Feminism, by definition, is the belief in full social, economic, and political equality for women. However, the feminist movement of yesteryear mostly focused on high-achieving white women, which excluded many lower-income women, women of color, and single mothers. Womanism is a form of feminism focused on the conditions and concerns of Black women.
Stories help us understand the world and see it through another’s eyes. They can be an escape, teach us empathy, and inspire change. Here is a list of African American female fiction writers and poets who have made their mark over two centuries and continue to shape and inspire generations.
The Surprising Impact of Toni Morrison on Modern Literature
The Pioneers
- Harriet E. Wilson: She is considered the first African American to publish a novel in the United States. Her novel tells the story of Frado, a Black woman born after slavery has been abolished in the northern states. 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.
- Zora Neale Hurston: 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.
- Gwendolyn Brooks: The first Black author to win the Pulitzer Prize, she 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 were “devoted to small, carefully cerebrated, terse portraits of the Black urban poor".
Contemporary Authors and Their Works
- Maya Angelou: 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.
- Toni Morrison: Gained worldwide recognition when she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1993. Her first novel, The Bluest Eye, was published in 1970. In Morrison’s acclaimed first novel, Pecola Breedlove - an 11-year-old Black girl in an America whose love for its blond, blue-eyed children can devastate all others-prays for her eyes to turn blue: so that she will be beautiful so that people will look at her, so that her world will be different.
- Audre Lorde: 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.
- Alice Walker: 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. Alice Walker’s first collection of non-fiction, where she speaks out as a black woman, writer, mother, and feminist.
- Octavia E. Butler: 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.
- Tayari Jones: 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.
- Amanda Gorman: 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.
- Honorée Fanonne Jeffers: Author of the novel The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois.
Contemporary Black Women Authors
Black women encouraged deep levels of introspection and contemplation needed for me to recognize that there’s really no limit to what we can do. From crime to horror to historical tales, these women have established a new scope, a different way of thinking, and also mentored many upstarts, be it through their prose or through their work within the industry.
- Bland, Eleanor Taylor: Establishing herself in the crime genre with books following the life of Black woman detective Marti MacAlister, Bland became prolific within the genre, editing an anthology Shades of Black: Crime and Mystery Stories by African-American Authors and numerous short stories.
- Cole, Alyssa: Cole’s work is not tied to one genre. The experiences of Black characters are always prioritized in her novels, which range from historical to romance to science fiction (and sometimes two or more of those genres mixed together).
- DeLoach, Victoria: She went on to pen the Mama Detective books featuring paralegal Simone Covington and her social worker mother Grace (aka Mama Candi) in Atlanta.
- Due, Tananarive: Due is not only a well-known author within the speculative/horror realm; she’s also a filmmaker and the co-producer of the documentary Black Noir.
- Hopkinson, Nalo: Hopkinson’s name is often said in the same breath of legend Octavia Butler and award-winner bestseller NK Jemisin for a reason: over many books she has firmly established herself within the speculative genre having tapped into Caribbean folklore and sci-fi/fantasy.
- Locke, Attica: Locke is one of the most renowned Black contemporary mystery writers, having won an Edgar, the Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction, and the Ernest Gaines Award for Literary Excellence, among many other accolades.
- Makumbi, Jennifer Nansubuga: A 2018 recipient of the Windham-Campbell Prize, Makumbi has been praised for her unique writing and searing depictions of East Africa and East Africans.
- McFadden, Bernice L.: Like many of the women listed here, McFadden is prolific, with a number of novels you can enjoy.
- Mohamed, Nadifa: Named a Best Young British Novelist by Granta in 2013, this Somali-British writer has written two novels.
- Montgomery, Selena (Stacey Abrams): Montgomery’s books aren’t strictly romance though: they include mystery and murder.
- Shawl, Nisi: In addition to contributing to and editing anthologies, Nisi Shawl has written the novel, Everfair, that explores a speculative history of colonization in the Congo, imagining how this historical atrocity might have played out in an alternative universe.
- Shoneyin, Lola: The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives is Shoneyin’s only novel to date, and it’s one to be savored.
- Thomas, Trisha R.: You may be familiar with Thomas because of her popular Nappily Ever After books, the first of which was adapted into a movie for Netflix.
- Watts, Jeri: Another winner of the Ernest Gaines Award for her short story collection We Are Taking Only What We Need and an NAACP Image Award for her novel, No One Is Coming to Save Us, Watts has already established herself as a voice to be admired and observed.
Key Texts and Anthologies
These texts provide valuable insights into Black feminist thought and experiences:
- "This Bridge Called My Back": A testimony to women of color feminism as it emerged in the last quarter of the twentieth century.
- "Black on Both Sides" by C.: Groundbreaking book that made a powerful entrance into the national conversation on race.
- "All About Love" reveals what causes a polarized society, and how to heal the divisions that cause suffering.
- "Zami" started a new genre that the author calls “biomythography,” which combines history, biography, and myth.
The ZORA Canon, a list of the 100 greatest books ever written by African American women, is one of a kind, yet it exists within a rich cultural tradition.
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I’m incredibly thankful to live in a time when Black artists continue to carve out their voices in the field, making waves through self-publishing and traditional methods. While the percentages of our representation still leave much to be desired, these days it’s not uncommon to find Black women writers paving their own way and using a voice that speaks to the multiplicity within our culture.
Here are some books that inspired Honorée Fanonne Jeffers’s writing:
- Hair Stories: Untangling the Roots of Black Hair in America - by Lori L. Tharps & Ayana D. Byrd
- Am I Black Enough for You? - by Lori L. Tharps
- The Souls of Black Folk - by W.E.B. Du Bois
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