classic books by black authors

“This engaging memoir tells of her private life as mother of a growing family as well as her public activities as teacher, lecturer, and journalist in her fight against attitudes and laws oppressing blacks.”, Black No More by George S. Schuyler (1931). Lu Xun’s stories both indict outdated Chinese traditions and embrace China’s cultural richness and individuality.”, Selected Poems of Gabriela Mistral by Gabriela Mistral (1922). “From the man known as the father of the Harlem Renaissance comes a powerful, provocative, and affecting anthology of writers who shaped the Harlem Renaissance movement and who help us to consider the evolution of the African American in society.”, Chaka by Thomas Mofolo (1925). “A literary masterpiece of the Harlem Renaissance, Cane is a powerful work of innovative fiction evoking black life in the South.”, The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran (1923). But it made its way onto the book lists of black studies college courses, which helped boost its visibility. Books on this list are arranged in chronological order, and descriptions are from Goodreads. … it tells the story of a lifelong friendship between two women from vastly different backgrounds—Wynema Harjo, a Muscogee Indian, and Genevieve Weir, a Methodist teacher from a genteel Southern family.”, Iola Leroy by Frances Ellen Watkins Harper (1892). “A collection of Confucius’ sayings, compiled by his pupils shortly after his death in 497 B.C., and they reflect the extent to which Confucius held up a moral ideal for all men.”, One Thousand and One Nights by Anonymous (800). “While attending a traditional tea ceremony in the aftermath of his parents’ deaths, Kikuji encounters his father’s former mistress, Mrs. Ota. The book starts with her as a three-year-old being sent to Stamos, Arkansas, to live with their grandmother along with her older brother. “Traces the lives of Joanna Mitchell and Peter Bye, whose families must come to terms with an inheritance of prejudice and discrimination as they struggle for legitimacy and respect.”, Philosophy and Opinions of Marcus Garvey Or, Africa for the Africans by Marcus Garvey (1924). With her knowledge of what lies in the future, the choices Dana must make are often agonizing. “Bashō’s haiku are the work of an observant eye and a meditative mind, uncluttered by materialism and alive to the beauty of the world around him.”, Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio by Pu Songling (1740). “A distinct and graceful memoir of Camara Laye’s youth in the village of Koroussa, French Guinea.”, The Sound of Waves by Yukio Mishima (1954). But her novel penetrates deeper than Uncle Tom’s Cabin.”, Up From Slavery by Booker T. Washington (1900). “The poignant, often heartbreaking story of Lutie Johnson, a young black woman, and her spirited struggle to raise her son amid the violence, poverty, and racial dissonance of Harlem in the late 1940s.”, The President by Miguel Ángel Asturias (1946). 413,283 views made by moviebb. “The story of a young woman who was caught in the radioactive ‘black rain’ that fell after the bombing of Hiroshima.”, Houseboy by Ferdinand Oyono (1966). Angela decides to try to live as a white woman, only to discover that life on the other side of what was then called “the color line” also had its share of pitfalls. The Analects by Confucius (476). In her early career, she became known for short stories. “The tale of a mixed-race girl, Frado, abandoned by her white mother after the death of the child’s black father.”, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs (1861). 33 Books by Contemporary Black Authors. Willa Cather’s Inspiration for The Song of the Lark, Olive Fremstad, Literary Ladies Guide to the Writing Life. “These are the tales that saved the life of Shahrazad, whose husband, the king, executed each of his wives after a single night of marriage.”, The Pillow Book by Sei Shōnagon (1002). Authors Who Only Finished Writing One Novel - … Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Written by Herself, an autobiography that reads like a novel, was published in 1861. Janie, the story’s heroine, searches for independence, identity, love, and happiness over the course of twenty-five years and several relationships. made a name for herself during the Harlem Renaissance as an author and ethnographer. This list is a good place to start. I’ve also avoided giving authors more than one slot on this list. Some of these classics by people of color are well-known and others are known only to scholars of the period they’re from. The 2001 Griot Edition describes it succinctly: “Passing’ is not only a direct reference to Clare’s decision to live as a white woman but also the suppression of her sexuality. Covering the antebellum years, Civil War, and Reconstruction periods, the narrative moves from a Georgia plantation to Alabama, following Vyry’s life and loves. “Du Bois penned his epochal masterpiece … in 1903. Jubilee by Margaret Walker (1966), the only novel by this esteemed American author, poet, and educator, was the culmination of some twenty-five years of research and writing. But it made its way onto the book lists of black studies college courses, which helped boost its visibility. “As he journeys from the Deep South to the streets and basements of Harlem, from a horrifying ‘battle royal’ where black men are reduced to fighting animals, to a Communist rally where they are elevated to the status of trophies, Ralph Ellison’s nameless protagonist ushers readers into a parallel universe that throws our own into harsh and even hilarious relief.”, Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin (1953). “Sarah Winnemucca, daughter of a Paiute chief, presents in her autobiography a Native American viewpoint on the impact of whites settling in the West.”, Wynema: A Child of the Forest by S. Alice Callahan (1891). (1907 – 1998) was the last surviving member of the Harlem Renaissance movement. “What would happen to the race problem in America if black people turned white? The story of Vyry, a mixed-race slave, is based on the real-life experiences of Walker’s great-grandmother. “The coming-of-age story of Hyacinth Lorrimer, a child of white parents who was raised from infancy in Japan by a Japanese foster mother and assumed to be Eurasian.”, The Souls of Black Folk by WEB Du Bois (1903). Take a look. “One of only a handful of novels published by black women during the forties, the story of ambitious Cleo Judson is a long-time cult classic.”, The Tunnel by Ernesto Sabato (1948). “Set among a community of cadets in a Lima military school, it is notable for its experimental and complex employment of multiple perspectives.”, Black Rain by Masuji Ibuse (1966). “This volume collects both Wheatley’s letters and her poetry: hymns, elegies, translations, philosophical poems, tales, and epyllions—including a poignant plea to the Earl of Dartmouth urging freedom for America and comparing the country’s condition to her own.”, Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano by Olaudah Equiano (1789). Her first novel, The Living is Easy, didn’t appear until 1948; then there was a gap of some forty-seven years until The Wedding, was published in 1995, when West was in her late 80s. “Showcases an esteemed artist’s technical mastery, her warm humanity, and her compassionate and illuminating response to a complex world.”, A Backward Place by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (1965). Vyry bears witness to the South’s antebellum opulence and to its brutality, its wartime ruin, and the promises of Reconstruction.”, The Time of the Hero by Mario Vargas Llosa (1966). So although you may remember reading books like “The Great Gatsby” and “To Kill A Mockingbird” in school, you may have missed out on many classics by Black authors like Maya Angelou’s “I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings” and “The Autobiography Of An Ex … “With sensual, often brutal accuracy, Claude McKay traces the parallel paths of two very different young men struggling to find their way through the suspicion and prejudice of American society.”, My People the Sioux by Luther Standing Bear (1928). “Narrated by a man whose light skin allows him to ‘pass’ for white, the novel describes a pilgrimage through America’s color lines at the turn of the century.”, The Home and the World by Rabindranath Tagore (1916). Here’s more about Kindred by Octavia E. Butler. “Larsen’s powerful first novel has intriguing autobiographical parallels and at the same time invokes the international dimension of African American culture of the 1920s.”, Some Prefer Nettles by Jun’ichirō Tanizaki (1928). Literary Ladies Guide celebrates classic women authors, and as part of our mission, we honor the rich tradition of African-American women authors. This story is actually not unlike Zora’s own, though it could be argued that she never found true happiness. Here’s more about Jubilee by Margaret Walker. At first Kikuji is appalled by her indelicate nature, but it is not long before he succumbs to passion.”. In 1857, Harriet Ann Jacobs (1813 –1897) was completing a manuscript for a barely fictionalized account of her life as a slave and her struggle to free herself and her children. “Washington reveals his inner most thoughts as he transitions from ex-slave to teacher and founder of one of the most important schools for African Americans in the south, The Tuskegee Industrial Institute.”, The Heart of Hyacinth by Onoto Watanna (1903). Wells (1930s). “A Japanese American woman tells how it was to grow up on Seattle’s waterfront in the 1930s and to be subjected to ‘relocation’ during World War II.”, The Palm-Wine Drinkard by Amos Tutuola (1952). “This volume collects twelve of Georgia Douglas Johnson’s one-act plays. “The seventeen pieces in Ficciones demonstrate the whirlwind of Borges’s genius and mirror the precision and potency of his intellect and inventiveness, his piercing irony, his skepticism, and his obsession with fantasy.”, Where There’s Love, There’s Hate by Silvina Ocampo and Adolfo Bioy Casares (1946). “A fast-paced and harrowing tale of slavery and freedom, of the hypocrisies of a nation founded on democratic principles, Clotel is more than a sensationalist novel.”, Biography of an American Bondman, By His Daughter by Josephine Brown (1855). “This long-unavailable classic tells the tale of young Samba Diallo, a devout pupil in a Koranic school in Senegal whose parents send him to Paris to study philosophy.”, A House for Mr Biswas by V.S. “A generous introduction to new readers of Countee Cullen and a more than generous offering to those of us who hold the poet dear.”, Crusade for Justice: The Autobiography of Ida B. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou (1928–2014) is a 1969 autobiography by the beloved writer and poet covering her upbringing and youth. Sassafrass, Cypress & Indigo is the story of three sisters and their mother from Charleston, South Carolina, all of whom are striving to live their creative dreams. 8 'Don't Call Us Dead' by Danez Smith. There is some overlap between the three lists, but I’ve tried to keep this to a minimum. This is certainly true of Kindred. What are your favorite diverse classic books? And what better way to support Black literature than by purchasing the books recommended below from one of these Black-owned bookstores that ship across the U.S. For Octavia E. Butler, writing science fiction wasn’t merely a vehicle for escaping into fantasy, but a means to explore universal issues. “One of the most famous Sioux writers and activists of the modern era, Zitkala-Sa (Gertrude Bonnin) recalled legends and tales from oral tradition and used experiences from her life and community to educate others about the Yankton Sioux.”, A Dark Night’s Passing by Naoya Shiga (1921). Literary Ladies Guide to the Writing Life “Christian missionaries attempt to outlaw the female circumcision ritual and in the process create a terrible rift between the two Kikuyu communities on either side of the river.”, Efuru by Flora Nwapa (1966). “Tells two overlapping, intertwining stories, both of which center around Okonkwo, a ‘strong man’ of an Ibo village in Nigeria.”, Nip the Buds, Shoot the Kids by Kenzaburō Ōe (1958). Any classics by people of color that you’d add? “The novel depicts the hard struggle of life in a modern city and its demoralization. These questions and more are answered hilariously in Black No More, George S. Schuyler’s satiric romp.”, Jonah’s Gourd Vine by Zora Neale Hurston (1934).

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