This is a list of Black American authors and writers, all of whom are considered part of

African-American literature African American literature is the body of literature produced in the United States by writers of African descent. It begins with the works of such late 18th-century writers as Phillis Wheatley. Before the high point of slave narratives, African ...

, and who already have Wikipedia articles. The list also includes non-American authors resident in the US and American writers of African descent.

A

Aberjhani Aberjhani (born Jeffery J. Lloyd July 8, 1957, in Savannah, Georgia) is an American historian, columnist, novelist, poet, artist, and editor. Although well known for his blog articles on literature and politics, he is perhaps best known as co-aut ...

(born 1957), historian, columnist, novelist, poet, artist and editor *

Mumia Abu-Jamal Mumia Abu-Jamal (born Wesley Cook; April 24, 1954) is an American political activist and journalist who was convicted of murder and sentenced to death in 1982 for the 1981 murder of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner. While on death ...

(born 1954), political activist and journalist * Linda Addison (born 1952), author and poet * Tomi Adeyemi (born 1993), author and creative writing coach *

Rochelle Alers Rochelle Alers (born August 7, 1943) is an American writer of romance novels. She has also written under the pen names Susan James and Rena McLeary. Biography Rochelle Alers was born on August 7, 1943 in Manhattan, New York, where she was also ...

(born 1943), author and artist * Elizabeth Alexander (born 1962), poet, essayist and playwright *

Kwame Alexander Kwame Alexander (born August 21, 1968) is an American writer of poetry and children's fiction. His verse novel ''The Crossover'' won the 2015 Newbery Medal and was selected as an Honor book for the Coretta Scott King Award. Personal life and educ ...

(born 1968), writer of poetry and children's fiction * Larry D. Alexander (born 1953), author and artist * Lewis Grandison Alexander (1898–1945) * Candace Allen (living), novelist, cultural critic and screenwriter * Clarissa Minnie Thompson Allen (1859–1941), author and educator * Robert L. Allen (born 1942), activist, writer and academic * Garland Anderson (1886–1939), playwright * Maya Angelou (1928–2014), author and poet * Tina McElroy Ansa (born 1949), novelist, filmmaker, teacher and journalist *

Ray Aranha Ray Aranha (May 1, 1939 – October 9, 2011) was an American actor, playwright, and stage director. Career Born in Miami, Florida, Aranha appeared in and written numerous stage productions. In 1974, he won a Drama Desk Award for Outstandin ...

(1939–2011), actor, playwright and stage director * Chalmers Archer (1928–2014), author, veteran and educator * M. K. Asante, Jr. (born 1982), author, poet, screenwriter, professor *

Jabari Asim Jabari Asim (born August 11, 1962) is an author, poet, playwright, and professor of writing, literature and publishing at Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts. He is the former editor-in-chief of ''The Crisis'' magazine, a journal of politi ...

(born 1962), poet, playwright, professor * Russell Atkins (born 1926), musician, playwright and poet *

William Attaway William Alexander Attaway (November 19, 1911 – June 17, 1986) was an African-American novelist, short story writer, essayist, songwriter, playwright, and screenwriter. Biography Early life Attaway was born on November 19, 1911, in Greenvil ...

(1911–1986), novelist, short-story writer, essayist, songwriter, playwright and screenwriter

B

Calvin Baker Calvin Baker (born 1972)"Baker, Calvin 1972-"

James Baldwin (1924–1987), novelist, playwright, essayist, poet and activist *

Toni Cade Bambara Toni Cade Bambara, born Miltona Mirkin Cade (March 25, 1939 – December 9, 1995), was an African-American author, documentary film-maker, social activist and college professor. Biography Early life and education Miltona Mirkin Cade was bor ...

(1939–1995) *

Leslie Esdaile Banks Leslie Esdaile Banks ( Peterson; December 11, 1959 – August 2, 2011) was an American writer under the pen names of Leslie Esdaile, Leslie E. Banks, Leslie Banks, Leslie Esdaile Banks and L. A. Banks. She wrote in various genres, including Afr ...

(1959–2011) * Amiri Baraka (1934–2014) *

Shauna Barbosa Shauna Barbosa (born ca. 1988) is the author of the poetry collection ''Cape Verdean Blues'' (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2018). She was a finalist for PEN America's 2019 Open Book Award and was a 2018 Disquiet International Luso-American fell ...

(born c. 1988), poet * Steven Barnes (born 1952) * Lindon W. Barrett (1961–2008) * Carol S. Batey (born 1955) * Samuel Alfred Beadle (1857–1932) * Paul Beatty (born 1962) * Robert Beck (1918–1992) * Christopher C. Bell (born 1933) *

Derrick Bell Derrick Albert Bell Jr. (November 6, 1930 – October 5, 2011) was an American lawyer, professor, and civil rights activist. Bell worked for first the U.S. Justice Department, then the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, where he supervised over 300 scho ...

(1930–2011) *

Brit Bennett Brit Bennett is an American writer based in Los Angeles. Her debut novel ''The Mothers (novel), The Mothers'' (2016) was a ''The New York Times, New York Times'' best-seller. Her second novel, ''The Vanishing Half'' (2020), was also a ''New York ...

(living) * Gwendolyn Bennett (1902–1981) * Hal Bennett (1936–2004) * Lerone Bennett, Jr. (1928–2018) *

Bertice Berry Bertice Berry (born 1960) is an American sociologist, author, lecturer, and educator. Early life and education Berry grew up in Wilmington, Delaware, as one of seven children raised by a single mother. The family was poor and her mother struggle ...

(born 1960) * Venise T. Berry (living), novelist *

Henry Bibb Henry Walton Bibb (May 10, 1815 in Shelby County, Kentucky – August 1,1854 in Windsor) was an American author and abolitionist who was born a slave. Bibb told his life story in his narrative ''The Life and Adventures of Henry Bibb: An American ...

(1815–1854) *

Eleanor Taylor Bland Eleanor Taylor Bland (December 31, 1944 – June 2, 2010) was an African-American writer of crime fiction. She was the creator of Lincoln Prairie, Illinois (based on Waukegan, Illinois) police detective Marti McAllister. Biography Bland was b ...

(1944–2010), writer of crime fiction * Marita Bonner (1899–1971) * Arna Bontemps (1902–1973) * James Boggs (1919–1993) * Demico Boothe (living), writer on civil rights * David Bradley (born 1950) *

William Stanley Braithwaite William Stanley Beaumont Braithwaite (December 6, 1878 – June 8, 1962) was an African-American writer, poet, literary critic, anthologist, and publisher. His work as a critic and anthologist was widely praised and important in the development of ...

(1878–1962), poet and literary critic * Gwendolyn Brooks (1917–2000) *

Claude Brown Claude Brown (February 23, 1937 – February 2, 2002) was the author of '' Manchild 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. He also published ...

(1937–2002) * Hallie Quinn Brown (1849–1949) * Roseanne A. Brown (born 1995) * Sterling A. Brown (1901–1989), poet, literary critic, professor, poet laureate of the

District of Columbia ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

William Wells Brown William Wells Brown (c. 1814 – November 6, 1884) was a prominent abolitionist lecturer, novelist, playwright, and historian in the United States. Born into slavery in Montgomery County, Kentucky, near the town of Mount Sterling, Brown escap ...

(1814–1884), wrote first novel published by an African American, ''

Clotel ''Clotel; or, The President's Daughter: A Narrative of Slave Life in the United States'' is an 1853 novel by United States author and playwright William Wells Brown about Clotel and her sister, fictional slave daughters of Thomas Jefferson. Brown ...

'' (1853) *

Ashley Bryan Ashley Frederick Bryan (July 13, 1923February 4, 2022) was an American writer and illustrator of children's books. Most of his subjects are from the African-American experience. He was U.S. nominee for the Hans Christian Andersen Award in 2006 ...

(1923–2022) * Niobia Bryant (born 1972), author of romance and mainstream fiction novels *

Ed Bullins Edward Artie Bullins (July 2, 1935November 13, 2021), sometimes publishing as Kingsley B. Bass Jr, was an American playwright. He won awards including the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award and several Obie Awards. Bullins was associated with ...

(1935–2021) * Olivia Ward Bush (1869–1944) *

Octavia Butler Octavia Estelle Butler (June 22, 1947 – February 24, 2006) was an American science fiction author and a multiple recipient of the Hugo and Nebula awards. In 1995, Butler became the first science-fiction writer to receive a MacArthur Fellowship ...

(1947–2006) * Roderick D. Bush (1945–2013)

C

George Cain George Cain (October 27, 1943 – October 23, 2010) was an African-American author who is renowned for writing ''Blueschild Baby'', a semi-autobiographical novel published in 1970. The book is about the life of a drug user who finally overcome ...

(1943–2010) *

Bebe Moore Campbell Bebe Moore Campbell (February 18, 1950 – November 27, 2006) was an American author, journalist and teacher. Campbell was the author of three ''New York Times'' bestsellers: ''Brothers and Sisters'', ''Singing in the Comeback Choir'', and ''What ...

(1950–2006) *

Stokely Carmichael Kwame Ture (; born Stokely Standiford Churchill Carmichael; June 29, 1941November 15, 1998) was a prominent organizer in the civil rights movement in the United States and the global pan-African movement. Born in Trinidad, he grew up in the Unite ...

(1941–1998) *

Ben Carson Benjamin Solomon Carson Sr. (born September 18, 1951) is an American retired neurosurgeon and politician who served as the 17th United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development from 2017 to 2021. A pioneer in the field of neurosurgery, he ...

(born 1951) * Jennie Carter (1830–1881) * Stephen L. Carter (born 1954) *

Cyrus Cassells Cyrus Cassells (born 1957) is an American poet and professor. 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 Un ...

(born 1957) *

Lady Chablis The word ''lady'' is a term for a girl or woman, with various connotations. Once used to describe only women of a high social class or status, the equivalent of lord, now it may refer to any adult woman, as gentleman can be used for men. Inform ...

(1957–2016), actress, author, drag performer *

Charles W. Chesnutt Charles Waddell Chesnutt (June 20, 1858 – November 15, 1932) 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-Ci ...

(1858–1932), novelist and short-story writer *

Alice Childress Alice Childress (October 12, 1916 – August 14, 1994) was an American novelist, playwright, and actress, acknowledged as "the only African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic ...

(1916–1994), playwright and novelist * Breena Clarke (living) *

Cheril N. Clarke Cheril N. Clarke (born September 24, 1980) is a Canadian-born contemporary author and playwright of gay and lesbian romance, drama and comedy. Life Though born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Clarke's family moved to Miami, Florida when she was s ...

(born 1980) *

Cheryl Clarke Cheryl L. Clarke (born Washington DC, May 16, 1947) is an American lesbian poet, essayist, educator and a Black feminist community activist who continues to dedicate her life to the recognition and advancement of Black and Queer people. Her scho ...

(born 1947) *

John Henrik Clarke John Henrik Clarke (born John Henry Clark; January 1, 1915 - July 16, 1998) was an African-American historian, professor, and pioneer in the creation of Pan-African and Africana studies and professional institutions in academia starting in the ...

(1915–1998) * Stanley Bennett Clay (born 1950), writer, director, actor, publisher *

Troy CLE Troy 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 Lo ...

(living) *

Pearl Cleage Pearl Cleage (December 7, 1948) (pronounced: “cleg”) is an African-American playwright, essayist, novelist, poet and political activist.Spratling, Cassandra. "Pearl Cleage's Storied Life Cover Story." Detroit Free Press, Feb 21, 2010. ProQue ...

(born 1948) *

Eldridge Cleaver Leroy Eldridge Cleaver (August 31, 1935 – May 1, 1998) was an American writer and political activist who became an early leader of the Black Panther Party. In 1968, Cleaver wrote '' Soul on Ice'', a collection of essays that, at the time of i ...

(1935–1998) * Michelle Cliff (1946–2016) *

Lucille Clifton Lucille Clifton (June 27, 1936 – February 13, 2010) was an American poet, writer, and educator from Buffalo, New York. From 1979 to 1985 she was Poet Laureate of Maryland. Clifton was a finalist twice for the Pulitzer Prize for poetry. Li ...

(1936–2010) *

Wendy Coakley-Thompson Wendy Coakley-Thompson (nee, Wendy Cecille Thompson; born December 27, 1966), is a mainstream fiction author. Coakley-Thompson's work is part of emerging millennial contemporary African-American literature. Coakley-Thompson's fiction addresses ...

(born 1966) *

Ta-Nehisi Coates Ta-Nehisi Paul Coates ( ; born September 30, 1975) is an American author and journalist. He gained a wide readership during his time as national correspondent at ''The Atlantic'', where he wrote about cultural, social, and political issues, parti ...

(born 1975) * Wanda Coleman (1946–2013) * Marvel Cooke (1903–2000) * Anna J. Cooper (1858–1964) *

J. California Cooper Joan Cooper (November 10, 1931 in Berkeley, California – September 20, 2014 in Seattle, Washington), known by her pen name, J. California Cooper, was an American playwright and author. She wrote 17 plays and was named Black Playwright of the Ye ...

(1931–2014), playwright * James Corrothers (1869–1917) *

Jayne Cortez Jayne Cortez (May 10, 1934 – December 28, 2012) was an African-American poet, activist, small press publisher and spoken-word performance artist whose voice is celebrated for its political, surrealistic and dynamic innovations in lyricism and ...

(1934–2012) *

Bill Cosby William Henry Cosby Jr. ( ; born July 12, 1937) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and media personality. He made significant contributions to American and African-American culture, and is well known in the United States for his eccentric ...

(born 1937) * Joseph Seamon Cotter, Sr. (1861–1949) *

Donald Crews Donald Crews (born August 30, 1938) is an American illustrator and writer of children's picture books. In 2015, the American Library Association (ALA) honored him with the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal, recognizing his lasting contribution to childr ...

(born 1938), children's book author *

Stanley Crouch Stanley Lawrence Crouch (December 14, 1945 – September 16, 2020) was an American poet, music and cultural critic, syndicated columnist, novelist, and biographer. He was known for his jazz criticism and his 2000 novel ''Don't the Moon Look ...

(1945–2020) *

Harold Cruse Harold Wright Cruse (March 8, 1916 – March 26, 2005) was an American academic who was a social critic and teacher of African American studies at the University of Michigan until the mid-1980s. ''The Crisis of the Negro Intellectual'' (1967) ...

(1916–2005) *

Countee Cullen Countee Cullen (born Countee LeRoy Porter; May 30, 1903 – January 9, 1946) was an American poet, novelist, children's writer, and playwright, particularly well known during the Harlem Renaissance. Early life Childhood Countee LeRoy Porter ...

(1903–1946) * Waring Cuney (1906–1976) *

Christopher Paul Curtis Christopher Paul Curtis (born May 10, 1953)Judy Levin, Allison Stark Draper, ''Christopher Paul Curtis'' (The Rosen Publishing Group, 2005), , p. 84. Excerptsat Google Books. Retrieved 2015-07-25. is an American children's book author. His f ...

(born 1953)

D

* Jeffrey Daniels (living), poet *

Meri Nana-Ama Danquah Meri Nana-Ama Danquah (born 13 September 1967) is a Ghanaian-American writer, editor, journalist and public speaker, whose name at birth was Mildred Mary Nana-Ama Boakyewaa Brobby. She is best known for her 1998 memoir ''Willow Weep for Me: A Bl ...

(born 1967) *

Christopher Darden Christopher Allen Darden (born April 7, 1956) is an American lawyer, author, actor, and lecturer. He worked for 15 years in the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office, where he gained national attention as a co-prosecutor in the O. J. S ...

(born 1956) *

Angela Davis Angela Yvonne Davis (born January 26, 1944) is an American political activist, philosopher, academic, scholar, and author. She is a professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz. A feminist and a Marxist, Davis was a longtime member of ...

(born 1944) *

Frank Marshall Davis Frank Marshall Davis (December 31, 1905 – July 26, 1987) was an American journalist, poet, political and labor movement activist, and businessman. Davis began his career writing for African American newspapers in Chicago. He moved to Atlant ...

(1905–1987) * Kyra Davis (born 1972), novelist *

Milton Davis Milton Davis is an American musician, songwriter and producer from Birmingham, Alabama, who is based in the California Bay Area. He recalls being introduced to gospel music by his grandfather at the age of seven and playing and singing in gospel ...

(living) * George Dawson (1898–2001) *

Samuel R. Delany Samuel R. "Chip" Delany (, ) (born April 1, 1942), is an American author and literary critic. His work includes fiction (especially science fiction), memoir, criticism, and essays (on science fiction, literature, sexuality, and society). His ...

(born 1942), novelist * Eric Jerome Dickey (1961–2021) * Anita Doreen Diggs (born 1966) * Lonnie Dixon (1932–2011) *

Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, February 1817 or 1818 – February 20, 1895) was an American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. After escaping from slavery in Maryland, he became ...

(1818–1895) *

Rita Dove Rita Frances Dove (born August 28, 1952) is an American poet and essayist. From 1993 to 1995, she served as Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress. She is the first African American to have been appointed since the positi ...

(born 1952), poet *

Sharon Draper Sharon Mills Draper (born August 21, 1948) is an American children's writer, professional educator, and the 1997 National Teacher of the Year. She is a five-time winner of the Coretta Scott King Award for books about the young and adolescent Afric ...

(born 1948) * W. E. B. Du Bois (1868–1963) *

Tananarive Due Tananarive Priscilla Due ( ) (born January 5, 1966) is an American author and educator. Due won the American Book Award for her novel '' The Living Blood''. She is also known as a film historian with expertise in Black horror. Due teaches a cours ...

(born 1966) *

Henry Dumas Henry Dumas (July 20, 1934 – May 23, 1968) was an American writer and poet. He has been called "an absolute genius" by Toni Morrison, who as a commissioning editor at Random House published posthumous collections both of his poetry, ''Play Ebo ...

(1934–1968) *

Paul Laurence Dunbar Paul Laurence Dunbar (June 27, 1872 – February 9, 1906) was an American poet, novelist, and short story writer of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Born in Dayton, Ohio, to parents who had been enslaved in Kentucky before the American C ...

(1872–1906), poet *

Alice Dunbar-Nelson Alice Dunbar Nelson (July 19, 1875 – September 18, 1935) was an American poet, journalist, and political activist. Among the first generation born free in the South after the Civil War, she was one of the prominent African Americans involved i ...

(1875–1935) *

David Anthony Durham David Anthony Durham (born March 23, 1969) 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'' fol ...

(born 1969) *

Richard Durham Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'stron ...

, (1917–1984), wrote radio series ''

Destination Freedom ''Destination Freedom'' was a weekly radio program produced by WMAQ in Chicago from 1948 to 1950 that presented biographical histories of prominent African-Americans such as George Washington Carver, Satchel Paige, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tu ...

'' *

Michael Eric Dyson Michael Eric Dyson (born October 23, 1958) is an American academic, author, ordained minister, and radio host. He is a professor in the College of Arts and Science and in the Divinity School at Vanderbilt University. Described by Michael A. Fletch ...

(born 1958)

E

* Cornelius Eady (born 1954) *

Sarah Jane Woodson Early Sarah Jane Woodson Early, born Sarah Jane Woodson (November 15, 1825 – August 1907), was an American educator, black nationalist, temperance activist and author. A graduate of Oberlin College, where she majored in classics, she was hired at W ...

(1825–1907), educator, activist and author * Junius Edwards (1929–2008) *

Ralph Ellison Ralph Waldo Ellison (March 1, 1913 – April 16, 1994) was an American writer, literary critic, and scholar best known for his novel '' Invisible Man'', which won the National Book Award in 1953. He also wrote ''Shadow and Act'' (1964), a collec ...

(1913–1994), novelist, best known as author of ''

Invisible Man ''Invisible Man'' is a novel by Ralph Ellison, published by Random House in 1952. It addresses many of the social and intellectual issues faced by African Americans in the early twentieth century, including black nationalism, the relationship b ...

'' *

Olaudah Equiano Olaudah Equiano (; c. 1745 – 31 March 1797), known for most of his life as Gustavus Vassa (), was a writer and abolitionist from, according to his memoir, the Eboe (Igbo) region of the Kingdom of Benin (today southern Nigeria). Enslaved a ...

(c. 1745–1797) *

Don Evans Donald Thomas Evans (April 27, 1938 – October 16, 2003) was an American playwright, theater director, actor and educator. Early life and education Evans was born April 27, 1938, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Mary Evans. Afte ...

(1938–2003), playwright *

Mari Evans Mari Evans (July 16, 1919 – March 10, 2017) was an African-American poet, writer, and dramatist associated with the Black Arts Movement. Evans received grants and awards including a lifetime achievement award from the Indianapolis Public Libra ...

(1919–2017), poet *

Percival Everett Percival Everett (born December 22, 1956) is an American writer and Distinguished Professor of English at the University of Southern California. Life Everett lives in Los Angeles, California. Literary career While completing his AM degree at B ...

(born 1956) *

Eve Ewing Eve Louise Ewing (born 1986) is an American sociologist, author, poet, and visual artist from Chicago, Illinois. Ewing is a tenured professor at the School of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago. Her academic research in ...

(born 1986)

F

Sarah Webster Fabio Sarah Webster Fabio (January 20, 1928 – November 7, 1979) was an American poet, literary critic and educator. Early life and education Sarah Webster was born in Nashville, Tennessee to Thomas Webster and Mayme Louise Storey Webster. Showing a ...

(1928–1979) * Ronald Fair (1932–2018) * Sarah Farro, 19th-century novelist * John M. Faucette (1943–2003), science-fiction author *

Arthur Huff Fauset Arthur Huff Fauset (January 20, 1899 – September 2, 1983) was an American civil rights activist, anthropologist, folklorist, and educator. Born in Flemington, New Jersey, he grew up in Philadelphia, where he attended Central High School. ...

(1899–1983) * Jessie Fauset (1882–1961), editor, poet, essayist and novelist * London R. Ferebee (1849–1883), preacher and author * Lolita Files (living), author, screenwriter and producer *

Antwone Fisher Antwone Quenton Fisher (born August 3, 1959) is an American director, screenwriter, author, and film producer. His 2001 autobiographical book '' Finding Fish'' was a ''New York Times'' Best Seller. The 2002 film '' Antwone Fisher'' was writt ...

(born 1959) * Rudolph Fisher (1897–1934), novelist, short story writer and dramatist * Sharon G. Flake (born 1955), writer of young adult literature * Robert Fleming (living), journalist and writer of erotic fiction and horror fiction * Mary Weston Fordham (c.1862–1905), poet * Namina Forna (born 1987), author and screen writer * Leon Forrest (1937–1997), novelist * Tonya Foster (living), poet, essayist and educator * J. E. Franklin (born 1937), playwright * Hoyt W. Fuller (1923–1981) * Nina Foxx (living), novelist, playwright and screenwriter

G

Ernest Gaines Ernest is a given name derived from Germanic word ''ernst'', meaning "serious". Notable people and fictional characters with the name include: People *Archduke Ernest of Austria (1553–1595), son of Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor *Ernest, M ...

(1933–2019), fiction writer *

Ruth Gaines-Shelton Ruth Ada Gaines-Shelton (April 8, 1872 – 1938) was an American playwright and educator. She is a playwright of the Harlem Renaissance era and is best known for her allegorical comedy,''The Church Fight'', written in 1925. Biography Gaines-Sh ...

(1872–1938), educator and playwright *

Marcus Garvey Marcus Mosiah Garvey Sr. (17 August 188710 June 1940) was a Jamaican political activist, publisher, journalist, entrepreneur, and orator. He was the founder and first President-General of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African ...

(1887–1940) * Tony Gaskins (born 1984), motivational, inspirational, self-help writer * Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (born 1950) *

Roxane Gay Roxane Gay (born October 15, 1974) is an American writer, professor, editor, and social commentator. Gay is the author of ''The New York Times'' best-selling essay collection '' Bad Feminist'' (2014), as well as the short story collection ''Ayit ...

(born 1974) *

Nikki Giovanni Yolande Cornelia "Nikki" Giovanni Jr. (born June 7, 1943) is an American poet, writer, commentator, activist, and educator. One of the world's most well-known African-American poets,Jane M. Barstow, Yolanda Williams Page (eds)"Nikki Giovanni" ''E ...

(born 1943) *

Roy Glenn Roy Edwin Glenn, Sr. (June 3, 1914 – March 12, 1971) was an American character actor. Early life Glenn was born in Pittsburg, Kansas on June 3, 1914. Career In 1949, Glenn's radio career started in Rocky Jordan – The Adventures of Rocky ...

(1914–1971), fiction writer, ''Is It A Crime'', ''Payback'' *

Donald Goines Donald Goines (pseudonym: Al C. Clark; December 15, 1936 – October 21, 1974) was an African-American writer of urban fiction. His novels were deeply influenced by the work of Iceberg Slim. Early life and family Goines was born in Detroit, Mic ...

(1936–1974) *

Marita Golden Marita Golden (born April 28, 1950) is an American novelist, nonfiction writer, professor, and co-founder of the Hurston/Wright Foundation, a national organization that serves as a resource center for African-American writers. Background and caree ...

(born 1950) * Edythe Mae Gordon (ca. 1897–1980), poet, fiction writer * Eugene Gordon (1891–1972), journalist *

Charles Gordone Charles Edward Gordone (October 12, 1925 – November 16, 1995) was an American playwright, actor, director, and educator. He was the first African American to win the annual Pulitzer Prize for Drama and he devoted much of his professional lif ...

(1925–1995), playwright *

Amanda Gorman Amanda S. C. Gorman (born March 7, 1998) is an American poet and activist. Her work focuses on issues of oppression, feminism, race, and marginalization, as well as the African diaspora. Gorman was the first person to be named National Youth P ...

(born 1998), poet * Lawrence Otis Graham (born 1962) *

Moses Grandy Moses hbo, מֹשֶׁה, Mōše; also known as Moshe or Moshe Rabbeinu (Mishnaic Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּינוּ, ); syr, ܡܘܫܐ, Mūše; ar, موسى, Mūsā; grc, Mωϋσῆς, Mōÿsēs () is considered the most important pro ...

(born c. 1786) *

Victor Hugo Green Victor Hugo Green (November 9, 1892 – October 16, 1960) was an American postal employee and travel writer from Harlem, New York City, best known for developing and writing what became known as ''The Green Book,'' a travel guide for African Am ...

(1892–1960), travel writer *

Eloise Greenfield Eloise Greenfield (May 17, 1929 – August 5, 2021) was an American children's book and biography author and poet famous for her descriptive, rhythmic style and positive portrayal of the African-American experience. After college, Greenfield bega ...

(1929–2021), children's book author *

Sam Greenlee Samuel Eldred Greenlee, Jr. (July 13, 1930 – May 19, 2014) Margaret Busby"Sam Greenlee obituary" ''The Guardian'', June 2, 2014. was an American writer of fiction and poetry. He is best known for his novel '' The Spook Who Sat by the Door'', fir ...

(1930–2014), novelist, poet, best known as author of '' The Spook Who Sat by the Door'' *

Bonnie Greer Bonnie Greer, OBE FRSL (born 16 November 1948) is an American-British playwright, novelist, critic and broadcaster, who has lived in the UK since 1986. She has appeared as a panellist on television programmes such as ''Newsnight Review'' and ''Q ...

(born 1948), novelist, playwright, critic *

Deborah Gregory Deborah Gregory is the author of the book series ''The Cheetah Girls (novel series), The Cheetah Girls''. She was co-producer of the Disney Channel Original Movies ''The Cheetah Girls (film), The Cheetah Girls'' and ''The Cheetah Girls 2'' and a ...

, author of '' The Cheetah Girls'' book series *

Dick Gregory Richard Claxton Gregory (October 12, 1932 – August 19, 2017) was an American comedian, civil rights leader, business owner and entrepreneur, and vegetarian activist. His writings were best sellers. Gregory became popular among the Afric ...

(1932–2017) * Sutton E. Griggs (1872–1933) *

Nikki Grimes Nikki Grimes (born October 20, 1950) is an American author of books written for children and young adults, as well as a poet and journalist. Background and career Grimes was born in Harlem, New York. In a conversation with a Reading Is Fundament ...

(born 1950), children's book author and poetNikki Grimes
at Scholastic. *

Angelina Weld Grimke Angelina may refer to: Human names *Angelina (given name), a feminine given name *The feminine form of the family name Angelos People Entertainers * Angelina (American singer), American retired singer Angelina Camarillo Ramos (born 1976) * Angeli ...

(1880–1958) * Charlotte Forten Grimké (1837–1914) *

Rosa Guy Rosa Cuthbert Guy () (September 1, 1922Margalit Fox"Rosa Guy, 89, Author of Forthright Novels for Young People, Dies" ''The New York Times'', June 7, 2012. – June 3, 2012) was a Trinidad-born American writer who grew up in the New York metro ...

(1922–2012) *

John Langston Gwaltney John Langston Gwaltney (September 25, 1928 – August 29, 1998) was an African-American writer and anthropologist focused on African-American culture, best known for his book '' Drylongso: A Self Portrait of Black America''. Early life Gwaltney lo ...

(1928–1998), anthropologist, author of ''Drylongso'' *

Yaa Gyasi Yaa Gyasi (born 1989) is a Ghanaian-American novelist. Her debut novel ''Homegoing'', published in 2016, won her, at the age of 26, the National Book Critics Circle's John Leonard Award for best first book, the PEN/Hemingway Award for a fir ...

(born 1989), Ghanaian-American novelist, author of ''Homegoing''

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* Alex Haley (1921–1992), author of '' Roots: The Saga of an American Family'' *

Virginia Hamilton Virginia Esther Hamilton (March 12, 1936 – February 19, 2002) was an American children's books author. She wrote 41 books, including '' M. C. Higgins, the Great'' (1974), for which she won the U.S. National Book Award in category Children's Bo ...

(1934–2002), author of children's books *

Henry Hampton Henry Eugene Hampton Jr. (8 January 1940 – 22 November 1998) was an African-American filmmaker. His production company, Blackside, Inc., produced over 80 programs—the most recognizable being the documentary ''Eyes on the Prize,'' which w ...

(1940–1998) *

Lorraine Hansberry Lorraine Vivian Hansberry (May 19, 1930 – January 12, 1965) was a playwright and writer. She was the first African-American female author to have a play performed on Broadway. Her best-known work, the play ''A Raisin in the Sun'', highli ...

(1930–1965), playwright * Joyce Hansen (born 1942), author of children's books *

Vincent Harding Vincent Gordon Harding (July 25, 1931 – May 19, 2014) was an African-American pastor, historian, and scholar of various topics with a focus on American religion and society. A social activist, he was perhaps best known for his work with and wr ...

(1931–2014), historian and social activist * Edward W. Hardy (born 1992), playwright *

Nathan Hare Nathan Hare (born April 9, 1933) is an American sociologist, activist, academic, and psychologist. In 1968 he was the first person hired to coordinate a Black studies program in the United States. He established the program at San Francisco S ...

(born 1933) *

Frances Harper Frances Ellen Watkins Harper (September 24, 1825 – February 22, 1911) was an American abolitionist, suffragist, poet, temperance activist, teacher, public speaker, and writer. Beginning in 1845, she was one of the first African-American women to ...

(1825–1911), poet and abolitionist * E. Lynn Harris (1955–2009) * Juanita Harrison (1891–?) *

Robert Hayden Robert Hayden (August 4, 1913February 25, 1980) was an American poet, essayist, and educator. He served as Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 1976 to 1978, a role today known as US Poet Laureate. He was the first African-Ameri ...

(1913–1980), poet, essayist, educator *

Essex Hemphill Essex Hemphill (April 16, 1957 – November 4, 1995) was an openly gay American poet and activist. He is known for his contributions to the Washington, D.C. art scene in the 1980s, and for openly discussing the topics pertinent to the African-Am ...

(1957–1995), poet and activist * David Henderson (poet) (born 1942) * Safiya Henderson-Holmes (1950–2001), poet *

Chester Himes Chester Bomar Himes (July 29, 1909 – November 12, 1984) was an American writer. His works, some of which have been filmed, include '' If He Hollers Let Him Go'', published in 1945, and the Harlem Detective series of novels for which he is be ...

(1909–1984), novelist * Kameisha Jerae Hodge (born 1989) * Corey J. Hodges (born 1970) * Karla F. C. Holloway (born 1949) * bell hooks (1952—2021), feminist, and social activist *

Pauline Hopkins Pauline Elizabeth Hopkins (1859 – August 13, 1930) was an 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, as demonstrated ...

(1859–1930), novelist, journalist, playwright, historian and editor *

Nalo Hopkinson Nalo Hopkinson (born 20 December 1960) is a Jamaican-born Canadian speculative fiction writer and editor. Her novels ('' Brown Girl in the Ring'', '' Midnight Robber'', '' The Salt Roads'', ''The New Moon's Arms'') and short stories such as th ...

(born 1960), Jamaican Canadian, currently based in California * George Moses Horton (1798–after 1867) *

Detrick Hughes Detrick Oliver Hughes (born 1966) is an American poet and spoken-word artist. Hughes is known for urban commentary and life expressions offered via the genre of poetry. His latest book ''Unsuitable for Fools'' was published April 21, 2020 by Nebo ...

(born 1966) * Langston Hughes (1901–1967), poet, social activist, novelist, playwright and columnist * Zora Neale Hurston (1891–1960), folklorist, anthropologist, author of novels short stories, plays and essays

I

* Jordan Ifueko (born 1993), writer *

Rashidah Ismaili Rashidah Ismaili, also known as Rashidah Ismaili AbuBakr (born 1941),"Rashidah Ismaili"

(born 1941), poet, fiction writer, essayist and playwright

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* Brenda Jackson (born 1953) * Jesse C. Jackson (1908–1983), young-adult novelist *

Harriet Jacobs Harriet Jacobs (1813 or 1815 – March 7, 1897) was an African-American writer whose autobiography, '' Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl'', published in 1861 under the pseudonym Linda Brent, is now considered an "American classic". Born int ...

(1813 or 1815–1897), author of ''

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl ''Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, written by herself'' is an autobiography by Harriet Jacobs, a mother and fugitive slave, published in 1861 by L. Maria Child, who edited the book for its author. Jacobs used the pseudonym Linda Brent. The ...

'' (1861) *

T. D. Jakes Thomas Dexter Jakes (born June 9, 1957), known as T. D. Jakes, is an American bishop, author and filmmaker. He is the bishop of The Potter's House, a non-denominational American megachurch. Jakes's church services and Evangelistic sermons are ...

(born 1957) * Ayize Jama-Everett (born 1974), science fiction and speculative fiction writer *

John Jea John Jea (1773 – after 1817) was an African-American writer, preacher, abolitionist and sailor, best known for his 1811 autobiography ''The Life, History, and Unparalleled Sufferings of John Jea, the African Preacher.'' Jea was enslaved from a ...

(1773–after 1817) * N. K. Jemisin (born 1972) * Beverly Jenkins (born 1951) * Joseph Jewell (living) * Terri L. Jewell (1954–1995), poet, writer and Black lesbian activist *

Alaya Dawn Johnson Alaya Dawn Johnson (born 1982) () is an American writer of speculative fiction. Career Apart from short fiction, Johnson has published two urban fantasy novels about "vampire suffragette" Zephyr Hollis set in an alternate 1920s New York City, a ...

(born 1982) *

Angela Johnson Angela Johnson may also refer to: *Angela Johnson (basketball) (born 1953), Canadian Olympic basketball player *Angela Johnson (writer) (born 1961), children's author *Angela Davis Johnson, American painter *Angela Jonsson (born 1990), Indian model ...

(born 1961) * Charles R. Johnson (born 1948) *

Georgia Douglas Johnson Georgia Blanche Douglas Camp Johnson, better known as Georgia Douglas Johnson (September 10, 1880 – May 15, 1966), was a poet. She was one of the earliest female African-American playwrights, and an important figure of the Harlem Renaissance. ...

(1880–1966), poet * Helene Johnson (1906–1995), poet *

James Weldon Johnson James Weldon Johnson (June 17, 1871June 26, 1938) was an American writer and civil rights activist. He was married to civil rights activist Grace Nail Johnson. Johnson was a leader of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored Peop ...

(1871–1938) *

Mat Johnson Mat Johnson (born August 19, 1970 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American fiction writer who works in both prose and the comics format. In 2007, he was named the first USA James Baldwin Fellow by United States Artists. Life and career John ...

(born 1970) * Varian Johnson (born 1977) *

Edward P. Jones Edward Paul Jones (born October 5, 1950) is an American novelist and short story writer. His 2003 novel '' The Known World'' received the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the International Dublin Literary Award. Biography Edward Paul Jones was born ...

(born 1950), novelist and short-story writer *

Gayl Jones Gayl Jones (born November 23, 1949) is an American writer from Lexington, Kentucky. She is recognized as a key figure in 20th-century African-American literature. Imani Perry posits Jones as "one of the most versatile and transformative writer ...

(born 1949), novelist *

Tayari Jones Tayari Jones (born November 30, 1970) is an American author and academic known for '' An American Marriage'', which was a 2018 Oprah's Book Club Selection, and won the 2019 Women's Prize for Fiction. Jones is a graduate of Spelman College, the ...

(born 1970) *

June Jordan June Millicent Jordan (July 9, 1936 – June 14, 2002) was an American poet, essayist, teacher, and activist. In her writing she explored issues of gender, race, immigration, and representation. Jordan was passionate about using Black English ...

(1936–2002), poet, essayist and activist

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Martin-Luther-King-1964-leaning-on-a-lectern

Ron Karenga Maulana Ndabezitha Karenga (born Ronald McKinley Everett, July 14, 1941), previously known as Ron Karenga, is an American activist, author, and professor of Africana studies, best known as the creator of the Pan-Africanism, pan-African and Africa ...

(born 1941) *

Bob Kaufman Robert Garnell Kaufman (April 18, 1925 – January 12, 1986) was an American Beat poet and surrealist as well as a jazz performance artist and satirist. In France, where his poetry had a large following, he was known as the "black American ...

(1925–1986), poet *

Elizabeth Keckley Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley (February 1818 – May 1907) was an American seamstress, activist, and writer who lived in Washington, D.C. She was best known as the personal dressmaker and confidante of Mary Todd Lincoln. Born into slavery, she was ow ...

(1818–1907) * William Melvin Kelley (1937–2017), novelist * Emma Dunham Kelley-Hawkins (1863–1938), novelist *

Randall Kenan Randall Kenan (March 12, 1963 – August 28, 2020) was an American author. Born in Brooklyn, New York, at six weeks old Kenan moved to Duplin County, North Carolina, a small rural community, where he lived with his grandparents in a town named ...

(1963–2020) *

Adrienne Kennedy Adrienne Kennedy (born September 13, 1931) is an American playwright.Peterson, Jane T., and Suzanne Bennett. "Adrienne Kennedy". ''Women Playwrights of Diversity''. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1997. 201–205. She is best known for '' Funnyhous ...

(born 1931), playwright * Nina Kennedy (born 1960), memoirist, screenwriter *

John Oliver Killens John Oliver Killens (January 14, 1916 – October 27, 1987) was an American fiction writer from Georgia. His novels featured elements of African-American life. In his first novel, ''Youngblood'' (1954) Killens first coined the phrase "kicking a ...

(1916–1987), novelist *

Jamaica Kincaid Jamaica Kincaid (; born May 25, 1949) is an Antiguan-American novelist, essayist, gardener, and gardening writer. She was born in St. John's, Antigua (part of the twin-island nation of Antigua and Barbuda). She lives in North Bennington, Vermo ...

(born 1949) *

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...

(1929–1968) *

Woodie King Jr. Woodie King Jr. (born July 27, 1937) is an American director and producer of stage and screen, as well as the founding director of the New Federal Theatre in New York City. Early life and education King was born in Baldwin Springs, Alabama. He g ...

(born 1937) *

Etheridge Knight Etheridge Knight (April 19, 1931 – March 10, 1991) was an African-American poet who made his name in 1968 with his debut volume, '' Poems from Prison''. The book recalls in verse his eight-year-long sentence after his arrest for robbery in 1960. ...

(1931–1991), poet *

Yusef Komunyakaa Yusef Komunyakaa (born James William Brown; April 29, 1941) is an American poet who 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 ''Ne ...

(born 1941)

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* Pinkie Gordon Lane (1923–2008), poet, editor and teacher *

Nella Larsen Nellallitea "Nella" Larsen (born Nellie Walker; April 13, 1891 – March 30, 1964) was an American novelist. Working as a nurse and a librarian, she published two novels, ''Quicksand'' (1928) and '' Passing'' (1929), and a few short stories. Tho ...

(1891–1964), novelist *

Victor LaValle Victor LaValle (born February 3, 1972) is an American author. He is the author of a short-story collection, ''Slapboxing with Jesus'', and four novels, ''The Ecstatic,'' ''Big Machine,'' ''The Devil in Silver,'' and '' The Changeling''. His fanta ...

(born 1972) * Andrea Lee, novelist and memoirist *

Julius Lester Julius Bernard Lester (January 27, 1939 – January 18, 2018) was an American writer of books for children and adults and an academic who taught for 32 years (1971–2003) at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Lester was also a civil right ...

(1939–2018) *

David Levering Lewis David Levering Lewis (born May 25, 1936) is an American historian, a Julius Silver University Professor, and a professor of history at New York University. He is twice winner of the Pulitzer Prize Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography, for ...

(born 1936) * Willie Little (born 1961) author, multimedia artist *

Alain Locke Alain LeRoy Locke (September 13, 1885 – June 9, 1954) was an American writer, philosopher, educator, and patron of the arts. Distinguished in 1907 as the first African-American Rhodes Scholar, Locke became known as the philosophical architect ...

(1885–1954) *

Attica Locke Attica Locke (born 1974 in Houston, Texas) is an American fiction author and writer/producer for television and film. Career A 1995 graduate of Northwestern University School of Communication, Locke was a fellow at the Sundance Institute's Featu ...

(born 1974), novelist *

Audre Lorde Audre Lorde (; born Audrey Geraldine Lorde; February 18, 1934 – November 17, 1992) was an American writer, womanist, radical feminist, professor, and civil rights activist. She was a self-described "black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet," wh ...

(1934–1992), author, poet, activist * Bettina L. Love, abolitionist educator and writer * Glenville Lovell (born 1955), novelist and playwright

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Christopher Mwashinga Christopher R. Mwashinga, Jr (born 9 January 1965) is a Tanzanian author and poet from Mbeya, Tanzania who lives in the United States. He has published books of Christian poetry, theology, mission, and religious history. His poetry has been p ...

(born 1965), poet, theologian, essayist *

Nathaniel Mackey Nathaniel Mackey is an American poet, novelist, anthologist, literary critic and editor. He is the Reynolds Price Professor of Creative Writing at Duke University and a Chancellor of The Academy of American Poets. Mackey is currently teaching a ...

(born 1947), poet, novelist, anthologist, literary critic and editor * Naomi Long Madgett (1923–2020), poet * Haki R. Madhubuti (born 1942) *

Clarence Major Clarence Major (born December 31, 1936) is an American poet, painter, and novelist; winner of the 2015 "Lifetime Achievement Award in the Fine Arts", presented by the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation. He was awarded the 2016 PEN Oakland/Reg ...

(born 1936), poet, painter and novelist * Raynetta Manees (living), novelist *

Manning Marable William Manning Marable (May 13, 1950 – April 1, 2011) was an American professor of public affairs, history and African-American Studies at Columbia University.Grimes, William"Manning Marable, Historian and Social Critic, Dies at 60" ''The Ne ...

(1950–2011) *

John Marrant John Marrant (June 15, 1755 – April 15, 1791) was an American Methodist preacher and missionary and one of the first black preachers in North America. Born free in New York City, he moved as a child with his family to Charleston, South Carolina. ...

(1755–1791) *

Paule Marshall Paule Marshall (April 9, 1929 – August 12, 2019) was an American writer, best known for her 1959 debut novel '' Brown Girl, Brownstones''. In 1992, at the age of 63, Marshall was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship grant. Life and career Marshall wa ...

(1929–2019) * Ora Mae Lewis Martin (1889–1977), journalist and writer *

Hans Massaquoi Hans-Jürgen Massaquoi (January 19, 1926 – January 19, 2013) was a German-American journalist and author. He was born in Hamburg, Germany, to a German mother and a Liberian father of Vai ethnicity, the grandson of Momulu Massaquoi, the c ...

(1926–2013) *

Brandon Massey Brandon Massey (born June 9, 1973) is an American writer of thriller fiction, specializing in the horror and suspense genres. He is the author of several published novels, short story collections, and is the editor of three anthologies. Massey l ...

(born 1973) * Victoria Earle Matthews (1861–1907), essayist, newspaperwoman, activist *

Julian Mayfield Julian Hudson Mayfield (June 6, 1928 – October 20, 1984) was an American actor, director, writer, lecturer and civil rights activist. Early life Julian Hudson Mayfield was born on June 6, 1928, in Greer, South Carolina, and was raised from ...

(1928–1984) *

James McBride (writer) James McBride (born September 11, 1957) is an American writer and musician. He is the recipient of the 2013 National Book Award for fiction for his novel ''The Good Lord Bird''. Early life McBride's father, Rev. Andrew D. McBride (August 8, 1911 ...

(born 1957) *

Nathan McCall Nathan McCall (born 1955) is an American author and journalist. He has written in the genres of novel, memoir, biography, and social commentary, often focusing on the African-American experience. Biography As the stepson of a Navy man, McCall ...

(born 1955) * Bernice McFadden (born 1965), novelist * Claude McKay (1889–1948) *

Patricia McKissack Patricia C. "Pat" McKissack (''née'' Carwell; August 9, 1944 – April 7, 2017) was a prolific African American children's writer. She was the author of over 100 books, including Dear America books '' A Picture of Freedom: The Diary of Clotee, ...

(1944–2017) * Reginald McKnight (born 1956) * Kim McLarin (born 1964), novelist *

Terry McMillan Terry McMillan (born October 18, 1951) is an American novelist. Her work centers around the experiences of Black women in the United States. Early life McMillan was born in Port Huron, Michigan. She received a B.A. in journalism in 1977 from ...

(born 1951), novelist *

James Alan McPherson James Alan McPherson (September 16, 1943 – July 27, 2016) was an American essayist and short-story writer. He was the first African-American writer to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and was included among the first group of artists who re ...

(1943–2016) *

Louise Meriwether Louise Meriwether (born May 8, 1923) is an American novelist, essayist, journalist and activist, as well as a writer of biographies of historically important African Americans for children. She is best known for her first novel, ''Daddy Was a Num ...

(born 1923), novelist, essayist, journalist and activist *

Oscar Micheaux Oscar Devereaux Micheaux (; January 2, 1884 – March 25, 1951) was an author, film director and independent producer of more than 44 films. Although the short-lived Lincoln Motion Picture Company was the first movie company owned and controlled ...

(1884–1951) * E. Ethelbert Miller (born 1950), poet *

May Miller May Miller (January 26, 1899 – February 8, 1995) was an American poet, playwright and educator. Miller, who was African-American, became known as the most widely published female playwright of the Harlem Renaissance and had seven volumes of po ...

(1899–1995), poet and playwright * Arthenia J. Bates Millican (1920–2012), poet, essayist and educator * Mary Monroe (living), novelist * Anne Moody (1940–2015) *

Jessica Care Moore Jessica Care Moore (born October 28, 1971) is an American poet. She is the CEO of Moore Black Press, executive producer of BLACK WOMEN ROCK!, and founder of the literacy-driven jess Care moore Foundation. An internationally renowned poet, playwri ...

(born 1971), poet *

Toni Morrison Chloe Anthony Wofford Morrison (born Chloe Ardelia Wofford; February 18, 1931 – August 5, 2019), known as Toni Morrison, was an American novelist. Her first novel, ''The Bluest Eye'', was published in 1970. The critically acclaimed '' So ...

(1931–2019), author, Nobel laureate 1993 * E. Frederic Morrow (c.1909–1994), first black American appointed to a president's administration (1955–60) *

Walter Mosley Walter Ellis Mosley (born January 12, 1952) 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 inv ...

(born 1952), novelist *

Thylias Moss Thylias Moss (born February 27, 1954, in Cleveland, Ohio) is an American poet, writer, experimental filmmaker, sound artist and playwright of African-American, Native American, and European heritage. Her poetry has been published in a number of ...

(born 1954) * Willard Motley (1909–1965) *

Jess Mowry Jess Mowry (born March 27, 1960 near Starkville, Mississippi) is an American author of books and stories for children and young adults. He has written eighteen books and many short stories for and about black children and teens in a variety of g ...

(born 1960) * Albert Murray (1916–2013) *

Pauli Murray Anna Pauline "Pauli" Murray (November 20, 1910 – July 1, 1985) was an American civil rights activist who became a lawyer, gender equality advocate, Episcopal priest, and author. Drawn to the ministry, in 1977 she became one of the first women ...

(1910–1985) *

Walter Dean Myers Walter Dean Myers (born Walter Milton Myers; August 12, 1937 – July 1, 2014) was an American writer of children's books best known for young adult literature. He was born in Martinsburg, West Virginia, but was raised in Harlem. A tough childho ...

(1937–2014), writer of children's books

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Tariq Nasheed Tariq Nasheed, also known as Tariq Elite, King Flex, and K-Flex, is an American film producer, and Internet personality. He is best known for his '' Hidden Colors'' film series, as well as his commentary on social media. Career Nasheed began his ...

(living) * Gloria Naylor (1950–2016) *

Larry Neal Larry Neal or Lawrence Neal (September 5, 1937 – January 6, 1981) was a scholar of African-American theatre. He is well known for his contributions to the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s and 1970s. He was a major influence in pushing for black ...

(1937–1981) * Barbara Neely (1941–2020), novelist, short-story writer and activist *

Huey P. Newton Huey Percy Newton (February 17, 1942 – August 22, 1989) was an African-American revolutionary, notable as founder of the Black Panther Party. Newton crafted the Party's ten-point manifesto with Bobby Seale in 1966. Under Newton's leadershi ...

(1942–1989) *

Richard Bruce Nugent Richard Bruce Nugent (July 2, 1906 – May 27, 1987), aka Richard Bruce and Bruce Nugent, was a gay writer and painter in the Harlem Renaissance. Despite being a part of a group of many gay Harlem artists, Nugent was among only a few who we ...

(1906–1987)

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* Bayo Ojikutu (born 1971), novelist * Mwatabu S. Okantah (born 1952) *

Gabriel Okara Gabriel Imomotimi Okara (24 April 1921 – 25 March 2019) was a Nigerian poet and novelist who was born in Bumoundi in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, Nigeria. The first modernist poet of Anglophone Africa, he is best known for his early experimental ...

(1921–2019) *

Nnedi Okorafor Nnedimma Nkemdili "Nnedi" Okorafor (formerly Okorafor-Mbachu; born April 8, 1974) is a Nigerian-American writer of science fiction and fantasy for both children and adults. She is best known for her ''Binti Series'' and her novels ''Who Fears ...

(born 1974) *

Marc Olden Marc Olden (1933 – 2003) was an American author of mystery and suspense. He is perhaps best remembered for his mystery ''Poe Must Die'', in which 19th-century American author Edgar Allan Poe appears as a protagonist. He was a prolific author, p ...

(1933–2003) *

Terry a. O'Neal Terry a. O'Neal (born June 15, 1973) is an American writer. O'Neal was named one of the century's great Black women writers in a book entitled ''Literary Divas: The Top 100+ Most Admired African-American Women Writers in Literature'' (2006). Bio ...

(born 1973) *

Tochi Onyebuchi Tochi Onyebuchi (born October 4, 1987) is a Nigerian American science fiction and fantasy writer and former civil rights lawyer. His novella, '' Riot Baby'', received an Alex Award from the American Library Association and the World Fantasy Awa ...

(born 1987) *

Roscoe Orman Roscoe Hunter Orman (born June 11, 1944) is an American actor, writer, artist and child advocate, best known for playing Gordon Robinson, one of the central human characters on ''Sesame Street''. Early life and career While a student at New Y ...

(born 1944) * Ewuare Osayande (living) *

Brenda Marie Osbey Brenda Marie Osbey (born December 12, 1957 in New Orleans) is an American poet. She served as the Poet Laureate of Louisiana from 2005 to 2007. Life She graduated from Dillard University, Paul Valéry University, Montpellier III, and from the Un ...

(born 1957), poet *

Candace Owens Candace Amber Owens Farmer ( Owens; born April 29, 1989) is an American conservative author, talk show host, political commentator, and activist. Initially critical of United States President Donald Trump and the Republican Party, Owens has bee ...

(born 1989), political activist

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ZZ Packer Zuwena "ZZ" Packer (b. January 12, 1973) is an American writer. She is primarily known for her works of short fiction. Early life and education Born in Chicago, Illinois, Packer grew up in Atlanta, Georgia, and Louisville, Kentucky. "ZZ" was a ...

(born 1973) *

Gordon Parks Gordon Roger Alexander Buchanan Parks (November 30, 1912 – March 7, 2006) was an American photographer, composer, author, poet, and film director, who became prominent in U.S. documentary photojournalism in the 1940s through 1970s—particula ...

(1912–2006) *

Suzan-Lori Parks Suzan-Lori Parks (born May 10, 1963) is an American playwright, screenwriter, musician and novelist. Her 2001 play ''Topdog/Underdog'' won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2002; Parks was the first African-American woman to receive the award for d ...

(born 1963), playwright, screenwriter, musician and novelist *

Tyler Perry Tyler Perry (born Emmitt Perry Jr., September 13, 1969) is an American actor, comedian, filmmaker, and playwright. He is the creator and performer of the Madea character, a tough elderly woman. Perry's films vary in style from orthodox filmma ...

(born 1969) * Eric Pete (living), novelist and short-story writer *

Ann Petry Ann Petry (October 12, 1908 – April 28, 1997) was an American writer of novels, short stories, children's books and journalism. Her 1946 debut novel ''The Street'' became the first novel by an African-American woman to sell more than a milli ...

(1908–1997), writer of novels, short stories, children's books and journalism *

Debra Phillips Debra Phillips (born 1958) is an Australian artist. Her main practice is photography but she also works across other forms such as sculpture and moving image. She has been an exhibiting artist since the 1980s, is a part of many collections, and ...

(born 1959) * Delores Phillips (1950–2014), poet and novelist * Steve Phillips (born 1964), author, columnist, political thought leader *

William Pickens William Pickens (15 January 1881 – 6 April 1954) was an American orator, educator, journalist, and essayist. He wrote multiple articles and speeches, and penned two autobiographies, first ''The Heir of Slaves'' in 1911 and second ''Bursting Bond ...

(1881–1954) * Ann Plato (born c. 1824), educator and author * Sterling Plumpp (born 1940), educator and author * Carlene Hatcher Polite (1932–2009) *

Alvin F. Poussaint Alvin Francis Poussaint, M.D. (born May 15, 1934) is an American psychiatrist well known for his research on the effects of racism in the black community. He is a noted author, public speaker, and television consultant, and Dean of Students at H ...

(born 1934) * Jewel Prestage (1931–2014), first African-American woman to earn a Ph.D. in political science, former Dean of the School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs at Southern University. * Robert Earl Price (born 1942), playwright and poet

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* Aishah Rahman (1936–2014), playwright * Alice Randall (born 1959), author and songwriter *

Dudley Randall Dudley Randall (January 14, 1914 – August 5, 2000) was an African-American poet and poetry publisher from Detroit, Michigan. He founded a pioneering publishing company called Broadside Press in 1965, which published many leading African-America ...

(1914–2000), poet and publisher *

Cordelia Ray Henrietta Cordelia Ray (August 30, 1852 – January 5, 1916) was an African-American poet and teacher. Her parents were notable abolitionists, and had worked for the Underground Railroad in Manhattan. Biography Cordelia Ray was born in New York C ...

(1852–1916), poet and teacher * Francis Ray (1944–2013), writer of romance fiction * Andy Razaf (1895–1973), poet, composer and lyricist * Ishmael Reed (born 1938), poet, essayist and novelist * Kiley Reid (born 1987), novelist *

Jason Reynolds Jason Reynolds (born December 6, 1983) is an American author of novels and poetry for young adult and middle-grade audience. Born in Washington, D.C. and raised in neighboring Oxon Hill, Maryland, Reynolds found inspiration in rap and had an ea ...

(born 1983), YA/Middle-Grade novelist/poet *

Willis Richardson Willis Richardson (November 5, 1889 – November 7, 1977) was an American playwright. Biography Willis Richardson was born on November 5, 1889 in Wilmington, North Carolina, a son of Willis Wilder and Agnes Ann (Harper) Richardson. His fami ...

(1889–1977), playwright * Florida Ruffin Ridley (1861–1943), essayist and short story writer *

Harrison David Rivers Harrison David Rivers (born September 11, 1981) is an American playwright. Rivers' work has won him thRelentless Award a GLAAD Media Award, a McKnight Fellowship for Playwrights, a Jerome Foundation Many Voices Fellowship, an Emerging Artist of ...

(born 1981), playwright * Cliff Roquemore (1948–2002), writer, producer and director * Carolyn Rodgers (1940–2010), poet * Octavia V. Rogers Albert (1853–c.1890) *

Al Roker Albert Lincoln Roker Jr. (born August 20, 1954) is an American weather presenter, journalist, television personality, and author. He is the current weather anchor on NBC's '' Today'', and occasionally co-hosts '' 3rd Hour Today''. He has an in ...

(born 1954) * Fran Ross (1935–1985) * Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin (1842–1924), journalist * Malinda Russell (ca. 1812–?), author of the first known cookbook by a Black woman in the United States *

Rachel Renee Russell Rachel () was a Biblical figure, the favorite of Jacob's two wives, and the mother of Joseph and Benjamin, two of the twelve progenitors of the tribes of Israel. Rachel's father was Laban. Her older sister was Leah, Jacob's first wife. Her aun ...

, author of the

Dork Diaries ''Dork Diaries'' is a children's book series written and illustrated by Rachel Renée Russell. The series, written in a diary format, uses drawings, doodles, and comic strips to chronicle the daily life of its 15-year-old adolescent protagon ...

series of children's novels *

Carl Hancock Rux Carl Hancock Rux () is an American poet, playwright, novelist, essayist, recording artist, journalist, curator and conceptual installation artist working in text, dance, ritualized performance, audio, video, and photography. Described in the NY T ...

, poet, essayist, playwright, novelist * Rupaul (born 1960), actor, author, drag performer, TV show host

S

Kalamu ya Salaam Kalamu ya Salaam (born March 24, 1947) is an American poet, author, filmmaker, and teacher from the 9th Ward of New Orleans. A well-known activist and social critic, Salaam has spoken out on a number of racial and human rights issues. For years h ...

(born 1947), poet, author, filmmaker, teacher, activist *

Sonia Sanchez Sonia Sanchez (born Wilsonia Benita Driver; September 9, 1934) is an American poet, writer, and professor. She was a leading figure in the Black Arts Movement and has written over a dozen books of poetry, as well as short stories, critical essays ...

(born 1934), poet * Dori Sanders (born 1934) novelist *

Sapphire Sapphire is a precious gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum, consisting of aluminium oxide () with trace amounts of elements such as iron, titanium, chromium, vanadium, or magnesium. The name sapphire is derived via the Latin "sa ...

(born 1950) *

Charles R. Saunders Charles Robert Saunders (July 12, 1946May 2020) was an African-American author and journalist, a pioneer of the "sword and soul" literary genre with his Imaro novels.Tattrie, Jon.The extraordinary inner world of Charles R. Saunders, father of ...

(1946–2020), author and journalist *

Arturo Alfonso Schomburg Arturo Alfonso Schomburg (January 24, 1874 – June 10, 1938), was a historian, writer, collector, and activist. Schomburg was a Puerto Rican of African and German descent. He moved to the United States in 1891, where he researched and raised awa ...

(1874–1938), historian, writer, and activist *

George Schuyler George Samuel Schuyler (; February 25, 1895 – August 31, 1977) was an American writer, journalist, and social commentator known for his conservatism after he had initially supported socialism. Early life George Samuel Schuyler was born in ...

(1895–1977), author, journalist and social commentator * Gil Scott-Heron (1949–2011), poet and musician * Clara Johnson Scroggins (1931–2019), author, collector *

Sandra Seaton Sandra Cecelia Seaton is an American playwright and librettist. She received the Mark Twain Award from the Society for the Study of Midwestern Literature in 2012. Seaton taught creative writing and African-American literature at Central Michiga ...

(living), playwright and librettist *

Victor Séjour Juan Victor Séjour Marcou et Ferrand (June 2, 1817 – September 20, 1874) was an American Creole of color and expatriate writer. Born in New Orleans, he spent most of his career in Paris. His fiction and plays were written and published in Fr ...

(1817–1874) *

Fatima Shaik Fatima Shaik is an Indian Americans, Indian-American and African Americans, African-American author and former daily journalist. Her work explores contemporary social issues, especially that of the "African-American experience." Shaik’s resea ...

(living), author *

Tupac Shakur Tupac Amaru Shakur ( ; born Lesane Parish Crooks, June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known as 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper. He is widely considered one of the most influential rappers of all time. Shakur is among the b ...

(1971–1996) *

Ntozake Shange Ntozake Shange ( ;
FilmReference.com. Retrieved October 27, 2018. October 18, 1948 – October 27, 2018) ...

(1948–2018), playwright and poet *

Nisi Shawl Nisi Shawl (born 1955) is an African-American writer, editor, and journalist. They are best known as an author of science fiction and fantasy short stories who writes and teaches about how fantastic fiction might reflect real-world diversity of ...

(born 1955) *

Sister Souljah Sister Souljah (born Lisa Williamson, Bronx, New York) is an American author, activist, and film producer. Democratic Party candidate Bill Clinton criticized her remarks about race in the United States during the 1992 presidential campaign. H ...

(born 1964) *

Iceberg Slim Robert Beck (born Robert Lee Maupin or Robert Moppins Jr.; August 4, 1918 – April 30, 1992), better known as Iceberg Slim, was a former American pimp who later became a writer. Beck's novels were adapted into films. Early life Robert Ma ...

(1918–1992) *

Amanda Smith Amanda Berry Smith (January 23, 1837 – February 24, 1915) was a Methodist preacher and former slave who funded The Amanda Smith Orphanage and Industrial Home for Abandoned and Destitute Colored Children outside Chicago. She was a leader i ...

(1837–1915) * Danez Smith (living), poet *

Effie Waller Smith Effie Waller Smith (January 6, 1879 – January 2, 1960) was an African-American poet of the early twentieth century. Her published output consisted of three volumes of poetry: ''Songs of the Month'' (1904), ''Rhymes From the Cumberland'' (1904 ...

(1879–1960), poet * William Gardner Smith (1927–1974), journalist, novelist, and editor *

Thomas Sowell Thomas Sowell (; born June 30, 1930) is an American author, economist, political commentator and academic who is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution. With widely published commentary and books—and as a guest on TV and radio—he becam ...

(born 1930), economist, social theorist, political philosopher * A. B. Spellman (born 1935) *

Anne Spencer Anne Bethel Spencer (born Bannister; February 6, 1882 – July 27, 1975) was an American poet, teacher, civil rights activist, librarian, and gardener. Though she lived outside New York City, the recognized center of the Harlem Renaissance, also ...

(1882–1975), poet *

Aurin Squire Aurin Squire is an African-American playwright, screenwriter, and reporter. He has written numerous plays, while his reporting has appeared in The New Republic, Talking Points Memo, ''Chicago Tribune'', ''Miami Herald'', and ''ESPN'', among other ...

(born 1979), producer, playwright, screenwriter and reporter *

Theophilus Gould Steward Theophilus Gould Steward (April 17, 1843 – January 11, 1924) was an American author, educator, and clergyman. He was a U.S. Army chaplain and Buffalo Soldier of 25th U.S. Colored Infantry. Life and career Early years Steward was born to Jam ...

(1843–1924) * Maria W. Stewart (1803–1879), journalist, lecturer, abolitionist, women's rights activist * Jeffrey C. Stewart (born 1950), professor and Pulitzer prize winner *

Nic Stone Andrea Nicole Livingstone (born July 10, 1985), known as Nic Stone, is an American author of young adult fiction and middle grade fiction, best known for her debut novel ''Dear Martin'' and her middle grade debut, ''Clean Getaway''. Her novels ...

(born 1985)

T

* Ellen Tarry (1906–2008) *

Mildred D. Taylor Mildred DeLois Taylor (born September 13, 1943) is a Newbery Award-winning American young adult novelist. She is best known for her novel ''Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry'', part of her Logan family series. Taylor is known for exploring powerful ...

(born 1943) *

Susie Taylor Susie King Taylor (August 6, 1848 – October 6, 1912) is known for being the first Black nurse during the American Civil War. Beyond just her aptitude in nursing the wounded of the 1st South Carolina Volunteer Infantry Regiment, Taylor was the f ...

(1848–1912) * Mary Church Terrell (1863–1954) * Lucy Terry (c. 1730–1821) *

Michael Thelwell Ekwueme Michael Thelwell (born Michael Miles Thelwell; 25 July 1939) is a Jamaican novelist, essayist, professor and civil rights activist. He was in 1970 founding chairman of the Department of Afro-American Studies at the University of Massach ...

(born 1939) *

Angie Thomas Angie Thomas (born September 20, 1988) is an American young adult author, best known for writing '' The Hate U Give'' (2017). Her second young adult novel, ''On the Come Up'', was released on February 25, 2019. Early life Angie Thomas was born ...

(born 1988) *

Clarence Thomas Clarence Thomas (born June 23, 1948) is an American jurist who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was nominated by President George H. W. Bush to succeed Thurgood Marshall and has served since 1 ...

(born 1948) * Joyce Carol Thomas (1938–2016), author, poet, playwright, and motivational speaker *

Lorenzo Thomas Lorenzo Thomas (October 26, 1804 – March 2, 1875) was a career United States Army officer who was Adjutant General of the Army at the beginning of the American Civil War. After the war, he was appointed temporary Secretary of War by U.S. ...

(1944–2005) *

Piri Thomas Piri Thomas (born Juan Pedro Tomas; September 30, 1928 – October 17, 2011) was a Puerto Rican- Cuban writer and poet whose memoir ''Down These Mean Streets'' became a best-seller. Early years Thomas was born to a Puerto Rican mother and Cuba ...

(1928–2011) *

Truth Thomas Truth Thomas (born Glenn Edward Thomas in Knoxville, Tennessee) is an American singer-songwriter, poet, editor, publisher and founder of Cherry Castle Publishing, LLC. He is the author of ''Party of Black'' (2006), ''A Day of Presence'' (2008), ...

(living) * Pamela Thomas-Graham (born 1963) *

Era Bell Thompson Era Bell Thompson (August 10, 1905 – December 30, 1986) was an American writer and editor. Thompson was born in Des Moines, Iowa, Includes brief bio and a selection from ''Africa''. to an African American family, the only daughter of Ste ...

(1905–1986) *

Howard Thurman Howard Washington Thurman (November 18, 1899 – April 10, 1981) was an American author, philosopher, theologian, mystic, educator, and civil rights leader. As a prominent religious figure, he played a leading role in many social justice movements ...

(1899–1981) *

Wallace Thurman Wallace Henry Thurman (August 16, 1902 – December 22, 1934) was an American novelist active during the Harlem Renaissance. He also wrote essays, worked as an editor, and was a publisher of short-lived newspapers and literary journals. He is be ...

(1902–1934) * Ruth D. Todd (1878–?) *

Lynn Toler Lynn Candace Toler (born October 25, 1959) is an American lawyer, judge, television arbitrator (judge), and television presenter. Toler is best known for her role as former arbitrator over longest-running courtroom television series, ''Divorce ...

(born 1959) *

Melvin B. Tolson Melvin Beaunorus Tolson (February 6, 1898 – August 29, 1966) was an American poet, educator, columnist, and politician. As a poet, he was influenced both by Modernism and the language and experiences of African Americans, and he was deeply inf ...

(1898–1966) *

Jean Toomer Jean Toomer (born Nathan Pinchback Toomer; December 26, 1894 – March 30, 1967) was an American poet and novelist commonly associated with the Harlem Renaissance, though he actively resisted the association, and with modernism. His reputatio ...

(1894–1967) *

Touré Touré is the French transcription of a West African surname (English transcriptions are '' Turay'' and '' Touray''). The name is probably derived from ''tùùré'', the word for 'elephant' in Soninké, the language of the Ghana Empire. The clan ...

(born 1971) * Askia M. Touré (born 1938), poet, essayist, leading voice of the Black Arts Movement *

Quincy Troupe Quincy Thomas Troupe, Jr. (born July 22, 1939) is an American poet, editor, journalist and professor emeritus at the University of California, San Diego, in La Jolla, California. He is best known as the biographer of Miles Davis, the jazz music ...

(born 1939) * Sojourner Truth (c.1797–1883) * Omar Tyree (born 1969) *

Neil deGrasse Tyson Neil deGrasse Tyson ( or ; born October 5, 1958) is an American astrophysicist, author, and science communicator. Tyson studied at Harvard University, the University of Texas at Austin, and Columbia University. From 1991 to 1994, he was a p ...

(born 1958)

V

Henry Van Dyke Henry Jackson van Dyke Jr. (November 10, 1852 – April 10, 1933) was an American author, educator, diplomat, and Presbyterian clergyman. Early life Van Dyke was born on November 10, 1852, in Germantown, Pennsylvania. He was the son of Henry ...

(1928–2011), novelist, editor, teacher and musician * Ivan Van Sertima (1935–2009), professor, author, historian, linguist and anthropologist at Rutgers University * Bethany Veney (c. 1813–1916), author of ''Aunt Betty's Story: The Narrative of Bethany Veney, A Slave Woman (1889)'' * Olympia Vernon (born 1973), novelist

W

* Dwyane Wade (born 1982) *

Alice Walker Alice Malsenior Tallulah-Kate Walker (born February 9, 1944) is an American novelist, short story writer, poet, and social activist. In 1982, she became the first African-American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, which she was awa ...

(born 1944) * Frank X. Walker (born 1961), founding member of Affrilachian poets *

Margaret Walker Margaret Walker (Margaret Abigail Walker Alexander by marriage; July 7, 1915 – November 30, 1998) was an American poet and writer. She was part of the African-American literary movement in Chicago, known as the Chicago Black Renaissance. H ...

(1915–1998) * Christopher George Latore Wallace (1972–1997) *

Michele Wallace Michele Faith Wallace (born January 4, 1952) is a black feminist author, cultural critic, and daughter of artist Faith Ringgold. She is best known for her 1979 book ''Black Macho and the Myth of the Superwoman''. Wallace's writings on literature, ...

(born 1952) * Eric Walrond (1898–1966) * Mildred Pitts Walter (born 1922) * Marilyn Nelson Waniek (born 1946) *

Douglas Turner Ward Douglas Turner Ward (May 5, 1930February 20, 2021) was an American playwright, actor, director, and theatrical producer. He was noted for being a founder and artistic director of the Negro Ensemble Company (NEC). He was nominated for the Tony ...

(1930–2021) *

Jesmyn Ward Jesmyn Ward (born April 1, 1977) is an American novelist and a Professor of English at Tulane University, where she holds the Andrew W. Mellon Professorship in the Humanities. She won the 2011 National Book Award for Fiction for her second novel ...

(born 1977) *

Booker T. Washington Booker Taliaferro Washington (April 5, 1856November 14, 1915) was an American educator, author, orator, and adviser to several presidents of the United States. Between 1890 and 1915, Washington was the dominant leader in the African-American c ...

(1856–1915) * Frank J. Webb (1828–c.1894), novelist, poet, essayist *

Ida B. Wells Ida B. Wells (full name: Ida Bell Wells-Barnett) (July 16, 1862 – March 25, 1931) was an American investigative journalist, educator, and early leader in the civil rights movement. She was one of the founders of the National Association for ...

(1862–1931) *

Richard Wesley Richard Wesley (born July 11, 1945) is an American playwright and screenwriter. He is an associate professor at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in the Rita and Burton Goldberg Department of Dramatic Writing. Early life Wesley w ...

(born 1945), playwright, screenwriter *

Valerie Wilson Wesley Valerie Wilson Wesley (born November 22, 1947) is an American author of Mystery fiction, mysteries, adult-theme novels, and children's books, and a former executive editor of ''Essence (magazine), Essence'' magazine. She is the author of the Tamar ...

(born 1947) *

Cornel West Cornel Ronald West (born June 2, 1953) is an American philosopher, political activist, social critic, actor, and public intellectual. The grandson of a Baptist minister, West focuses on the role of race, gender, and class in American society an ...

(born 1953) * Dorothy West (1907–1998), novelist *

Phillis Wheatley Phillis Wheatley Peters, also spelled Phyllis and Wheatly ( – December 5, 1784) was an American author who is considered the first African-American author of a published book of poetry. Gates, Henry Louis, ''Trials of Phillis Wheatley: Ameri ...

(1753–1784), first published African-American poet *

Walter Francis White Walter Francis White (July 1, 1893 – March 21, 1955) was an American civil rights activist who led the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) for a quarter of a century, 1929–1955, after joining the organi ...

(1893–1955) *

Colson Whitehead Arch Colson Chipp Whitehead (born November 6, 1969) is an American novelist. He is the author of eight novels, including his 1999 debut work '' The Intuitionist''; '' The Underground Railroad'' (2016), for which he won the 2016 National Book Awar ...

(born 1969), novelist ('' The Intuitionist'', '' The Underground Railroad'') and journalist * Steven Whitehurst (born 1967), award-winning author *

Albery Allson Whitman Albery Allson Whitman (May 30, 1851June 29, 1901 was an African-American poet, minister and orator. Born into slavery, Whitman became a writer. During his lifetime he was acclaimed as the "Poet Laureate of the Negro Race". He worked as a manual ...

(1851–1901), poet, minister and orator * Anthony Whyte, writer of urban and hip-hop literature *

John Edgar Wideman John Edgar Wideman (born June 14, 1941) is an American novelist, short story writer, memoirist, and essayist. He was the first person to win the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction twice. His writing is known for experimental techniques and a focus o ...

(born 1941) *

Isabel Wilkerson Isabel Wilkerson (born 1961) is an American journalist and the author of '' The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration'' (2010) and '' Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents'' (2020). She is the first woman of African-A ...

(born 1961) * Crystal Wilkinson (living) * Chancellor Williams (1893–1992), historian and sociologist *

John Alfred Williams John Alfred Williams (December 5, 1925 – July 3, 2015) was an African American author, journalist, and academic. His novel ''The Man Who Cried I Am'' was a bestseller in 1967. Also a poet, he won an American Book Award for his 1998 collection ' ...

(1925–2015), author, journalist and academic *

Samm-Art Williams Samm-Art Williams (born Samuel Arthur Williams; January 20, 1946) is an American playwright and screenwriter, and a stage and film/ TV actor and television producer. Much of his work concerns the African-American experience. He was nominated ...

(born 1946), playwright *

Sherley Anne Williams Sherley Anne Williams (August 25, 1944 – July 6, 1999) was an American poet, novelist, professor, vocalist, jazz poet, playwright and social critic. Many of her works tell stories about her life in the African-American community. Biography ...

(1944–1999) *

Walter E. Williams Walter Edward Williams (March 31, 1936December 1, 2020) was an American economist, commentator, and academic. Williams was the John M. Olin Distinguished Professor of Economics at George Mason University, as well as a syndicated columnist ...

(1936–2020) *

August Wilson August Wilson ( Frederick August Kittel Jr.; April 27, 1945 – October 2, 2005) was an American playwright. He has been referred to as the "theater's poet of Black America". He is best known for a series of ten plays, collectively called ' (or ...

(1945–2005) * Harriet E. Wilson (1825–1900), author of ''Our Nig'' and the first African-American novelist *

William Julius Wilson William Julius Wilson (born December 20, 1935) is an American sociologist. He is a professor at Harvard University and author of works on urban sociology, race and class issues. Laureate of the National Medal of Science, he served as the 80th P ...

(born 1935), author of ''When Work Disappears'', ''The Truly Disadvantaged'', and ''The Declining Significance of Race'' * Oprah Winfrey (born 1954) *

Carter G. Woodson Carter Godwin Woodson (December 19, 1875April 3, 1950) was an American historian, author, journalist, and the founder of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH). He was one of the first scholars to study the h ...

(1875–1950) *

Jacqueline Woodson Jacqueline Woodson (born February 12, 1963) is an American writer of books for children and adolescents. She is best known for ''Miracle's Boys'', and her Newbery Honor-winning titles ''Brown Girl Dreaming'', ''After Tupac and D Foster'', ''Feat ...

(born 1963), award-winning author of books for children and adolescents, including "Brown Girl Dreaming" *

David Wright David Allen Wright (born December 20, 1982) is an American former professional baseball third baseman who played his entire 14-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career for the New York Mets. He was drafted by the Mets in 2001 MLB draft and made h ...

(born 1964) * Jay Wright (born 1935), poet * Kelly Wright, author of ''Outed Obsession'' and ''Fatal Fixation'' * Richard Wright (1908–1960), writer of novels, short stories, poems and non-fiction

X

Malcolm X Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little, later Malik el-Shabazz; May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965) was an American Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a prominent figure during the civil rights movement. A spokesman for the Nation of I ...

(1925–1965) * Marian X (born 1944)

Y

Camille Yarbrough Camille Yarbrough (born January 8, 1938) is an American musician, dancer, actress, poet, activist, television producer, and author. She is best known for the song "Take Yo' Praise", which Fatboy Slim sampled in his 1998 track "Praise You". "Ta ...

(born 1938) *

Frank Yerby Frank Garvin Yerby ( – ) was an American writer, best known for his 1946 historical novel ''The Foxes of Harrow''. Early life Yerby was born in Augusta, Georgia, on September 5, 1916, the second of four children of Rufus Garvin Yerby (1886– ...

(1916–1991), historical novelist *

Al Young Albert James Young (May 31, 1939 – April 17, 2021) was an American poet, novelist, essayist, screenwriter, and professor. He was named Poet Laureate of California by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger from 2005 to 2008. Young's many books includ ...

(1939–2021), poet, novelist, essayist, screenwriter and professor

Z

* Zane (born 1966/67), author of erotic fiction * Ahmos Zu-Bolton (1948–2005), activist, poet and playwright

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:List Of African-American Writers Writers

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

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See also

References