15 Black Women Authors I’ve Read and Recommend

Spanning the 20th and 21st Centuries, classic to contemporary

I read a lot — about 50 books a year, give or take — and this includes authors of different genders, age, and race, incl. black women. And in light of everything, it seemed like as good of time as any (and let’s be real: there’s no bad time!) to celebrate them.

I know that this is very small in the grand scheme of where we need to go — as individuals, and as society; that “reading more writers of color” is scratching the surface of the sort of effort we should all put in.

But at the same time: evolving requires empathy. And part of empathy is gained in understanding and absorbing others’ perspectives; showing our support by listening to and honoring their voices — and experiences.

So, in alphabetical order by last name (but with a few faves called out), here are my picks:

Elizabeth Alexander

American poet, essayist, playwright, and the president of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Elizabeth Alexander has published over a dozen books, including her memoir, New York Times Bestseller The Light of the World, as well as essay collection The Black Interior.

“The story seems to begin with catastrophe but in fact began earlier and is not a tragedy but rather a love story. Perhaps tragedies are only tragedies in the presence of love, which confers meaning to loss. Loss is not felt in the absence of love.” ― Elizabeth Alexander, The Light of the World

Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou was an American poet, memoirist, and civil rights activist. She published 7 autobiographies, 3 books of essays, several books of poetry, and worked on plays, movies, and TV shows spanning over 50 years.

Angelou is best known for her memoir I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, which deals with weighty issues like rape, identity, and racism.

When released in 1969, it was one of the first books to honestly depict the experiences of a black woman growing up in the south, and changed the publishing world’s perception that “black women’s lives were rarely worthy of autobiography” and “wouldn’t sell.” (“Sell,” it did, topping bestseller lists for about two years, and remaining at the forefront for 5 decades.)

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” ― Maya Angelou

And:

“What you’re supposed to do when you don’t like a thing is change it. If you can’t change it, change the way you think about it.” ― Maya Angelou, Wouldn’t Take Nothing for My Journey Now

Cheryl Clarke

Lesbian poet, essayist, educator and a Black feminist community activist. Cheryl Clarke has published four collections of poetry: Narratives: Poems in the Tradition of Black Women, Living as a Lesbian, Humid Pitch, and Experimental Love, as well as the collection The Days of Good Looks. She owns Bleinheim Hill Books, a used and rare bookstore, with her life partner Barbara Balliet.

I like her work because it’s raw and real with regard to some of the most authentically human parts of our experiences and lives, especially around sexuality and sensuality. I found her work in All We Know Of Pleasure, an anthology of poetic erotica by women, which included her poem “Buttons”:

“I wanted to unbutton every piece of your clothing which was all buttons from that silk shirt down to the crotch of that gaberdine skirt … Now, ain’t that loving you?”

Indeed.

Lucille Clifton

American poet, writer, and educator who was Poet Laureate of Maryland from 1979 to 1985, and a finalist twice for the Pulitzer Prize for poetry.

In 1980 Lucille Clifton published “homage to my hips” in her book of poems, Two-Headed Woman, which won the 1980 Juniper Prize and was characterized by its “dramatic tautness, simple language … tributes to blackness, [and] celebrations of women,” and marks the beginning of Clifton’s interest in depicting the “transgressive black body.”

Clifton utilizes “homage to my hips” (and the poem that preceded it, “homage to my hair”) to celebrate the African-American female body as a source of power, sexuality, pride, and freedom.

I won’t rip it off and paste in full, but the poem begins:

“these hips are big hips they need space to move around in…”

See it here — or watch this video of Clifton reading it.

Roxane Gay

Ah, Roxane Gay. A force to be reckoned with by any standard.

American writer, professor, editor, and social commentator, Gay is the author of The New York Times best-selling essay collection Bad Feminist, as well as the short story collection Ayiti, the novel An Untamed State, the short story collection Difficult Women, and the memoir Hunger. (She’s also very active — and funny — on Twitter. She does not hold back.)

She toes that line of being a personable human being, and having hard-hitting commentary on very real issues.

“To have privilege in one or more areas does not mean you are wholly privileged. Surrendering to the acceptance of privilege is difficult, but it is really all that is expected. What I remind myself, regularly, is this: the acknowledgment of my privilege is not a denial of the ways I have been and am marginalized, the ways I have suffered.” ― Roxane Gay, Bad Feminist: Essays

but also:

“I have to wear hard pants today [pensive face emoji]” — Gay, twitter

Also: her name is spelled with one “n.” Spell it right.

Nikki Giovanni

One of the world’s most well-known African-American poets, Nikki Giovanni’s many books, including Rosa, A Good Cry, and Love Poems, cover topics ranging from race and social issues to children’s literature. She has won numerous awards, including the Langston Hughes Medal and the NAACP Image Award, has been nominated for a Grammy, and was named one of Oprah Winfrey’s 25 “Living Legends.”

“i hope i die warmed by the life that i tried to live” ― Nikki Giovanni, The Collected Poetry, 1968–1998

and:

“Nothing is easy to the unwilling.” ― Nikki Giovanni

Angelina Weld Grimké

American journalist, teacher, playwright, and poet who came to prominence during the Harlem Renaissance and died in 1958. Angelina Weld Grimké was one of the first American women of color to have a play publicly performed.

“It matters not what we have been but this an always this: what we shall be.” ― Angelina Grimke

Her work is a bit tougher to track down on its own, but some poems can be found online, and others have been anthologized in collections such as Negro Poets and Their Poems, The Poetry of the Negro, and Caroling Dusk.

bell hooks

One of my absolute most cherished authors (and thinkers) of all time, and a noteworthy influence on my life and perspectives.

I found hooks during a time when I was struggling to navigate the messy terrain of “what is emotional mistreatment in love?” and “isn’t all love fucked and toxic, then?” and “what’s a better solution and approach?” (side note: my working through this was much of the beginning of why I started writing on Medium, and I’ve referenced her… often. So much that even readers have noticed without me even citing her.) Though I read countless authors and books on this subject during this time, I credit hooks most for pulling me through some of the dredge and offering meaning. hooks has thoughts, and I hold them dear.

“Knowing how to be solitary is central to the art of loving. When we can be alone, we can be with others without using them as a means of escape.” ― bell hooks

and:

“If any female feels she need anything beyond herself to legitimate and validate her existence, she is already giving away her power to be self-defining, her agency.” — bell hooks (Feminism is for Everybody: Passionate Politics)

hooks’ work on love is… second to none. But her writing overall is so much more. Her writing tackles many issues, and has been the intersectionality of race, capitalism, and gender, and what she describes as their ability to produce and perpetuate systems of oppression and class domination.

“For me, forgiveness and compassion are always linked: how do we hold people accountable for wrongdoing and yet at the same time remain in touch with their humanity enough to believe in their capacity to be transformed?” — bell hooks

Recommended: All About Love, Feminism Is for Everybody, and The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity, and Love

Zora Neale Hurston

American author, anthropologist, and filmmaker, Zore Neale Hurston’s work portrayed racial struggles in the early-1900s American South and hoodoo. The most popular of her four novels is Their Eyes Were Watching God, published in 1937 and regarded as one of the most important works of 20th Century American literature.

“If you are silent about your pain, they’ll kill you and say you enjoyed it.” ― Zora Neale Hurston

and:

“There are years that ask questions and years that answer.” ― Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God

Samantha Irby

Irby, I adore you.

I found Samantha Irby’s book We Are Never Meeting In Real Life back in 2018, and immediately ordered Meaty after I’d plowed through it in about 4 hours. I cited her as one of the best authors I read in 2018, and she’s still one of my faves today. (I pre-ordered her latest book, Wow, No Thank You about six months in advance and read most of it the night it finally arrived.)

Irby started a blog, bitches gotta eat, back in like 2009 (?)(judging by the archive), and at some point the world realized it was amazing: candid, conversational, and very funny, and long story short she’s got a few books now, with a tone all their own and uniquely Irby.

“I like underwear that I can pull all the way up to my tits, and I like eating room temperature soup at four in the afternoon, and I guess what I’m trying to say is that I understand your mom.” —Irby, Meaty

Audre Lorde

American writer, feminist, womanist, librarian, and civil rights activist, Audre Lorde was a self-described “black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet,” who dedicated her life and creative talent to confronting and addressing injustices of racism, sexism, classism, heterosexism, and homophobia, authoring more than 10 books, including Sister Outsider, and was the subject of three biographical films.

From her poem “On a night of the full moon”:

“Out of my flesh that hungers and my mouth that knows comes the shape I am seeking for reason…”

And, more poignantly:

“Life is very short. What we have to do must be done in the now.” — Lorde, The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action

Toni Morrison

I mean, of course. You can’t put a list like this together without mentioning Toni Morrison. (And if you haven’t read her, you should.)

Morrison is one of the most celebrated authors in the world, and her novels have earned her countless awards including the Pulitzer Prize and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. She is widely regarded as the voice of African American women.

Best known for her novel Beloved, she also published The Bluest Eye, Sula, and The Song of Solomon.

“Freeing yourself was one thing, claiming ownership of that freed self was another.” ― Toni Morrison, Beloved

Issa Rae

Oh, Issa Rae. I adore Issa damn Rae. (Is this a white woman thing? For some reason I feel like it might be. I hope that’s okay.)

Actress, writer, and producer, Issa Rae first garnered attention for her work on the YouTube web series Awkward Black Girl, and gained further recognition for creating, co-writing, and starring in the HBO television series Insecure.

The first time I heard of Issa Rae was watching the pilot of Insecure (at the suggestion of my also-white female friend…) and it took all of like 4 minutes for me to fall for her — not just the character, but the show and woman.

I pulled a lil sneaky on ya including her in this list, because she is best known for her work in film and T.V. That being said, she did publish a book with the same title as her show, The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl, so… whatever. It’s my list and she gets a spot. (Though if I were to make a suggestion, I’d probably go with Insecure first.)

“Don’t misunderstand me; I don’t want to die alone, but spending quality time with myself 60 to 70 percent of the day is my idea of mecca.” ― Issa Rae, The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl

But, more seriously:

“As Ralph Ellison once posited, we’re invisible to them. We’re simply not on their radar. As long as the people who are in charge aren’t us, things will never change.” ― Issa Rae, The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl

Phoebe Robinson

I ordered Robinson’s book Everything’s Trash, But It’s Okay back in 2018, and after reading that, went back and also ordered her New York Times Bestseller You Can’t Touch My Hair: And Other Things I Still Have to Explain.

As Ilana Glazer, co-creator and co-star of Broad City, describes, “Robinson discusses race and feminism in such a funny, real, and specific way, it penetrates your brain and stays with you.”

“They’re under the misapprehension that because I talk about race a lot, that I must love talking about it. I don’t. And I’ll let you in on a little secret about what other black people rarely say: Explaining your life to a world that doesn’t care to listen is often more draining than living in it.” ― Phoebe Robinson, You Can’t Touch My Hair: And Other Things I Still Have to Explain

Zadie Smith

English novelist, essayist, and short-story writer, Zadie Smith’s debut novel, White Teeth immediately became a best-seller and won a number of awards. I discovered Smith while traveling in London and read this back in 2007. She has since gone on to publish several more books, including Swing Time, New York Times Bestseller On Beauty, and Feel Free.

Her writing is rich with one-line gems.

“Greeting cards routinely tell us everybody deserves love. No. Everybody deserves clean water. Not everybody deserves love all the time.” ― Zadie Smith, White Teeth

and:

“You are never stronger…than when you land on the other side of despair.” ― Zadie Smith, White Teeth

Her essay “Joy” is available online for free! In it, she explores the difference between pleasure and joy by closely examining moments of both: eating a delicious egg sandwich, taking drugs at a concert, falling in love… It is lovely.

Honorable mention: Sojourner Truth

Technically not an “AuThOr” (too busy, presumably, being “just” an abolitionist and women’s rights activist), but Sojourner Truth gave one of the most memorable and most important speeches of recent history: Ain’t I A Woman? And if you haven’t read (or listened to) it, ya damn well should.

“I feel safe in the midst of my enemies, for the truth is all powerful and will prevail.” ― Sojourner Truth

and:

“You may hiss as much as you please, but women will get their rights anyway” ― Sojourner Truth

Black women authors I haven’t personally read (*yet) but are on my list (and should maybe be on yours)

Because hey, my list isn’t perfect or comprehensive and there are SO MANY GOOD AUTHORS left to read!

Here are some of the most widely-recommended and acclaimed authors:

• Alice Walker (The Color Purple)
• Octavia E. Butler (Kindred, etc)
• Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Americanah, We Should All Be Feminists)
• Yaa Gyasi (Homegoing)
• Kiley Reid (Such a Fun Age)
• Jacqueline Woodson (Red at the Bone)
• Jesmyn Ward (Sing, Unburied, Sing)
• Tayari Jones (An American Marriage)
• Jasmine Guillory (The Wedding Date)
• Angie Thomas (The Hate U Give)
• Brit Bennett (The Vanishing Half)
• so many more — just pick one

The point is to hear more voices than our own.

Yes, we need to do more than read books

Just like we need to do more than “not be racist.” We need to be anti-racist.

And after we hear their voices, we also need to use our own.

This is merely a start. That and, I don’t know, something to read in the subway on the way to the protest. Or, in the future, anywhere else we may go. Because undoing racism will increasingly become an integral part of our lives, both as active players, and in our leisure.