TaylorSusie TaylorSusie Baker King Taylor was the first African American army nurse. As the author of "Reminiscences of My Life in Camp with the 33d United States Colored Troops, Late 1st S.C. Volunteers", she was the only African American woman to publish a memoir of her wartime experiences...
- Joyce Carol ThomasJoyce Carol ThomasJoyce Carol Thomas is an African-American poet, playwright, motivational speaker, and best-selling author of more than 30 children's books. She was born in Ponca City, Oklahoma and currently resides in Berkeley, California. She moved with her family in 1948 to Tracy, California. Thomas received a...
, author, poet, playwright, and motivational speaker - Lorenzo ThomasLorenzo Thomas (poet)Lorenzo Thomas was an American poet and critic. He was born in the Republic of Panama and grew up in New York City, where his family immigrated in 1948.-Life:Thomas was a graduate of Queens College in New York...
- Pamela Thomas-GrahamPamela Thomas-GrahamPamela Thomas-Graham is an African American businesswoman and corporate leader. She is a senior executive at Credit Suisse, where she serves on the bank's 11-member Executive Board.-Life:...
- Era Bell ThompsonEra Bell ThompsonEra Bell Thompson was a graduate of the University of North Dakota and an editor of Ebony magazine. She was also a recipient of the governor of North Dakota's Roughrider Award...
- Wallace ThurmanWallace ThurmanWallace Henry Thurman was an American novelist during the Harlem Renaissance. He is best known for his novel The Blacker the Berry: A Novel of Negro Life, which explores discrimination among black people based on skin color.-Early life:...
- Melvin B. TolsonMelvin B. TolsonMelvin Beaunorus Tolson was an American Modernist poet, educator, columnist, and politician. His work concentrated on the experience of African Americans and includes several long historical poems. His work was influenced by his study of the Harlem Renaissance, although he spent nearly all of...
- Jean ToomerJean ToomerJean Toomer was an American poet and novelist and an important figure of the Harlem Renaissance. His first book Cane is considered by many as his most significant.-Early life:...
- TouréTouréTouré is an American novelist, essayist, music journalist, cultural critic, and television personality based in New York City. He is the host of Fuse's Hiphop Shop and On The Record...
- Quincy TroupeQuincy TroupeQuincy Thomas Troupe, Jr., , is a poet, editor, journalist-Early life:The son of Negro League baseball catcher Quincy Trouppe , Troupe Jr. attended Grambling State University on a baseball scholarship...
- Sojourner TruthSojourner TruthSojourner Truth was the self-given name, from 1843 onward, of Isabella Baumfree, an African-American abolitionist and women's rights activist. Truth was born into slavery in Swartekill, New York, but escaped with her infant daughter to freedom in 1826. After going to court to recover her son, she...
- Omar TyreeOmar Tyree- Biography :Tyree was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, and graduated from Central High School in 1987; after which he enrolled at the University of Pittsburgh, where he studied to become a pharmacist, like his mother....
- Harriet TubmanHarriet TubmanHarriet Tubman Harriet Tubman Harriet Tubman (born Araminta Harriet Ross; (1820 – 1913) was an African-American abolitionist, humanitarian, and Union spy during the American Civil War. After escaping from slavery, into which she was born, she made thirteen missions to rescue more than 70 slaves...
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- Ivan Van SertimaIvan van SertimaIvan Gladstone Van Sertima was an associate professor of Africana Studies at Rutgers University in the United States....
(born 1935), professor, author, historian, linguist and anthropologist at Rutgers University - Henry Van DykeHenry van DykeHenry Jackson van Dyke was an American author, educator, and clergyman.-Biography:Henry van Dyke was born on November 11, 1852 in Germantown, Pennsylvania in the United States....
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- Alice WalkerAlice WalkerAlice Malsenior Walker is an American author, poet, and activist. She has written both fiction and essays about race and gender...
(born 1944) - Margaret WalkerMargaret WalkerMargaret Abigail Walker Alexander was an African-American poet and writer. Born in Birmingham, Alabama, she wrote as Margaret Walker. One of her best-known poems is For My People.-Biography:...
- Frank X. Walker (founding member of Affrilachian poets)
- Booker T. WashingtonBooker T. WashingtonBooker Taliaferro Washington was an American educator, author, orator, and political leader. He was the dominant figure in the African-American community in the United States from 1890 to 1915...
- Carl WeberUrban BooksUrban Books is a book publisher specializing in African-American topics, founded and published by Carl Weber in 2002.-Imprints:* Urban Soul Urban Books is a book publisher specializing in African-American topics, founded and published by Carl Weber in 2002.-Imprints:* Urban Soul Urban Books is a...
- Valerie Wilson WesleyValerie Wilson WesleyValerie Wilson Wesley is an African-American author of mysteries, adult-theme novels, and children's books, and a former executive editor of Essence magazine. She is the author of the Tamara Hayle mystery series...
- Cornel WestCornel WestCornel Ronald West is an American philosopher, author, critic, actor, civil rights activist and prominent member of the Democratic Socialists of America....
- Dorothy WestDorothy WestDorothy West was a novelist and short story writer who was part of the Harlem Renaissance. She is best known for her novel The Living Is Easy, about the life of an upper-class black family.-Early years:...
- Phillis WheatleyPhillis WheatleyPhillis Wheatley was the first African American poet and first African-American woman whose writings were published. Born in Gambia, Senegal, she was sold into slavery at age seven...
(1753–1784), first published African American poet - Colson WhiteheadColson WhiteheadColson Whitehead is a New York-based novelist. He is best known as the author of the 2001 novel John Henry Days. In 2002, he received a MacArthur Fellowship.-Early life:...
, novelist (The Intuitionist) and journalist - Steven WhitehurstSteven WhitehurstSteven Whitehurst is an African American author, poet, and educator. He is a divorced father who currently resides in Calumet City, Illinois.- Biography :...
(1967- ), Award winning author - Anthony WhyteAnthony WhyteAnthony Whyte is an African American writer of urban literature and Hip hop Literature who began his writing career while still working for The New York City Administration for Children’s Services...
- John Wideman
- Crystal WilkinsonCrystal WilkinsonCrystal E. Wilkinson is an African-American writer from Kentucky and founding member of the , a writing collective based in Lexington, Kentucky.-Background:...
- Chancellor WilliamsChancellor WilliamsChancellor James Williams was an African American sociologist, historian and writer....
- John Alfred WilliamsJohn A. Williams (author)John Alfred Williams is an African American author, journalist and academic.Williams was born in Jackson, Mississippi, and, after naval service in World War II, graduated in 1950 from Syracuse University. His novels, which include The Angry Ones and The Man Who Cried I Am are mainly about the...
- Sherley Anne WilliamsSherley Anne WilliamsSherley Anne Williams was born in Bakersfield, California and was an African-American poet. Many of her works tell stories about her life in the African-American community. When she was little her family picked cotton in order to get money. At the age of eight her father died of tuberculosis and...
- Walter E. WilliamsWalter E. WilliamsWalter E. Williams, is an American economist, commentator, and academic. He is the John M. Olin Distinguished Professor of Economics at George Mason University, as well as a syndicated columnist and author known for his libertarian views.- Early life and education :Williams family during childhood...
- August WilsonAugust WilsonAugust Wilson was an American playwright whose work included a series of ten plays, The Pittsburgh Cycle, for which he received two Pulitzer Prizes for Drama...
- Harriet E. WilsonHarriet E. WilsonHarriet E. Wilson is traditionally considered the first female African-American novelist as well as the first African American of any gender to publish a novel on the North American continent...
, author of "Our Nig" and first African American novelist - Carter G. WoodsonCarter G. WoodsonCarter Godwin Woodson was an African-American historian, author, journalist and the founder of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History. Woodson was one of the first scholars to study African American history. A founder of Journal of Negro History , Dr...
- Kelly WrightKelly WrightKelly Wright is an American reporter for Fox News Channel and co-anchor of America's News Headquarters on Saturday, and is based in the network’s Washington, D.C., bureau. He was a co-host of Fox and Friends Weekend from July 2006 to January 2008....
, author of Outed Obsession and Fatal Fixation - Richard WrightRichard Wright (author)Richard Nathaniel Wright was an African-American author of sometimes controversial novels, short stories, poems, and non-fiction. Much of his literature concerns racial themes, especially those involving the plight of African-Americans during the late 19th to mid 20th centuries...
See also
- List of African American nonfiction writers
- list of writers
- Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States
- Before Columbus FoundationBefore Columbus FoundationThe Before Columbus Foundation is a nonprofit organization founded in 1976 by Ishmael Reed, Victor Hernández Cruz, Shawn Wong and Rudolfo Anaya to be "a multi-ethnic organizing dedicated to promoting a pan-cultural view of America," especially through the promotion of multicultural writers.One of...