10 Black American Female Fiction Writers and Poets You Should Know

From the first African-American novelist to the 22-year-old poet who performed at the 2021 presidential inauguration

We are celebrating the outstanding achievements of female creatives throughout history. Stories help us understand the world and see it through another’s eyes. They can be an escape, teach us empathy, and inspire change.

We have compiled a list of ten Black American female fiction writers and poets who have made their mark over two centuries and continue to shape and inspire generations.

Harriet E. Wilson (1825–1900)

Harriet E. Wilson is considered the first African American to publish a novel in the United States. Our Nig: Sketches from the Life of a Free Black was published anonymously in 1859, later discovered to be Wilson's work by the scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr in 1982.

It is largely autobiographical, telling the story of Frado, a Black woman born after slavery has been abolished in the northern states. While Frado is considered to be “free,” the protagonist grows up as an indentured servant–working without a salary in order to repay a loan; she is treated as a lower-class citizen and abused.

Many see this novel as exposing the reality of what it meant to be “free” and Black in the northern states following the abolition of slavery. It has been suggested that the book didn’t receive critical acclaim from abolitionists when it was first published, given the harsh image it painted of what this “freedom” actually looked like.

Zora Neale Hurston (1891–1960)

Zora Neale Hurston was a central figure in the Harlem Renaissance. Their Eyes Were Watching God, published in 1937, is the most popular of the four novels she wrote alongside more than 50 short stories, plays, and essays.

Through her short satires, which were published in anthologies such as The New Negro and Fire!!, she portrayed the African-American experience and the realities of racial division.

Gwendolyn Brooks (1917–2000)

The first Black author to win the Pulitzer Prize, Gwendolyn Brooks was a lauded poet, poet laureate of the State of Illinois, and the first Black woman to hold the position of poetry consultant to the Library of Congress.

Her poems in A Street in Bronzeville and the Pulitzer Prize-winning Annie Allen (1949) were “devoted to small, carefully cerebrated, terse portraits of the Black urban poor,” commented Richard K. Barksdale in Modern Black Poets: A Collection of Critical Essays. Brooks published her first and only novel, Maud Martha, in 1953.

Maya Angelou (1928–2014)

Maya Angelou is best known for her seven autobiographies, which focus on her childhood and early adult experiences. The first, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969), recounts her life up to the age of 17. It brought her international recognition and acclaim.

She has also published three books of essays, several books of poetry, and worked on plays, movies, and television shows spanning over 50 years.

Toni Morrison (1931–2019)

Toni Morrison gained worldwide recognition when she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1993. She also won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Song of Solomon (1977) and the Pulitzer Prize for Beloved (1987).

Her first novel, The Bluest Eye, was published in 1970.

Audre Lorde (1934–1992)

A self-described “black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet,” Audre Lorde dedicated both her life and work to confronting and addressing injustices of racism, sexism, classism, and homophobia.

Lorde’s early collections of poetry include The First Cities (1968), Cables to Rage (1970), and From a Land Where Other People Live (1972), which was nominated for a National Book Award. Her later works, including New York Head Shop and Museum (1974), Coal (1976), and The Black Unicorn (1978), included powerful poems of protest.

Alice Walker (1944)

Alice is an American novelist, short story writer, poet, and social activist. In 1982, she published the novel The Color Purple, for which she was awarded the National Book Award for hardcover fiction and the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

Walker coined the term “womanist” in her short story, Coming Apart. Womanism is a social theory based on the history and everyday experiences of women of color, especially Black women.

Octavia E. Butler (1947–2006)

In 1995, Octavia E. Butler made her mark on a genre that had been dominated by white men. She became the first science fiction writer to receive the MacArthur Foundation "Genius" Grant.

She also won the coveted Hugo Award and Nebula Prize twice each for her novella Bloodchild, her short story Speech Sounds, and her novel Parable of the Talents.

Tayari Jones (1970)

Tayari Jones is a New York Times best-selling author. Her fourth novel, An American Marriage, centers around a middle-class African-American couple, Celestial and Roy, who lives in Atlanta in Georgia. Their lives are torn apart when Roy is wrongfully convicted of rape.

The novel was awarded the Women’s Prize for Fiction, appeared on Barack Obama’s summer reading list, and featured in Oprah’s Book Club Selection.

Amanda Gorman (1998)

If you were watching the inauguration of U.S. President Joe Biden on January 20th, you’ll recognize this rising star.

Amanda Gorman is a 22-year-old poet and activist who performed a reading of her poem "The Hill We Climb" at the ceremony marking the start of Biden’s four-year term.

Her work addresses issues of oppression, feminism, race, marginalization, and the African diaspora.

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