Perhaps you've read Iyanla Vanzant's "Yesterday, I Cried" or Lorraine Hansberry's "A Raisin in the Sun." While very different, both communicate the rich traditions of African-American literature. The creative forces of the African-American experience
flooded the artistic world early in the history of the United States.
Traversing all genres, styles and subject matter, the work of African
Americans appears both in the mainstream and on the margins. From Toni
Morrison to Marcus Garvey and Chinua Achebe to Zora Neale Hurston, African-American
authors reach audiences of all ages and ethnicities.
Check out these sites for comprehensive information on African-American
literature and writers:
African American Literature Book Club
Offers biographies, selected works and
photographs of hundreds of black writers. Sit back and listen to your
favorite poet or author read their own words through audio files. You'll also find reviews, event announcements
and a discussion forum.
Writing Black
With a plethora of links and pages on e-texts, biographies, interviews,
historical texts, libraries and reading lists, this is a helpful site for
learning more about the black experience and literature.
Black Literature
Focusing on recently released titles, this site offers reviews, links to book clubs and chat.
Chronology of African American Literature
In addition to the detailed account of when essential books hit the stands,
this site provides links to writers and e-texts wherever possible.
Looking for a specific e-text, author or work? Check out these useful sites:
African American Electronic Text Center
Link to online texts of writers from Fredrick Douglass to Rita Dove. Easy to
navigate, this site offers popular and obscure works.
Successful black writers offer their advice on getting
published:
Blackwriters.org
An online writer's guild dedicated to using the Internet as a
community-building tool, this site offers conferences, newsletters and
mentoring, as well as an online discussion forum.