Check out the works of influential writers who made Black Literature important.
The Canon
Page is being built in front of your very eyes. So certain profiles have not been published yet. Check back soon. Thank you. :)
-
![Black and white portrait of an unidentified person looking to the right, wearing a suit and tie.]()
James Baldwin
1924 - 1987
novelist, poet, essayist, + playwright
-
![A person with short gray hair wearing a colorful scarf and holding a yellow rose, smiling in a room with framed pictures on the wall.]()
Alice Walker
1944 -
novelist, short story writer, poet, and social activist
first Black Woman to win a Pulitzer Prize for fiction, for her novel, The Color Purple.
-
![Black and white portrait of a person resting their chin on their hand, wearing an embroidered top.]()
Bell Hooks
1952 - 2021
distinguished professor, author, social activist, intersectional feminist, academic, poet, and social critic
best known for her work, ‘All About Love’.
-
![Black and white portrait of a person with gray hair, leaning on their hands, wearing a dark sweater, and smiling at the camera.]()
Toni Morrison
1931 - 2019
novelist, fiction editor, + professor
Won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1993
-
![Portrait of a person wearing traditional African attire and headwrap, black and white photograph.]()
Maya Angelou
1928 - 2014
poet, civil rights activist, + memoirist
-
![Black and white portrait of a man wearing a suit, looking at the camera with a serious expression.]()
Richard Wright
1908 - 1960
novelist, short story writer, + poet
-
![Elderly woman with curly gray hair wearing a black top and necklace, looking pensive against a light background.]()
Angela Davis
1944 -
political activist, philosopher, academic, scholar, professor, + author
-
![Person wearing a hat and coat, smiling outdoors.]()
Langston Hughes
1901 - 1967
poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, + columnist
known as a leader of the Harlem Renaissance
-
![Black and white portrait of a person with short curly hair, wearing patterned clothing, looking at the camera.]()
Octavia Butler
1947 - 2006
science-fiction writer
the first science-fiction writer to receive a MacArthur Fellowship.
-
![Black and white portrait of a man with curly hair and a mustache, wearing a dark shirt.]()
Donald Goines
1936 - 1974
street/urban literature writer
-
![Black and white photo of a person speaking, wearing a hat and patterned shirt, with large hoop earrings.]()
Ntozake Shange
1948 - 2018
playwright, Black feminist, + poet
best known for her Obie Award-winning play, For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf
-
![Close-up of a woman smiling, with an afro hairstyle and wearing hoop earrings.]()
Toni Cade Bambara
1939 - 1995
author, documentary film-maker, social activist, + college professor
-
![Elderly woman with gray dreadlocks, wearing green clothing, eyes closed, appearing serene.]()
Sonia Sanchez
1934 -
poet, children’s book author, essayist, + professor
pioneered Black studies courses at San Francisco State University
-
![Black and white photo of a woman smiling, wearing a dark hat]()
Zora Neale Hurston
1891 - 1960
author, anthropologist, filmmaker, researcher, + hoodoo practitioner
best known for her voice during the Harlem Renaissance
-
![Black and white portrait of a person with an afro hairstyle, wearing a dark, casual shirt, looking directly at the camera against a plain background.]()
Audre Lorde
1934 - 1992
writer, womanist, radical feminist, professor, poet, + civil rights activist
-
![Black and white portrait of a man in a checkered shirt sitting indoors.]()
Ralph Ellison
1914 - 1994
writer, literary critic, critical essayist, + scholar
attended Tuskegee University
-
![Black and white photo of a man wearing glasses and a suit, gesturing with his hand.]()
Alex Haley
1921 - 1992
writer + author of the 1976 book, Roots: The Saga of an American Family.
ABC adapted the book as a television miniseries that aired in 1977 in front of a record-breaking 130 million tv audience.
-
![Person with short curly hair, wearing a houndstooth-patterned dress, holding a cigarette, smiling.]()
Lorraine Hansberry
1930 - 1965
playwright + writer
she was the first Black woman to have a play performed on Broadway, A Raisin in the Sun.
-
![Person wearing a white suit smiling, sitting cross-legged, with hands clasped together.]()
Nikki Giovanni
1943 -
poet, writer, commentator, activist, + educator
attended Fisk University + is considered one of the most known Black poets of the Black Arts Movement.
-
![Portrait of a smiling person with dreadlocks and a necklace, wearing a turtleneck.]()
Gloria Naylor
1950 - 2016
novelist
best known for her novel, The Women of Brewster Place, which later became adapted in 1989 miniseries by Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Productions.
-
![Portrait of a man wearing a suit and bow tie, with a neutral expression, against a plain background.]()
Booker T. Washington
1856 - 1915
educator, author, orator, + a U.S. presidential adviser
founder + first president of Tuskegee Institute (Tuskegee University)
-
![Person standing in front of a bookshelf, wearing glasses and a casual shirt, smiling with arms akimbo.]()
Gwendolyn Brooks
1917 - 2000
poet, author, + teacher
the first Black person to win a Pulitzer Prize for poetry.
-
![Portrait of a man in a suit and tie, black and white photo.]()
James Weldon Johnson
1871 - 1938
writer, civil rights activist, educator, + leader of the NAACP
Clark Atlanta University graduate, and most notable for composing “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing”
-
![]()
W.E.B. Du Bois
1868 - 1963
sociologist, socialist, historian, + Pan-African civil rights acvitivst, essayist, + a founder of the NAACP
an Atlanta University (Clark Atlanta University) professor of sociology, history + economics.
-
![Black and white portrait of a woman with an afro hairstyle, wearing a high-necked dress with intricate embellishments.]()
Ida B. Wells
1862 - 1931
investigative journalist, educator, civil rights leader, + a founder of the NAACP
-
![Person with short hair wearing a denim shirt, smiling with eyes closed and arms crossed, showing tattoos on forearms.]()
Roxane Gay
1974 -
writer, professor, editor, + social commentator
-
![Man in suit and hat standing in front of a wall with numerous handwritten pages.]()
August Wilson
1945 - 2005
playwright
referred to as “theater’s poet of Black america”.
