Black American Authors

Black History Month honors and celebrates the contributions of African Americans in the rich fabric of American life and culture. This week, the GSU Library honors African American writers.

While the roll of celebrated writers is long, the following authors (with selected titles) consistently top the most read/most influential/most awarded African American writers lists:

Maya Angelou, 1928-2014, autobiographer, poet, civil rights activist

James Baldwin, 1924-1987, poet, novelist, playright, essayist, social critic

Amiri Baraka, 1934-2014, poet, playwright, novelist, essayist, political activist, music critic

Octavia Butler, 1947-2006, science fiction writer

Frederick Douglass, 1818-1895, writer, orator, abolitionist, social reformer

W.E.B. Du Bois, 1868-1963, sociologist, historian, civil rights activist, novelist

Ralph Ellison, 1914-1994, novelist, literary critic

Alex Haley, 1921-1992, novelist, journalist

Langston Hughes, 1902-1967, poet, novelist, playright

Zora Neale Hurston, 1891-1960, novelist, short story writer, folklorist, anthropologist

Toni Morrison, b. 1931, novelist, editor, professor

Alice Walker, b. 1944, novelist, poet, short story writer, activist

August Wilson, 1945-2005, playwright

Richard Wright, 1908-1960, novelist, short story writer, poet

Check out one of the books above, or search the for other authors and titles. You may also locate works by genre by using the following searches:

• african americans poetry
• african americans fiction
• african americans drama