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10 Most Famous African American Writers of All Times

African American authors have contributed to a rich and diverse part of literature throughout America’s history. They’ve written novels, essays, short stories, poetry, academic writing, and everything in between. Their contributions to American storytelling have shifted perspectives and sparked new debates about race, culture, politics, religion, and sociology. Their stories entertained, educated, and informed as they were creative writers and documentarians. In many cases, their work has resulted in policy, practice, and cultural norms being altered, not to mention shaping how the Black experience is viewed and understood in America.

African American Literature cropped up in the 19^th century primarily because of the slave narratives as the escaped slaves like Frederick Douglas and Harriet Jacobs told the stories of their slavery from their perspective. Black artists then emerged in the 1920s because of the great migration which resulted in prolific writers whose work is still appreciated to date.

African American writers have played a critical role in laying the foundations of different political causes like Black Lives Matter, American Civil Rights, the modern feminist movement and the Black nationalism movement. Therefore, it is important to recognise their efforts and applaud them for the work they did. This article will look at the ten most famous African American writers of all time and the impact they had on society through their writing.

1 Langston Hughes

Langston Hughes was a key figure in the Harlem Renaissance, a flowering of black intellectual, literary, and artistic life that occurred in several American cities, particularly Harlem, in the 1920s. Hughes was a major poet who also wrote novels, short stories, essays, and plays. He attempted to portray the joys and tribulations of working-class black lives honestly, avoiding both sentimental idealization and negative stereotypes. Furthermore, the poet was the first Black American to earn a living solely out of writing.

2 James Baldwin

The writer was born in Harlem. He was an expert in handling issues that touched on sexuality, spirituality and race. Being such a prolific writer made some of his pieces be adapted for the big screen like I Am Not Your Negro which was based on his unfinished manuscript known as Remember This House.

James Baldwin rose to literary prominence with works like his insightful semi-autobiographical 1953 novel Go Tell It on the Mountain, 1955’s Notes of a Native Son, 1962’s Another Country, and 1963’s The Fire Next Time. Nobody Knows My Name, a collection of essays published in 1961, became a best-seller after selling over a million copies.

3 Maya Angelou

She is one of the most prolific writers of all time black or otherwise. Her career spanned several decades and her publications ranged from essays and poetry to autobiographies like I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings in 1969. The book told of the author’s experiences of racism, rape and identity as a young lady in the south. The book was well received and she even received the distinction of being the first African American woman

4 Alex Harley

Alex Harley was an author who was well known for his work that depicted the struggles of African Americans. He started writing as a way to pass time when he was with the United States Coast Guard for twenty years.

The author is well known for The Autobiography of Malcolm X which was released in 1965. He followed it up with Roots which he published in 1976. Roots gave a fictionalized account of the author’s history through seven generations. It was later adapted into a miniseries which broke the record to be the most-watched broadcast in television history.

5 Toni Morrison

Toni Morrison won the Pulitzer Prize and the American Book Award in 1988 for her novel Beloved, which told the heart-wrenching story of a former slave after the Civil War. Morrison went on to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1993 for her 1997 book, Song of Solomon, which was adapted into a 1998 movie featuring Oprah Winfrey and Danny Glover.

Other works by Morrison that have left an indelible mark on the record of the African American experience include her first novel, 1970’s The Bluest Eye, and 1973’s Sula.

6 Frederick Douglas

He was a strong public speaker who advocate for the freedom of the slaves and was a prominent leader in the abolitionist movement.  The activist authored a number of compelling autobiographies that told of their experiences in slavery as he had escaped from being a slave. He stood in stark contrast to slaveholders’ claims that blacks lacked the intellectual capacity to function as free and independent citizens.

7 Ralph Ellison

He was a scholar, literary critic and writer. Ralph wrote Shadow and Act which was a collection of political, social and critical essays. He also served as a professor at Yale University and Rutgers University. In 1953, Ralph received a National Book Award for his book known as Invisible Man. The book had been chosen by the Modern Library Association in 1988 as one of the top 100 best English language books of the 20^th century.  Therefore, he is one of the most incredible African American writers of all time as he contributed greatly to the field of literature.

8 Octavia Butler

Octavia Butler is well-known for her use of science fiction to address the human experience faced by African-Americans in their day-to-day lives. She won a Hugo award for the best short story in 1984 for Speech Sounds in 1983, and a Nebula and Hugo awards for Bloodchild in 1995. Furthermore, she was the first science-fiction writer to receive a MacArthur Foundation grant in 1995.

9 Alice Walker

She is one of the most powerful African American writers. Alice Walker is a member of the black feminist movement, an author, a social worker and a lecturer. The author is well known for her novel The Colour Purple which was published in 1982. The book won her a National Book Award and a Pulitzer Prize and it was even translated and turned into a movie. Winning such prestigious awards show that the author is talented.

10 James Cone

The author has been referred to as the most important theologian of all time. In a book he published in 1969 known as Black Theology and Black Power, he aligned the philosophies of the Black Church and those of the Black Power movement claiming that the message Jesus was preaching was no different from theirs as they were both advocating for the liberation of the oppressed. His ability to eloquently tables the similarities scattered white theological paradigms and thus started a wave in American liberation theologies.