List of African-American writers - Wikipedia List of African-American writers From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia   (Redirected from List of African American writers) Jump to navigation Jump to search Wikimedia list article This is a list of African-American authors and writers, all of whom are considered part of African-American literature, and who already have Wikipedia articles. The list also includes non-American authors resident in the USA and American writers of African descent. Note: Consult Who is African-American? to gain a better sense as to who can be listed as an African-American writer. This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources. Contents:  Top 0–9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A[edit] Aberjhani (born 1957), historian, columnist, novelist, poet, artist and editor Mumia Abu-Jamal (born 1954), political activist and journalist Linda Addison (born 1952), author and poet Rochelle Alers (born 1943), author and artist Elizabeth Alexander (b. 1962), poet, essayist and playwright Kwame Alexander (born 1968), writer of poetry and children's fiction Larry D. Alexander (born 1953), author and artist Lewis Grandison Alexander (1898–1945) 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 (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 (born 1962), poet, playwright, professor Russell Atkins (born 1926), musician, playwright and poet William Attaway (1911–1986), novelist, short-story writer, essayist, songwriter, playwright and screenwriter B[edit] Calvin Baker (born 1972), novelist James Baldwin (1924–1987), novelist, playwright, essayist, poet and activist Toni Cade Bambara (1939–1995) Leslie Esdaile Banks (1959–2011) Amiri Baraka (1934–2014) Shauna Barbosa (living), 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 (1930–2011) Brit Bennett (living) Gwendolyn Bennett (1902–1981) Hal Bennett (1936–2004) Lerone Bennett, Jr. (1928–2018) Bertice Berry (born 1960) Venise T. Berry (living), novelist Henry Bibb (1815–1854) Eleanor Taylor Bland (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 (1878–1962), poet and literary critic Gwendolyn Brooks (1917–2000) Claude Brown (1937–2002) Hallie Quinn Brown (1849–1949) Sterling A. Brown (1901–1989), poet, literary critic, professor, poet laureate of the District of Columbia William Wells Brown (1814–1884), wrote first novel published by an African American, Clotel (1853) Ashley Bryan (born 1923) Niobia Bryant (living), author of romance and mainstream fiction novels Ed Bullins (born 1935) Olivia Ward Bush (1869–1944) Octavia Butler (1947–2006) Roderick D. Bush (1945–2013) C[edit] George Cain (1943–2010) Bebe Moore Campbell (1950–2006) Stokely Carmichael (1941–1998) Ben Carson (born 1951) Jennie Carter (1830–1881) Stephen L. Carter (born 1954) Cyrus Cassells (born 1957) Lady Chablis (1957–2016), actress, author, drag performer Charles W. Chesnutt (1858–1932), novelist and short-story writer Alice Childress (1916–1994), playwright and novelist Breena Clarke (living) Cheril N. Clarke (born 1980) Cheryl Clarke (born 1947) John Henrik Clarke (1915–1998) Stanley Bennett Clay (born 1950), writer, director, actor, publisher Troy CLE (living) Pearl Cleage (born 1948) Eldridge Cleaver (1935–1998) Michelle Cliff (1946–2016) Lucille Clifton (1936–2010) Wendy Coakley-Thompson (born 1966) Ta-Nehisi Coates (born 1975) Wanda Coleman (1946–2013) Marvel Cooke (1903–2000) Anna J. Cooper (1858–1964) J. California Cooper (1931–2014), playwright James Corrothers (1869–1917) Jayne Cortez (1934–2012) Bill Cosby (born 1937) Joseph Seamon Cotter, Sr. (1861–1949) Donald Crews (born 1938), children's book author Stanley Crouch (1945–2020) Harold Cruse (1916–2005) Countee Cullen (1903–1946) Waring Cuney (1906–1976) Christopher Paul Curtis (born 1953) D[edit] Jeffrey Daniels (living), poet Meri Nana-Ama Danquah (born 1967) Christopher Darden (born 1956) Angela Davis (born 1944) Frank Marshall Davis (1905–1987) Kyra Davis (born 1972), novelist Milton Davis (living) George Dawson (1898–2001) Samuel R. Delany (born 1942), novelist Eric Jerome Dickey (1961–2021) Anita Doreen Diggs (born 1966) Lonnie Dixon (1932–2011) Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) Rita Dove (born 1952), poet Sharon Draper (born 1948) W. E. B. Du Bois (1868–1963) Tananarive Due (born 1966) Henry Dumas (1934–1968) Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872–1906), poet Alice Dunbar-Nelson (1875–1935) David Anthony Durham (born 1969) Michael Eric Dyson (born 1958) E[edit] Cornelius Eady (born 1954) Sarah Jane Woodson Early (1825–1907), educator, activist and author Junius Edwards (1929–2008) Ralph Ellison (1913–1994), novelist, best known as author of Invisible Man Olaudah Equiano (c. 1745–1797) Don Evans (1938–2003), playwright Mari Evans (1919–2017), poet Percival Everett (born 1956) Eve Ewing (born 1986) F[edit] Sarah Webster Fabio (1928–1979) Ronald Fair (born 1932) John M. Faucette (1943–2003), science-fiction author Arthur Huff Fauset (1899–1983) Jessie Fauset (1882–1961), editor, poet, essayist and novelist London R. Ferebee (1849-1883), preacher and author Lolita Files, author, screenwriter, and producer Antwone Fisher (born 1959) Rudolph Fisher (1897–1934), novelist, short story writer, dramatist Sharon G. Flake (born 1955), writer of young adult literature Robert Fleming, journalist and writer of erotic fiction and horror fiction Mary Weston Fordham (c.1862–1905), poet Leon Forrest (1937–1997), novelist Tonya Foster, poet, essayist, and educator J. E. Franklin (born 1937), playwright Hoyt W. Fuller (1923–1981) Nina Foxx, novelist, playwright & screenwriter G[edit] Ernest Gaines (1933–2019), fiction writer Ruth Gaines-Shelton (1872–1938), educator and playwright Marcus Garvey (1887–1940) Tony Gaskins (1984), motivational, inspirational, self-help writer Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (born 1950) Roxane Gay (born 1974) Nikki Giovanni (born 1943) Roy Glenn (1914–1971), fiction writer, Is It A Crime, Payback Donald Goines (1936–1974) Marita Golden (born 1950) Edythe Mae Gordon (ca. 1897–1980), poet, fiction writer Eugene Gordon (1891–1972), journalist Charles Gordone (1925–1995), playwright Amanda Gorman (born 1998), poet Lawrence Otis Graham (born 1962) Moses Grandy (born c. 1786) Victor Hugo Green (1892–1960), travel writer Eloise Greenfield (born 1929), children's book author Sam Greenlee (1930–2014), novelist, poet, best known as author of The Spook Who Sat by the Door Bonnie Greer (born 1948), novelist, playwright, critic Deborah Gregory, author of The Cheetah Girls book series Dick Gregory (1932–2017) Sutton E. Griggs (1872–1933) Nikki Grimes (born 1950), children's book author and poet[1] Angelina Weld Grimke (1880–1958) Charlotte Forten Grimké (1837–1914) Rosa Guy (1922–2012) John Langston Gwaltney (1928–1998), anthropologist, author of Drylongso Yaa Gyasi (born 1989), Ghanaian-American novelist, author of Homegoing H[edit] Alex Haley (1921–1992), author of Roots: The Saga of an American Family Virginia Hamilton (1934–2002), author of children's books Henry Hampton (1940–1998) Lorraine Hansberry (1930–1965), playwright Joyce Hansen (born 1942), author of children's books Vincent Harding (1931–2014), historian and social activist Nathan Hare (born 1933) Frances Harper (1825–1911), poet and abolitionist E. Lynn Harris (1955–2009) Juanita Harrison (1891–?) Robert Hayden (1913–1980), poet, essayist, educator Essex Hemphill (1957–1995), poet and activist David Henderson (poet) (born 1942) Safiya Henderson-Holmes (1950–2001), poet Chester Himes (1909–1984), novelist Kameisha Jerae Hodge (born 1989) Corey J. Hodges (born 1970) Karla F. C. Holloway (born 1949) Bell Hooks (born 1952), feminist, and social activist Pauline Hopkins (1859–1930), novelist, journalist, playwright, historian and editor Nalo Hopkinson (born 1960), Jamaican Canadian, currently based in California George Moses Horton (1798–after 1867) Detrick Hughes (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 J[edit] Brenda Jackson (born 1953) Jesse C. Jackson (1908–1983), young-adult novelist Harriet Jacobs (1813 or 1815–1897), author of Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (1861) T. D. Jakes (born 1957) Ayize Jama-Everett (born 1974), science fiction and speculative fiction writer John Jea (1773–after 1817) N. K. Jemisin (born 1972) Beverly Jenkins (born 1951) Joseph Jewell Alaya Dawn Johnson (born 1982) Angela Johnson (born 1961) Charles R. Johnson (born 1948) Georgia Douglas Johnson (1880–1966), poet Helene Johnson (1906–1995), poet James Weldon Johnson (1871–1938) Mat Johnson (born 1970) Varian Johnson (born 1977) Edward P. Jones (born 1950), novelist and short-story writer Gayl Jones (born 1949), novelist Tayari Jones (born 1970) June Jordan (1936–2002), poet, essayist and activist K[edit] Ron Karenga (born 1941) Bob Kaufman (1925–1986), poet Elizabeth Keckley (1818–1907) William Melvin Kelley (1937–2017), novelist Emma Dunham Kelley-Hawkins (1863–1938), novelist Randall Kenan (1963–2020) Adrienne Kennedy (born 1931), playwright John Oliver Killens (1916–1987), novelist Jamaica Kincaid (born 1949) Martin Luther King Jr. (1929–1968) Woodie King Jr. (born 1937) Etheridge Knight (1931–1991), poet Yusef Komunyakaa (born 1941) L[edit] Pinkie Gordon Lane (1923–2008), poet, editor and teacher Nella Larsen (1891–1964), novelist Victor LaValle (born 1972) Andrea Lee, novelist and memoirist Julius Lester (1939–2018) David Levering Lewis (born 1936) Alain Locke (1885–1954) Attica Locke (born 1974), novelist Audre Lorde (1934–1992), author, poet, activist Bettina L. Love, abolitionist educator and writer Glenville Lovell (born 1955), novelist and playwright M[edit] Christopher Mwashinga (born 1965), poet, theologian, essayist Nathaniel Mackey (born 1947), poet, novelist, anthologist, literary critic and editor Naomi Long Madgett (1923–2020), poet Haki R. Madhubuti (born 1942) Clarence Major, poet, painter and novelist Raynetta Manees, novelist Manning Marable (1950–2011) John Marrant (1755–1791) Paule Marshall (1929–2019) Hans Massaquoi (1926–2013) Brandon Massey (born 1973) Victoria Earle Matthews (1861–1907), essayist, newspaperwoman, activist Julian Mayfield (1928–1984) James McBride (writer) (born 1957) Nathan McCall (born 1955) Bernice McFadden (born 1965), novelist Claude McKay (1889–1948) Patricia McKissack (1944–2017) Reginald McKnight (born 1956) Kim McLarin (born 1964), novelist Terry McMillan (born 1951), novelist James Alan McPherson (1943–2016) Louise Meriwether (born 1923), novelist, essayist, journalist and activist Oscar Micheaux (1884–1951) E. Ethelbert Miller (born 1950), poet May Miller (1899–1995), poet and playwright Arthenia J. Bates Millican (1920–2012), poet, essayist and educator Mary Monroe, novelist Anne Moody (1940–2015) Jessica Care Moore (born 1971), poet Toni Morrison (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 (born 1952), novelist Thylias Moss (born 1954) Willard Motley (1909–1965) Jess Mowry (born 1960) Albert Murray (1916–2013) Pauli Murray (1910–1985) Walter Dean Myers (1937–2014), writer of children's books N[edit] Tariq Nasheed Gloria Naylor (1950–2016) Larry Neal (1937–1981) Barbara Neely (1941–2020), novelist, short-story writer and activist Huey P. Newton (1942–1989) Richard Bruce Nugent (1906–1987) O[edit] Bayo Ojikutu (born 1971) Mwatabu S. Okantah (born 1952) Gabriel Okara (1921–2019) Nnedi Okorafor (born 1974) Marc Olden (1933–2003) Terry a. O'Neal (born 1973) Tochi Onyebuchi (born 1987) Roscoe Orman (born 1944) Ewuare Osayande Brenda Marie Osbey (born 1957), poet Candace Owens (born 1989) political activist P[edit] ZZ Packer (born 1973) Gordon Parks (1912–2006) Suzan-Lori Parks (living), playwright, screenwriter, musician and novelist Tyler Perry (born 1969) Eric Pete, novelist and short-story writer Ann Petry (1908–1997), writer of novels, short stories, children's books and journalism Debra Phillips (born 1959) William Pickens (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 (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 R[edit] Aishah Rahman (1936–2014), playwright Alice Randall (born 1959), author and songwriter Dudley Randall (1914–2000), poet and publisher Cordelia Ray (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 (born 1983), YA/Middle-Grade novelist/poet Willis Richardson (1889–1977), playwright Florida Ruffin Ridley (1861–1943), essayist and short story writer Harrison David Rivers (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 (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, author of the Dork Diaries series of children's novels Carl Hancock Rux, poet, essayist, playwright, novelist Rupaul (born 1960), actor, author, drag performer, TV show host S[edit] Kalamu ya Salaam (born 1947), poet, author, filmmaker, teacher, activist Sonia Sanchez (born 1934), poet Dori Sanders (born 1934) novelist Sapphire (born 1950) Charles R. Saunders, (1946–2020), author and journalist Arturo Alfonso Schomburg (1874–1938), historian, writer, and activist George Schuyler (1895–1977), author, journalist and social commentator Gil Scott-Heron (1949–2011), poet and musician Clara Johnson Scroggins (born 1931), author, collector Sandra Seaton, playwright and librettist Victor Séjour (1817–1874) Fatima Shaik, author Tupac Shakur (1971–1996) Ntozake Shange (1948–2018), playwright and poet Nisi Shawl (born 1955) Sister Souljah (born 1964) Iceberg Slim (1918–1992) Amanda Smith (1837–1915) Danez Smith, poet Effie Waller Smith (1879–1960), poet William Gardner Smith (1927–1974), journalist, novelist, and editor Thomas Sowell (born 1930), economist, social theorist, political philosopher A. B. Spellman (born 1935) Anne Spencer (1882–1975), poet Aurin Squire (born 1979), producer, playwright, screenwriter and reporter Theophilus Gould Steward (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 (born 1985) T[edit] Ellen Tarry (1906–2008) Mildred D. Taylor (born 1943) Susie Taylor (1848–1912) Mary Church Terrell (1863–1954) Lucy Terry (c. 1730–1821) Michael Thelwell (born 1939) Angie Thomas (born 1988) Clarence Thomas (born 1948) Joyce Carol Thomas (1938–2016), author, poet, playwright, and motivational speaker Lorenzo Thomas (1944–2005) Piri Thomas (1928–2011) Truth Thomas Pamela Thomas-Graham (born 1963) Era Bell Thompson (1905–1986) Howard Thurman (1899–1981) Wallace Thurman (1902–1934) Ruth D. Todd (born 1878) Lynn Toler (born 1959) Melvin B. Tolson (1898–1966) Jean Toomer (1894–1967) Touré (born 1971) Askia M. Touré (born 1938), poet, essayist, leading voice of the Black Arts Movement Quincy Troupe (born 1939) Sojourner Truth (c.1797–1883) Omar Tyree (born 1969) Neil deGrasse Tyson (born 1958) V[edit] Henry Van Dyke (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[edit] Dwyane Wade (born 1982) Alice Walker (born 1944) Frank X. Walker (born 1961), founding member of Affrilachian poets Margaret Walker (1915–1998) Christopher George Latore Wallace (1972–1997) Michele Wallace (born 1952) Eric Walrond (1898–1966) Mildred Pitts Walter (born 1922) Marilyn Nelson Waniek (born 1946) Douglas Turner Ward (born 1930) Jesmyn Ward (born 1977) Booker T. Washington (1856–1915) Frank J. Webb (1828–c.1894), novelist, poet, essayist Ida B. Wells (1862–1931) Richard Wesley (born 1945), playwright, screenwriter Valerie Wilson Wesley (born 1947) Cornel West (born 1953) Dorothy West (1907–1998), novelist Phillis Wheatley (1753–1784), first published African-American poet Walter Francis White (1893–1955) Colson Whitehead (born 1969), novelist (The Intuitionist, The Underground Railroad) and journalist Steven Whitehurst (born 1967), award-winning author Albery Allson Whitman (1851–1901), poet, minister and orator Anthony Whyte, writer of urban and hip-hop literature John Edgar Wideman (born 1941) Isabel Wilkerson (born 1961) Crystal Wilkinson Chancellor Williams (1893–1992), historian and sociologist John Alfred Williams (1925–2015), author, journalist and academic Samm-Art Williams (born 1946), playwright Sherley Anne Williams (1944–1999) Walter E. Williams (1936–2020) August Wilson (1945–2005) Harriet E. Wilson (1825–1900), author of Our Nig and the first African-American novelist William Julius Wilson (born 1935), author of When Work Disappears, The Truly Disadvantaged, and The Declining Significance of Race Oprah Winfrey (born 1954) Carter G. Woodson (1875–1950) Jacqueline Woodson (born 1963), award-winning author of books for children and adolescents, including "Brown Girl Dreaming" David Wright (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[edit] Malcolm X (1925–1965) Marian X (born 1944) Y[edit] Camille Yarbrough (born 1938) Frank Yerby (1916–1991), historical novelist Al Young (born 1939), poet, novelist, essayist, screenwriter and professor Z[edit] Zane (born 1966/67), author of erotic fiction Ahmos Zu-Bolton (1948–2005), activist, poet and playwright See also[edit] Literature portal List of African-American nonfiction writers List of Black New York Times Best Selling Authors African-American literature Lists of writers Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States Before Columbus Foundation List of Mexican-American writers References[edit] ^ Nikki Grimes at Scholastic. Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_African-American_writers&oldid=1002433272" Categories: Lists of African-American people Lists of American writers African-American writers Hidden categories: Articles with short description Short description is different from Wikidata Use mdy dates from October 2013 Dynamic lists Navigation menu Personal tools Not logged in Talk Contributions Create account Log in Namespaces Article Talk Variants Views Read Edit View history More Search Navigation Main page Contents Current events Random article About Wikipedia Contact us Donate Contribute Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file Tools What links here Related changes Upload file Special pages Permanent link Page information Cite this page Wikidata item Print/export Download as PDF Printable version In other projects Wikimedia Commons Languages Türkçe Edit links This page was last edited on 24 January 2021, at 12:39 (UTC). 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