10 Literary Masterpieces by African American Authors


Posted on Feb 08, 2021

February is dedicated to celebrating the achievements of the African American community, and this month, we at 1HP are shining the spotlight on them. A significant number of masterpieces by African American authors can be found in the American literary canon. Here is a list of 10 classics, both old and new.


  1. The Color Purple by Alice Walker


  2. The Color Purple
    Photo Credit: cloudfront.net


    This Pulitzer Prize–winning epistolary novel by Alice Walker follows the life of Celie, an African American woman, and tackles her experiences involving gender, race, violence, and love. The Color Purple made Alice Walker one of the most influential authors of the 1970s and 1980s. Its most popular adaptation was the 1985 film starring Whoopi Goldberg, which was nominated for 11 Academy Awards.



  3. The Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison


  4. The Invisible Man
    Photo Credit: media.npr.org


    The novel The Invisible Man tackles the metaphorical invisibility of black people in white America. Its protagonist is a nameless black man who travels from the racist South to Harlem in New York City and ends up being ignored by both black and white communities. In the end, he elects to live in a hole underground.



  5. Beloved by Toni Morrison


  6. Beloved

    Alongside Alice Walker, Toni Morrison is one of the most influential authors of the 1970s and 1980s. Her novel Beloved takes places after the American Civil War and is about a family of freed slaves whose home in Cincinnati is haunted by a bad spirit. Aside from her literary work, Morrison has significant contributions in the study of literature, specifically in intersectional feminism.



  7. Fences by August Wilson


  8. Fences

    Playwright August Wilson penned Fences in 1985. The play was first staged two years later and subsequently won several awards, including a Tony for Best Play and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Set in the 1950s, Fences is the seventh part of Wilson’s Pittsburgh Cycle, which consisted a total of 10 plays. Fences is the story of Troy, an excellent baseball player who, because of the color barrier, is unable to play professionally and ends up becoming a truck driver and finds difficulty in providing for his family.



  9. The Known World by Edward P. Jones


  10. The Known World
    Photo Credit: pictures.abebooks.com


    Edward P. Jones is best-known for his works set in antebellum America, depicting slavery and the lives of working-class African-Americans. His novel The Known World is an introspection on the ownership of slaves by both white and black Americans. The novel is a collection of shorter, interconnected stories all set in Virginia during the antebellum period. It won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2004.



  11. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou


  12. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
    Photo Credit: images.rapgenius.com


    Maya Angelou’s first autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, details her experiences as a young child and how literature helped her cope with trauma. The book details how her love for literature translated into her becoming one of the most prolific American poets.



  13. Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin


  14. Giovanni’s Room
    Photo Credit: img1.od-cdn.com


    The novel is told from the point of view of David, an American who travels to Paris after proposing to his girlfriend. While in Paris, David begins an affair with Giovanni, a man who is about to be executed. In Giovanni’s Room, David delves into his experiences and issues with romance, sexuality, and masculinity in a heteronormative society.



  15. Mulatto: A Tragedy of the Deep South by Langston Hughes


  16. Mulatto
    Photo Credit: media2.fdncms.com


    Langston Hughes is a prolific artist of varying mediums, including songs, poetry, and plays. Based on one of his poems, Mulatto: A Tragedy of the Deep South was first played on Broadway in 1935 at the Vanderbilt Theatre. The play depicts issues between father and son as well as racial conflicts experienced by biracial children in America.



  17. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston


  18. Their Eyes Were Watching God

    Known as Hurston’s best work, Their Eyes Were Watching God is a novel that follows the life and growth of Janie Crawford. The novel is a flashback told from the perspective of the main character, already in her forties, beginning with her sexual awakening, then continuing to her experiences as a slave girl, to becoming independent after the death of her husband, and to being wrongfully accused of murder. The novel has been adapted for stage, television, and radio.



  19. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas


  20. The Hate U Give
    Photo Credit: 2.bp.blogspot.com


    The newest book on the list, Angie Thomas’s The Hate U Give is a young adult novel depicting the effects of gun violence on black youth. The novel is narrated by Starr Carter, a 16-year-old girl who grew up in a poor neighborhood while attending an affluent, mostly-white private school. She becomes the key witness of a case involving the shooting of her friend Khalil by a white police officer. The book spent 50 weeks at the top of New York Times’s Young Adult Best Seller List but was also one of the most challenged books of 2017 and 2018 because of its themes and language.




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