List of African-American writers

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.

A

• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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
• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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

• Malcolm X (1925–1965)
• Marian X (born 1944)

Y

• Camille Yarbrough (born 1938)
• Frank Yerby (1916–1991), historical novelist
• Al Young (born 1939), poet, novelist, essayist, screenwriter and professor

Z

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

See also

• 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