African American Literature: Websites

Thanks to the work of African American authors, the world can better understand both the struggles and triumphs of Black people in America. From wise artists like Maya Angelou to newer voices like Oprah's Book Club pick Leila Mottley and trailblazer Ann Petry, we’ve gathered some of the all-time best books by Black authors to add to your reading list.

This week’s reading list is curated by PEN America’s World Voices Festival team and features a mix of classic and contemporary novels, essay collections, and poetry collections. It includes the searing prose of James Baldwin’s 1963 bestseller The Fire Next Time, in which he tells his nephew how to navigate the injustices he will face as Black man in America. We also highlight Nic Stone’s Dear Martin, published more than 50 years later but which exposes the same threats of racial violence that still plague our country and threaten young Black men.

They are poets, playwrights, novelists and scholars, and together they helped capture the voice of a nation. They have fearlessly explored racism, abuse and violence as well as love, beauty and music. While their names and styles have changed over the years, they have been the voices of their generations and helped inspire the generations that followed them. What follows is a list of prominent Black authors who have left a mark on the literary world forever.

Founded in May 1993, during the annual conference of the American Literature Association (ALA), with the encouragement and support of Alfred Bendixen, Executive Director, and its Executive Board, the African American Literature and Culture Society (AALCS) initiates and encourages critical dialogue, scholarly publications, conferences, programs, and projects devoted to the study of the African American Literature and Culture. Its specific objectives are to (1) explore more fully the study of African American literature within the context of contemporary theory and more traditional discourses, (2) validate a larger cultural context and avenue for understanding this body of material, (3) broaden and expand the appreciation of the context of this body of literature; and above all, (4) encourage participation of undergraduate and graduate students in this ventu