African American Literature

Navigate the rich and diverse history of African American literature, from memoirs and poetry to science fiction. The titles in this study guide collection span a wide range of time periods, including the post-slavery era, the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s, the Civil Rights Movement, the Black Arts Movement, and the 21st century. Read on to discover insights and analysis on some of the most important works of African American literature, such as The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B Du Bois, A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, and Kindred by Octavia E. Butler.

Publication year 1987

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Teams, Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Hate & Anger, Emotions/Behavior: Hope, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Order & Chaos

Tags Race / Racism, African American Literature, Black Arts Movement


Publication year 1957

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Identity: Race, Values/Ideas: Equality, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies

Tags Lyric Poem, African American Literature, Race / Racism, Social Justice


Publication year 2020

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Identity: Race, Identity: Femininity, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice

Tags Fantasy, Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Allegory / Fable / Parable, LGBTQ, Race / Racism, Social Justice, Urban Development, Information Age, African American Literature


Publication year 1999

Genre Novel, Fiction

Tags African American Literature, Realistic Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction, Urban Development, Classic Fiction

The Coldest Winter Ever, by Sister Souljah, is a work of urban and literary fiction, published in 1999. The novel chronicles the life of Winter Santiaga, the young daughter of a prominent and extremely wealthy drug lord. While the Santiaga family originally lives in the Brooklyn housing projects, they soon move to a mansion in Long Island. Winter is used to living a life of opulence; she wears the latest designer fashions, gets her nails... Read The Coldest Winter Ever Summary


Publication year 1987

Genre Play, Fiction

Themes Identity: Race, Identity: Sexuality, Society: Community

Tags Play: Comedy / Satire, Race / Racism, African American Literature, Education, Education, Drama / Tragedy

The Colored Museum is a play by Tony Award-winning dramatist George C. Wolfe. The play premiered in March 1986 at Crossroads Theatre Company in New Jersey.A satire of modern conventions surrounding African American identity, The Colored Museum is set in a fictional museum where a collection of 11 “exhibits” have been mounted for public viewing. These exhibits take the form of sketches performed by an ensemble of five Black performers—two men and three women. Direct... Read The Colored Museum Summary


Publication year 1996

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Themes Identity: Race, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Society: Class

Tags Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, Race / Racism, Civil Rights / Jim Crow, Religion / Spirituality, Parenting, African American Literature, Great Depression, American Literature, Education, Education, Biography

The Color of Water is a nonfiction autobiography published in 1996 by the American author and musician James McBride. Subtitled A Black Man’s Tribute to His White Mother, The Color of Water chronicles the author’s challenges growing up in the 1960s and 1970s as a child with a white Jewish mother and Black father. Interspersed with the author’s recollections are interview transcripts describing his mother’s abusive upbringing as an Orthodox Jewish woman living in the... Read The Color of Water Summary


Publication year 1982

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Identity: Femininity, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Society: Colonialism

Tags Gender / Feminism, American Literature, African American Literature, Modern Classic Fiction, Historical Fiction, Race / Racism, History: World, LGBTQ

The Color Purple is an epistolary novel—a novel told in letter form—in which Alice Walker traces the gradual liberation of Celie, a poor, Black woman who must overcome abuse and separation from her beloved sister Nettie. Set in the South and an unnamed African country during the 1930 to 1940s, the novel is a study in the ways in which Black women use their faith, relationships, and creativity to survive racial and sexual oppression. Several... Read The Color Purple Summary


Publication year 2004

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Emotions/Behavior: Hate & Anger, Emotions/Behavior: Hope, Emotions/Behavior: Revenge, Identity: Mental Health, Identity: Race, Identity: Sexuality, Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Mothers, Society: Class, Society: Politics & Government, Values/Ideas: Equality, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies

Tags Historical Fiction, Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, Southern Literature, Race / Racism, African American Literature, History: World

The Darkest Child (2004) is a coming-of-age historical fiction novel by Delores Phillips. The teenage protagonist and first-person narrator, Tangy Mae Quinn faces racism and segregation in the Jim Crow South, as well as domestic abuse, poverty, and nonconsensual sex work. Despite these challenges, Tangy finds eventual escape when she leaves her abusive mother, Rozelle, and her past behind her to pursue her own goals, which are rooted in education. The novel explores The Role... Read The Darkest Child Summary


Publication year 2022

Genre Novel/Book in Verse, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Natural World: Place, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Siblings, Relationships: Grandparents, Relationships: Friendship, Relationships: Mothers, Values/Ideas: Equality, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Loyalty & Betrayal, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Values/Ideas: Literature, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger, Values/Ideas: Order & Chaos, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Values/Ideas: Win & Lose, Identity: Language, Identity: Masculinity, Identity: Race, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Society: Colonialism, Society: Community, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Society: Nation, Society: Education, Self Discovery, Relationships: Fathers

Tags Historical Fiction, Children's Literature, Free verse, Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, Race / Racism, History: African , African American Literature, History: World


Publication year 2020

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Themes Identity: Gender, Relationships: Family, Society: Immigration

Tags Immigration / Refugee, Relationships, History: African , Gender / Feminism, Women's Studies (Nonfiction), Race / Racism, African American Literature, Military / War, History: World, Biography


Publication year 1991

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Society: Community, Relationships: Fathers, Relationships: Mothers, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed

Tags Magical Realism, Fantasy, African Literature, Poverty, Colonialism / Postcolonialism, Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, African American Literature, Classic Fiction

Written in a style that evokes the oral tradition of storytelling, The Famished Road, by Nigerian writer Ben Okri, follows the peripatetic adventures of Azaro, a young boy who is finding his way amid the poverty and political passions of a newly independent nation. Winner of the prestigious Booker Prize in 1991, the novel presents an allegorical tale of both the pitfalls and the promise latent in the post-colonial moment. Nigeria was one of the... Read The Famished Road Summary


Publication year 1963

Genre Essay Collection, Nonfiction

Tags LGBTQ, Existentialism, African American Literature, Black Lives Matter, Creative Nonfiction, Race / Racism, History: World, Social Justice, Classic Fiction, Politics / Government

James Baldwin’s The Fire Next Time (1963) comprises two autobiographical essays in which the author confronts the racial issues and tensions that he believes corrupt and deform American life and the American dream. Baldwin’s essays exemplify and precursor many of the elements and arguments central to the Civil Rights movement. Please note: Throughout the text, Baldwin uses the racial labels/language common at the time he was writing. This study guide, which uses the Vintage Reissue... Read The Fire Next Time Summary


Publication year 1973

Genre Short Story, Fiction

Themes Life/Time: Coming of Age, Natural World: Appearance & Reality, Natural World: Flora/plants, Natural World: Environment

Tags Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, African American Literature, Race / Racism, Civil Rights / Jim Crow, Reconstruction Era, Love / Sexuality, Gender / Feminism, Philosophy, Philosophy, Politics / Government

“The Flowers,” a short story by Alice Walker, considers the impact of the Jim Crow South on a young Black girl’s emotional development and social awareness. Walker won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1983—along with a National Book Award—for her critically acclaimed work The Color Purple (1982). Her experience growing up poor in the segregated sharecropping community of Eatonton, Georgia, as well as her advocacy as a Womanist activist, inform the personal and social... Read The Flowers Summary


Publication year 1857

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Identity: Race, Relationships: Family, Society: Politics & Government, Values/Ideas: Equality

Tags Race / Racism, Education, Education, African American Literature, History: World, Historical Fiction, Classic Fiction


Publication year 1986

Genre Short Story, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Love, Values/Ideas: Loyalty & Betrayal, Emotions/Behavior: Forgiveness, Natural World: Appearance & Reality, Relationships: Marriage

Tags Historical Fiction, African American Literature

“The Gilded Six-Bits” is a short story written by Zora Neale Hurston and originally published in 1933 in Story magazine. The story explores themes of Sex, Physical Desire, and Marriage, The Function and Morality of Money, and Appearance Versus Reality. Hurston, in addition to being a noted African American author, was also an anthropologist and folklorist. She is best known for her 1937 novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God. “The Gilded Six-Bits” is Hurston’s most... Read The Gilded Six-Bits Summary


Publication year 2008

Genre Short Story, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Family, Society: Education, Society: Colonialism

Tags Historical Fiction, Gender / Feminism, African Literature, Arts / Culture, Education, Education, African American Literature, Classic Fiction


Publication year 2000

Genre Novel, Fiction

Tags Humor, African American Literature, Magical Realism, History: World, Historical Fiction

South African novelist Zakes Mda published his satirical work The Heart of Redness in 2000. In the novel, Mda blends history, myth, and realist fiction to portray a South African village over a 150-year span. In 1856, a 15-year-old girl from kwaXhosa named Nongqawuse told her uncle, Mhlakaza, that she had encountered the spirits of two of her ancestors. These spirits told the young girl that if the amaXhosa killed all their cattle, destroyed their... Read The Heart Of Redness Summary


Publication year 2021

Genre Poem, Fiction

Tags Inspirational, African American Literature, Gender / Feminism, Modern Classic Fiction, History: World, Social Justice, Politics / Government


Publication year 1999

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Identity: Race, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Values/Ideas: Literature

Tags Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, African American Literature, Race / Racism, Mystery / Crime Fiction, Fantasy

The Intuitionist (1999) is a postmodern novel by American author Colson Whitehead. It is set in an unnamed city that resembles New York in the 1940s, but with one major difference: in this city, elevators (or “vertical transport”) have enormous political and economic clout. The City’s Department of Elevator Inspectors is collapsing into a corrupt power-struggle between “Empiricist” inspectors, who perform mechanical testing to establish the safety of an elevator, and the new breed of... Read The Intuitionist Summary


Publication year 1937

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Identity: Race

Tags Gender / Feminism, Modern Classic Fiction, Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, Historical Fiction, African American Literature, American Literature, Education, Education, History: World, Classic Fiction

Zora Neale Hurston, a writer and anthropologist associated with the Harlem Renaissance, published her second and most famous novel Their Eyes Were Watching God in 1937. Set in Central and South Florida, the novel follows protagonist Janie Crawford’s evolution from impressionable, idealistic girl to self-confident woman.Famed for her work as an ethnographer and an author, Hurston chronicled contemporary issues in the Black community with honesty. While somewhat unrecognized in her time, Hurston’s writing came to... Read Their Eyes Were Watching God Summary