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.
A
- Aberjhani
- Mumia Abu-Jamal
- Linda Addison, author and poet
- Rochelle Alers, author and artist
- Kwame Alexander, writer of poetry and children's fiction
- Larry D. Alexander, author and artist
- Lewis Grandison Alexander
- Clarissa Minnie Thompson Allen, author and educator
- Robert L. Allen
- Maya Angelou, author and poet
- Tina McElroy Ansa, novelist, filmmaker, teacher and journalist
- Chalmers Archer, author, veteran and educator
- M. K. Asante, Jr., author, poet, screenwriter, professor
- Jabari Asim, poet, playwright, professor
- William Attaway
B
- Calvin Baker, novelist
- James Baldwin
- Toni Cade Bambara
- Leslie Esdaile Banks
- Amiri Baraka
- Shauna Barbosa, poet
- Steven Barnes
- Lindon W. Barrett
- Carol S. Batey
- Samuel Alfred Beadle
- Paul Beatty
- Robert Beck
- Christopher C. Bell
- Derrick Bell
- Brit Bennett
- Gwendolyn Bennett
- Hal Bennett
- Lerone Bennett, Jr.
- Bertice Berry
- Venise T. Berry, novelist
- Henry Bibb
- Eleanor Taylor Bland, writer of crime fiction
- Marita Bonner
- Arna Bontemps
- James Boggs
- Demico Boothe, writer on civil rights
- David Bradley
- William Stanley Braithwaite, poet and literary critic
- Gwendolyn Brooks
- Claude Brown
- Hallie Quinn Brown
- Sterling A. Brown, poet, literary critic, professor, poet laureate of the District of Columbia
- William Wells Brown, wrote first novel published by an African American, Clotel
- Ashley Bryan
- Niobia Bryant, author of romance and mainstream fiction novels
- Ed Bullins
- Olivia Ward Bush
- Octavia Butler
- Roderick D. Bush
C
- George Cain
- Bebe Moore Campbell
- Stokely Carmichael
- Ben Carson
- Jennie Carter
- Stephen L. Carter
- Cyrus Cassells
- Lady Chablis, actress, author, drag performer
- Charles W. Chesnutt, novelist and short-story writer
- Alice Childress, playwright and novelist
- Breena Clarke
- Cheril N. Clarke
- Cheryl Clarke
- John Henrik Clarke
- Stanley Bennett Clay, writer, director, actor, publisher
- Troy CLE
- Pearl Cleage
- Eldridge Cleaver
- Michelle Cliff
- Lucille Clifton
- Wendy Coakley-Thompson
- Ta-Nehisi Coates
- Wanda Coleman
- Marvel Cooke
- Anna J. Cooper
- J. California Cooper, playwright
- James Corrothers
- Jayne Cortez
- Bill Cosby
- Joseph Seamon Cotter, Sr.
- Donald Crews, children's book author
- Stanley Crouch
- Harold Cruse
- Countee Cullen
- Waring Cuney
- Christopher Paul Curtis
D
- Jeffrey Daniels, poet
- Meri Nana-Ama Danquah
- Christopher Darden
- Angela Davis
- Frank Marshall Davis
- Kyra Davis, novelist
- Milton Davis
- George Dawson
- Samuel R. Delany, novelist
- Eric Jerome Dickey
- Anita Doreen Diggs
- Lonnie Dixon
- Frederick Douglass
- Rita Dove, poet
- Sharon Draper
- W. E. B. Du Bois
- Tananarive Due
- Henry Dumas
- Paul Laurence Dunbar, poet
- Alice Dunbar-Nelson
- David Anthony Durham
- Michael Eric Dyson
E
- Cornelius Eady
- Sarah Jane Woodson Early, educator, activist and author
- Junius Edwards
- Ralph Ellison, novelist, best known as author of Invisible Man
- Olaudah Equiano
- Don Evans, playwright
- Mari Evans, poet
- Percival Everett
- Eve Ewing
F
- Sarah Webster Fabio
- Ronald Fair
- John M. Faucette, science-fiction author
- Arthur Huff Fauset
- Jessie Fauset, editor, poet, essayist and novelist
- Lolita Files, author, screenwriter, and producer
- Antwone Fisher
- Rudolph Fisher, novelist, short story writer, dramatist
- Sharon G. Flake, writer of young adult literature
- Robert Fleming, journalist and writer of erotic fiction and horror fiction
- Mary Weston Fordham, poet
- Leon Forrest, novelist
- J. E. Franklin, playwright
- Hoyt W. Fuller
- Nina Foxx, novelist, playwright & screenwriter
G
- Ernest Gaines, fiction writer
- Ruth Gaines-Shelton, educator and playwright
- Marcus Garvey
- Tony Gaskins, motivational, inspirational, self-help writer
- Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
- Roxane Gay
- Nikki Giovanni
- Roy Glenn, fiction writer, Is It A Crime, Payback
- Donald Goines
- Marita Golden
- Edythe Mae Gordon, poet, fiction writer
- Eugene Gordon, journalist
- Charles Gordone, playwright
- Lawrence Otis Graham
- Moses Grandy
- Victor Hugo Green, travel writer
- Eloise Greenfield, children's book author
- Sam Greenlee, novelist, poet, best known as author of The Spook Who Sat by the Door
- Bonnie Greer, novelist, playwright, critic
- Deborah Gregory, author of The Cheetah Girls book series
- Dick Gregory
- Sutton E. Griggs
- Nikki Grimes, children's book author and poet
- Angelina Weld Grimke
- Charlotte Forten Grimké
- Rosa Guy
- John Langston Gwaltney, anthropologist, author of Drylongso
- Yaa Gyasi, Ghanaian-American novelist, author of Homegoing
H
- Alex Haley, author of
- Virginia Hamilton, author of children's books
- Henry Hampton
- Lorraine Hansberry, playwright
- Joyce Hansen, author of children's books
- Vincent Harding, historian and social activist
- Nathan Hare
- Frances Harper, poet and abolitionist
- E. Lynn Harris
- Juanita Harrison
- Robert Hayden, poet, essayist, educator
- Essex Hemphill, poet and activist
- David Henderson
- Safiya Henderson-Holmes, poet
- Chester Himes, novelist
- Kameisha Jerae Hodge
- Corey J. Hodges
- Karla F. C. Holloway
- Bell Hooks, feminist, and social activist
- Pauline Hopkins, novelist, journalist, playwright, historian and editor
- Nalo Hopkinson, Jamaican Canadian, currently based in California
- George Moses Horton
- Detrick Hughes
- Langston Hughes, poet, social activist, novelist, playwright and columnist
- Zora Neale Hurston, folklorist, anthropologist, author of novels short stories, plays and essays
J
- Brenda Jackson
- Jesse C. Jackson, young-adult novelist
- Harriet Jacobs, author of Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
- T. D. Jakes
- Ayize Jama-Everett, science fiction and speculative fiction writer
- John Jea
- N. K. Jemisin
- Beverly Jenkins
- Doresa Jennings, author of children's books
- Alaya Dawn Johnson
- Angela Johnson
- Charles R. Johnson
- Georgia Douglas Johnson, poet
- Helene Johnson, poet
- James Weldon Johnson
- Mat Johnson
- Varian Johnson
- Edward P. Jones, novelist and short-story writer
- Gayl Jones, novelist
- Tayari Jones
- June Jordan, poet, essayist and activist
K
- Ron Karenga
- Bob Kaufman, poet
- Elizabeth Keckley
- William Melvin Kelley, novelist
- Emma Dunham Kelley-Hawkins, novelist
- Randall Kenan
- Adrienne Kennedy, playwright
- John Oliver Killens, novelist
- Jamaica Kincaid
- Martin Luther King Jr.
- Woodie King Jr.
- Etheridge Knight, poet
- Yusef Komunyakaa
L
- Pinkie Gordon Lane, poet, editor and teacher
- Nella Larsen, novelist
- Victor LaValle
- Andrea Lee, novelist and memoirist
- Julius Lester
- David Levering Lewis
- Alain Locke
- Attica Locke, novelist
- Audre Lorde, author, poet, activist
- Glenville Lovell, novelist and playwright
M
- Christopher Mwashinga, poet, theologian, essayist
- Nathaniel Mackey, poet, novelist, anthologist, literary critic and editor
- Naomi Long Madgett, poet
- Haki R. Madhubuti
- Clarence Major, poet, painter and novelist
- Raynetta Manees, novelist
- Manning Marable
- John Marrant
- Paule Marshall
- Hans Massaquoi
- Brandon Massey
- Victoria Earle Matthews, essayist, newspaperwoman, activist
- Julian Mayfield
- James McBride
- Nathan McCall
- Bernice McFadden, novelist
- Claude McKay
- Patricia McKissack
- Reginald McKnight
- Kim McLarin, novelist
- Terry McMillan, novelist
- James Alan McPherson
- Louise Meriwether, novelist, essayist, journalist and activist
- Oscar Micheaux
- E. Ethelbert Miller, poet
- May Miller, poet and playwright
- Arthenia J. Bates Millican, poet, essayist and educator
- Mary Monroe, novelist
- Anne Moody
- Jessica Care Moore, poet
- Toni Morrison, author, Nobel laureate 1993
- E. Frederic Morrow, first black American appointed to a president's administration
- Walter Mosley, novelist
- Thylias Moss
- Willard Motley
- Jess Mowry
- Albert Murray
- Pauli Murray
- Walter Dean Myers, writer of children's books
N
- Tariq Nasheed
- Gloria Naylor
- Larry Neal
- Barbara Neely, novelist, short-story writer and activist
- Huey P. Newton
- Richard Bruce Nugent
O
- Bayo Ojikutu
- Mwatabu S. Okantah
- Gabriel Okara
- Nnedi Okorafor
- Marc Olden
- Tochi Onyebuchi
- Roscoe Orman
- Ewuare Osayande
- Brenda Marie Osbey, poet
- Candace Owens political activist
P
- ZZ Packer
- Gordon Parks
- Tyler Perry
- Eric Pete, novelist and short-story writer
- Ann Petry
- Debra Phillips
- William Pickens
- Ann Plato
- Sterling Plumpp, educator and author
- Carlene Hatcher Polite
- Alvin F. Poussaint
- Jewel Prestage, 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.
R
- Aishah Rahman, playwright
- Alice Randall, author and songwriter
- Dudley Randall, poet and publisher
- Francis Ray, writer of romance fiction
- Andy Razaf, poet, composer and lyricist
- Ishmael Reed, poet, essayist and novelist
- Jason Reynolds, YA/Middle-Grade novelist/poet
- Willis Richardson, playwright
- Florida Ruffin Ridley, essayist and short story writer
- Carolyn Rodgers, poet
- Octavia V. Rogers Albert
- Al Roker
- Fran Ross
- Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin, journalist
- Rachel Renee Russell, author of the Dork Diaries series of children's novels
- Carl Hancock Rux, poet, essayist, playwright, novelist
- Rupaul, actor, author, drag performer, TV show host
S
- Kalamu ya Salaam, poet, author, filmmaker, teacher, activist
- Sonia Sanchez, poet
- Dori Sanders novelist
- Sapphire
- Charles R. Saunders,, author and journalist
- Arturo Alfonso Schomburg, historian, writer, and activist
- George Schuyler, author, journalist and social commentator
- Gil Scott-Heron, poet and musician
- Clara Johnson Scroggins, author, collector
- Sandra Seaton, playwright and librettist
- Victor Séjour
- Fatima Shaik, author
- Tupac Shakur
- Ntozake Shange, playwright and poet
- Nisi Shawl
- Sister Souljah
- Iceberg Slim
- Amanda Smith
- Danez Smith, poet
- Effie Waller Smith, poet
- William Gardner Smith, journalist, novelist, and editor
- Thomas Sowell, economist, social theorist, political philosopher
- A. B. Spellman
- Anne Spencer, poet
- Aurin Squire, producer, playwright, screenwriter and reporter
- Theophilus Gould Steward
- Maria W. Stewart, journalist, lecturer, abolitionist, women's rights activist
- Jeffrey C. Stewart, professor and Pulitzer prize winner
- Nic Stone
T
- Ellen Tarry
- Mildred D. Taylor
- Susie Taylor
- Mary Church Terrell
- Lucy Terry
- Michael Thelwell
- Angie Thomas
- Clarence Thomas
- Joyce Carol Thomas, author, poet, playwright, and motivational speaker
- Lorenzo Thomas
- Piri Thomas
- Truth Thomas
- Pamela Thomas-Graham
- Era Bell Thompson
- Howard Thurman
- Wallace Thurman
- Lynn Toler
- Melvin B. Tolson
- Jean Toomer
- Touré
- Askia M. Touré, poet, essayist, leading voice of the Black Arts Movement
- Quincy Troupe
- Sojourner Truth
- Omar Tyree
- Neil deGrasse Tyson
V
- Henry Van Dyke, novelist, editor, teacher and musician
- Ivan Van Sertima, professor, author, historian, linguist and anthropologist at Rutgers University
- Bethany Veney, author of Aunt Betty's Story: The Narrative of Bethany Veney, A Slave Woman
- Olympia Vernon, novelist
W
- Dwyane Wade
- Alice Walker
- Frank X. Walker, founding member of Affrilachian poets
- Margaret Walker
- Christopher George Latore Wallace
- Michele Wallace
- Eric Walrond
- Mildred Pitts Walter
- Marilyn Nelson Waniek
- Douglas Turner Ward
- Jesmyn Ward
- Booker T. Washington
- Frank J. Webb, novelist, poet, essayist
- Ida B. Wells
- Richard Wesley, playwright, screenwriter
- Valerie Wilson Wesley
- Cornel West
- Dorothy West, novelist
- Phillis Wheatley, first published African-American poet
- Walter Francis White
- Colson Whitehead, novelist and journalist
- Steven Whitehurst, award-winning author
- Albery Allson Whitman, poet, minister and orator
- Anthony Whyte, writer of urban and hip-hop literature
- John Edgar Wideman
- Isabel Wilkerson
- Crystal Wilkinson
- Chancellor Williams, historian and sociologist
- John Alfred Williams, author, journalist and academic
- Samm-Art Williams, playwright
- Sherley Anne Williams
- Walter E. Williams
- August Wilson
- Harriet E. Wilson, author of Our Nig and the first African-American novelist
- William Julius Wilson, author of When Work Disappears, The Truly Disadvantaged, and The Declining Significance of Race
- Oprah Winfrey
- Carter G. Woodson
- Jacqueline Woodson, award-winning author of books for children and adolescents, including "Brown Girl Dreaming"
- David Wright
- Jay Wright, poet
- Kelly Wright, author of Outed Obsession and Fatal Fixation
- Richard Wright
X
- Malcolm X
Y
- Camille Yarbrough
- Frank Yerby, historical novelist
- Al Young, poet, novelist, essayist, screenwriter and professor
Z
- Zane, author of erotic fiction
- Ahmos Zu-Bolton, activist, poet and playwright