AALBC Search
Olaudah Equiano
Olaudah Equiano 0000000110225228 Olaudah Equiano (1745-1797) was a freed slave and influential abolitionist. His autobiography, published in 1789, played a crucial role in ending the African slave tr...
Kwesi Oginga
Kwesi Oginga NONE Kwesi Oginga, born in Guyana, is a renowned dramatist, author, and pastor. He wrote plays for Guyana's top festivals, directed plays for the president's birthday, and has penned sev...
August Wilson
August Wilson 0000000368634467 August Wilson (1945-2005), two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning African American playwright, is renowned for his Pittsburgh Cycle, a series of 10 plays each set in a unique ...
Anna Deavere Smith
Anna Deavere Smith 0000000110491657 Anna Deavere Smith, born in 1950, is a renowned actress, playwright, author, and professor. Famous for her roles in 'The West Wing' and 'Nurse Jackie', she's also ...
Amiri Baraka
Amiri Baraka 0000000446460520 Amiri Baraka, also known as LeRoi Jones, was a prolific 20th-century African American writer, poet, and Obie-winning playwright. Known for works such as “Blues People” a...
Andrea Hairston
Andrea Hairston 000000004096098X Andrea Hairston, an Afrofuturist novelist and playwright, is also the L. Wolff Kahn 1931 Professor Emerita at Smith College. With award-winning novels like 'Redwood a...
Solomon Northup
Solomon Northup 0000000374327420 Born free, Solomon Northup was kidnapped into slavery in 1841, enduring this for 12 years in Louisiana. Regaining his freedom in 1853, he penned the memoir “Twelve Ye...
Elizabeth Keckley
Elizabeth Keckley 0000000057594701 Elizabeth Keckley, born a slave in 1818, bought her freedom and became a leading figure in Washington society as a dressmaker and confidante to Mary Todd Lincoln. L...
Princess F.L. Gooden
Princess F.L. Gooden NONE Born and raised in Atlanta, Princess F. L. Gooden is a gifted writer, poet, and dramatist. She started writing at a young age, and by 13, she had written and directed plays ...
Gil Scott-Heron
Gil Scott-Heron 0000000120176415 One of the most influential progenitors of rap music, Gil Scott-Heron’s aggressive, no-nonsense street poetry inspired a legion of intelligent rappers while his en...
William Craft and Ellen Craft
William Craft and Ellen Craft MULTIPLE William and Ellen Craft, escaped slaves from Georgia, became famous fugitives in the 1840s. Disguised as a white man and his servant, they reached the North and...
Zetta Elliott
Zetta Elliott 000000003627950X Zetta Elliott, a Canadian-born Black feminist writer, is known for her poetry, plays, essays, and children's novels. She earned a PhD in American Studies from NYU, taug...
Jackie Sibblies Drury
Jackie Sibblies Drury NONE Jackie Sibblies Drury is a Brooklyn-based playwright, known for plays including 'We Are Proud to Present...' and 'Really'. Her work has been showcased by prominent institut...
Victor Séjour
Victor Séjour 0000000108710902 Juan Victor Séjour, born on June 2, 1817 in New Orleans, was a popular playwright and author. Raised by wealthy parents, he moved to Paris at 19 where he became part o...
Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass 0000000121171288 “Without Struggle… There Is No Progress!” —Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass (1818-1895), born into slavery, was an influential abolit...
Jermain Wesley Loguen
Jermain Wesley Loguen 0000000032721380 Rev. Jermain Wesley Loguen was an African-American abolitionist, bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, and author of the real-life slave narrat...
Peter Kalu
Peter Kalu NONE Peter Kalu is an award-winning poet, fiction writer, and playwright from the UK. He began his writing career at Manchester's Moss Side Write black writers workshop and has produced ei...
Nina Foxx
Nina Foxx 0000000045364941 Nina Foxx, a prolific author of 15 novels, has also written, produced, and directed multiple award-winning stage plays and films. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing and a...
Wade Hudson
Wade Hudson 0000000067647969 Why I Publish Children’s Books Wade Hudson, born in 1946, is an author, journalist, and civil rights activist. Known for his children's books promoting positive Afri...
Claudia Rankine
Claudia Rankine 0000000108694914 Claudia Rankine is a celebrated author and Yale professor, known for her poetry collections, plays, and video collaborations. She won multiple awards for her groundbr...
Harriet Jacobs
Harriet Jacobs 0000000121310444 Harriet Ann Jacobs, an escaped slave turned abolitionist speaker and reformer, authored “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl,” one of the first books highlighting th...
Ned Sublette
Ned Sublette 0000000108555156 Ned Sublette, born in 1951, is a talented composer, musician, and author hailing from Texas. Known for his work in Spanish Classical Guitar, he is also a renowned musico...
Richard Wesley
Richard Wesley 0000000078408226 Richard Wesley, born in 1945, is a celebrated playwright, screenwriter, and associate professor of Playwriting and Screenwriting. He graduated from Howard University i...
Tash Hawthorne
Tash Hawthorne NONE Tash Hawthorne is a versatile writer renowned for her contemporary novels and stage plays. She received the “Best New Author” award from Black Pearl Magazine and has worked with m...
LaShonda Katrice Barnett
LaShonda Katrice Barnett 0000000384767200 LaShonda Katrice Barnett is a renowned author and educator, known for her trilogy of plays and debut novel, “Jam on the Vine.” Twice nominated for the Pushca...
Ebony Dawn
Ebony Dawn NONE Ebony Dawn, also known as Pat Ebron, is a Newark native writer with a romantic perspective on life, influenced by old movies and diverse music. She has written plays, children's stori...
Zetta Elliott and Lyn Miller-Lachmann
Zetta Elliott and Lyn Miller-Lachmann MULTIPLE Zetta Elliott, a black feminist writer known for poetry, plays, essays, novels, and kids' stories, is renowned for her award-winning picture book, Bird....
Vanessa Miller
Vanessa Miller NONE Best-selling author and motivational speaker Vanessa Miller, known for her stage productions and Rain Series novels, writes redemption stories to glorify God. She's won Best Chris...
Pamela M. Tuck and Joel Tuck
Pamela M. Tuck and Joel Tuck MULTIPLE Pamela and Joel Tuck are a writing duo specializing in children's literature. Pamela, a Greenville native, began her career with poetry, expanding into short sto...
John O’Neal
John O’Neal NONE John O'Neal, co-founder of the Free Southern Theater and Junebug Productions, is a prominent playwright and activist. His work, which spans over 50 years, focuses on reviving the mem...
Glenville Lovell
Glenville Lovell 0000000078667420 Glenville Obrian Lovell, an acclaimed author of novels, short stories, and award-winning plays. Known for his novels “Fire in the Canes,” “Song of Night,” and myster...
Mari Evans
Mari Evans 0000000108875002 Mari Evans, born July 16, 1919, was a significant figure in the 1960s Black Arts Movement. She was a distinguished writer and educator, teaching at institutions like Corne...
Didi Anofienem
Didi Anofienem NONE Didi Anofienem, a Houston-born novelist and educator based in Los Angeles, holds degrees from Columbia University, University of San Francisco, UT-Austin, and University of Housto...
Indigo Moor
Indigo Moor NONE Indigo Moor, Sacramento's Poet Laureate, is a multi-talented writer with works ranging from poetry to plays. His award-winning books include Tap-Root and Through the Stonecutter’s Wi...
Caryl Phillips
Caryl Phillips 0000000110654575 Caryl Phillips, born in St.Kitts and raised in Britain, is a renowned playwright and professor. An Oxford graduate, he has been awarded for his radio plays and has tau...
Juan Tomás Avila Laurel
Juan Tomás Avila Laurel 000000011566246X Equatoguinean author, Juan Tomás Ávila Laurel, focuses on social, political and economic inequality in Africa. A distinguished lecturer at Hofstra University,...
Tololwa M. Mollel
Tololwa M. Mollel NONE Tololwa Mollel, a Tanzanian-born children's author, storyteller, and dramatist, has written 17 books and several plays. His work, published internationally, has been translated...
Alex Simmons
Alex Simmons 0000000040307489 Alex Simmons is a prolific writer and publisher, known for his work across various genres including juvenile mysteries, stage plays, biographies, and movie novelizations...
Mychea
Mychea NONE Mychea, a Washington, DC native, is a published author and playwright signed to Good 2 Go Publishing. Known for her fiction novels such as 'My Boyfriend’s Wife', 'He Loves Me', and 'Covet...
Osonye Tess Onwueme
Osonye Tess Onwueme 0000000114408785 Dr. Osonye Tess Onwueme, a University Professor of Global Letters at the University of Wisconsin, is a renowned author with several prestigious awards including t...
Mai Sennaar
Mai Sennaar NONE Mai Sennaar is a graduate of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. The Smithsonian Affiliate Museum of the African Diaspora, the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, and the Class...
Calvin Alexander Ramsey
Calvin Alexander Ramsey NONE Calvin Alexander Ramsey is a multi-talented artist known for his award-winning children's books, photography, folk art painting, and plays. His works have been recognized...
Cynthia Harris Casteel
Cynthia Harris Casteel NONE Cynthia Harris Casteel, a retired teacher and Maryland native, is an aspiring writer, playwright, and founder of the happiness organization, Frankie's Angels. Known for he...
Jackie Kay
Jackie Kay 0000000108753136 Jacqueline Margaret Kay is a celebrated author and former National Poet of Scotland known for her memoir Red Dust Road and various acclaimed poetry collections. Her first ...
Uzoma R. Ezekwudo
Uzoma R. Ezekwudo NONE Uzoma “Uzo” R. Ezekwudo is a graduate of Economics from the University of North Carolina who discovered a love for writing in her adulthood. She's penned a diverse collection o...
Brittany J. Thurman
Brittany J. Thurman NONE Brittany J. Thurman, an MFA graduate in Dramatic Writing from Carnegie Mellon, is known for her plays produced in Aspen and NYC. An alumna of Kingston University, former chil...
May Miller
May Miller 0000000066423568 May Miller was born on January 26, 1899, in Washington, D.C. Her father, Kelly Miller, was a well-known scholar, professor, and sociologist at Howard University, and thei...
Jay Wright
Jay Wright 000000007830315X “A Poet’s Poet” Jay Wright, born in 1934, is a prolific author of 15 books of poetry, 40+ plays, and essays. A fellow of the American Academy of Arts and ...
Susan D. Peters
Susan D. Peters NONE Susan D. Peters, a Chicago native and DePaul University graduate, lived in Liberia for 11 years. Her experiences during the Liberian Civil War inspired her award-winning memoir, ...
James Ward
James Ward 0000000003087499 James Theodore Ward was a pivotal figure in the Black Chicago Renaissance, known as the “dean of black dramatists.” He co-founded the Negro Playwrights Company and wrote o...
K. Reshay
K. Reshay NONE K. Reshay is a versatile author, poet, and playwright, known for her thought-provoking book series 'Appearances'. She is the Founder of Me Time Book Club, aimed at promoting literacy a...
M. NourbeSe Philip
M. NourbeSe Philip 0000000116780353 M. NourbeSe Philip is a renowned Caribbean-Canadian poet, writer, and lawyer, widely celebrated for her groundbreaking work that explores themes of colonialism, ra...
Joy DeGruy
Joy DeGruy 000000004270340X Dr. Joy Angela DeGruy is a renowned researcher, educator, author, and presenter focused on social justice and self-healing. Known for her work on Post Traumatic Slave Synd...
Betty DeRamus
Betty DeRamus NONE Betty DeRamus is an award-winning journalist and Pulitzer Prize finalist known for her nonfiction books on slavery and post-slavery era. Her works, “Forbidden Fruit: Love Stories f...
Margaret Garner
Margaret Garner NONE Margaret Garner, a fugitive slave from Kentucky, killed one of her children rather than permit her to be returned to slavery. She drowned in a shipwreck as she was being ...
Jeremy O. Harris
Jeremy O. Harris 0000000496144470 Jeremy O. Harris, “one of the most promising playwrights of his generation,” (Vogue) is a playwright, screenwriter, essayist, and actor. His plays include Slave Pla...
Howard Zinn
Howard Zinn 0000000123214931 Howard Zinn, a renowned historian, playwright, and social activist, was a professor at Boston University. Known for his political activism and award-winning nonfiction wo...
Annette Gordon-Reed
Annette Gordon-Reed 0000000035723517 Annette Gordon-Reed, a professor of law and history, authored “Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: An American Controversy.” She delves into the complex and intim...
Francesca Momplaisir
Francesca Momplaisir NONE Haitian-born Francesca Momplaisir is a multilingual literature scholar and writer. Educated at Columbia University, the University of Oxford, and New York University, she sp...
Buchi Emecheta
Buchi Emecheta 0000000109363682 “I work toward the liberation of women, but I’m not a feminist I’m just a woman.” Nigerian novelist Buchi Emecheta, born in 1944, is renowned f...
Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Valerie Smith, William L. Andrews, Frances Foster, Brent Hayes Edwards, Deborah E. McDowell, Hortense J. Spillers, Kimberly W. Benston, Farah Jasmine Griffin, and Jesse McCarthy
Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Valerie Smith, William L. Andrews, Frances Foster, Brent Hayes Edwards, Deborah E. McDowell, Hortense J. Spillers, Kimberly W. Benston, Farah Jasmine Griffin, and Jesse McCarth...
Ida B. Wells
Ida B. Wells 0000000083935290 Ida B. Wells, born a slave in 1862, was an influential African-American journalist, editor, suffragist, and early Civil Rights leader. Notable for her documentation of l...
Sarah L. Delany and A. Elizabeth Delany
Sarah L. Delany and A. Elizabeth Delany MULTIPLE Sarah Delany, the last of the Delany sisters, passed away at 109. Born to a former slave, she was the first colored woman to teach home economics in w...
Hannah Crafts
Hannah Crafts 0000000057115061 Hannah Bond, known as Hannah Crafts, was an African-American writer and ex-slave who escaped to the North and wrote The Bondwoman’s Narrative. Settling in New Jersey, B...
Olympia Scott
Olympia Scott NONE Olympia Scott, a Brooklyn native and English major at Medgar Evers College, is a creative writer and intern at AALBC. She contributes useful content and aims to help other writers ...
Vincent Brown
Vincent Brown 0000000114674784 Vincent Brown is the Charles Warren Professor of American History and Professor of African and African American Studies at Harvard University. He is the author of Tacky...
Lupita Nyong’o
Lupita Nyong’o 0000000065421480 Lupita Nyong'o, born March 1, 1983, is a Kenyan-Mexican actress. Raised in Kenya and educated in the U.S., she began her career in Hollywood, made her acting debut in ...
Lawrence Deron Thomas
Lawrence Deron Thomas NONE Lawrence Deron Thomas, a Bay Area native, was inspired by his parents to pursue strength, courage, and success. After a brief stint as a rapper, he found his passion for wr...
Manu Herbstein
Manu Herbstein 0000000052849963 Manu Herbstein, born in 1936, is a South African and Ghanaian author and engineer who worked globally before settling in Ghana in 1970. His debut novel, “Ama, a Story ...
Cynthia Grady
Cynthia Grady NONE Cynthia Grady, a former middle school librarian and teacher, is a New Mexico-based author who enjoys playing music for her two rabbits, Finoa and Banjo. Cynthia Grady is an author ...
Elizabeth Dowling Taylor
Elizabeth Dowling Taylor 0000000120815969 Elizabeth Dowling Taylor is a PhD holder from UC Berkeley with a 22-year career in museum education and historical research. She directed interpretation at M...
John Ridley
John Ridley 0000000114963631 John Ridley is an award-winning American screenwriter, film director, and novelist. Best known for “12 Years a Slave” and the series “American Crime,” his latest work is ...
George Moses Horton
George Moses Horton 000000006316904X George Moses Horton (1798–1884) was the first African American poet to be published in the Southern US, while still enslaved. His notable works include “The Hop...
Emily Meggett
Emily Meggett NONE Emily Meggett, 87, is a prominent figure in South Carolina's Gullah community, featured by PBS, Food Network, and NPR. Raised in a 19th-century slave cabin, now a central Smithsoni...
Aesop
Aesop 0000000120317310 Aesop (c. 620-560 B.C.), the legendary creator of Aesop's Fables, was a presumed black slave from Ancient Greece. His fables popularized everyday phrases such as “don't count y...
Thomas Norman DeWolf
Thomas Norman DeWolf 0000000074225246 Author of 'Inheriting the Trade', explores his family's past as the largest slave-trading dynasty in U.S. history. Featured in the Emmy-nominated documentary 'Tr...
Frances Foster
Frances Foster 0000000078407303 Frances Foster has edited and authored many works, including Witnessing Slavery: The Development of the Antebellum Slave Narrative and the Norton Critical Edition of ...
Issa Rae
Issa Rae 0000000493620849 Issa Rae, born in 1985, is a talented humorist and YouTube sensation with more than 25 million views. Recognized on Forbes' “30 Under 30” list twice, she has created success...
Rashidah Ismaili
Rashidah Ismaili 0000000031556002 Dr. Rashidah Ismaili AbuBakr is a writer of short stories, plays, and poetry. Originally from West Africa, Dr. AbuBakr has taught French and English Speaking ...
Andrew Salkey
Andrew Salkey 0000000109378518 Felix Salkey was a Panamanian-born author dedicated to Jamaican culture. Raised in Jamaica, he became a prominent figure in the London community of West Indian writers ...
Kelly Starling Lyons
Kelly Starling Lyons NONE Kelly Starling Lyons is a children's book author from Pittsburgh. Inspired by her mother's storytelling and her grandparents' creativity, she started writing at a young age....
Esther Iverem
Esther Iverem NONE Esther Iverem is a multi-disciplinary artist, writer, curator, and social justice advocate. She's a radio host, founder of the Black website SeeingBlack.com, and author of four boo...
Penny Mickelbury
Penny Mickelbury 0000000067623801 Penny Mickelbury is a celebrated playwright, journalist, and novelist, known for her work in fiction and script writing. She rose to prominence with her detective no...
Russell Atkins
Russell Atkins 0000000067797174 Russell Atkins, born in 1926, is a Cleveland-based musician, playwright, poet, and national figure in American avant garde poetry. He studied at renowned Cleveland ins...
Gary Golio
Gary Golio NONE Gary Golio is a multi-talented visual artist, musician, psychotherapist, and author, known for his New York Times-bestselling book about young Jimi Hendrix. His works focus on artists...
S. Pearl Sharp
S. Pearl Sharp 0000000036855052 S. Pearl Sharp is a writer, actress, filmmaker and broadcast journalist. An advocate of holistic healing, S. Pearl conducts workshops that merge art and healing, and c...
J. California Cooper
J. California Cooper 000000011687953X J. California Cooper was a renowned author and playwright, named Black Playwright of the Year in 1978. Encouraged by Alice Walker, she transitioned to fiction, w...
Tara Betts
Tara Betts NONE Tara Betts, a celebrated author and poet, is known for her educational efforts in arts programs and her work with GirlSpeak. She has been featured on HBO's Def Poetry Jam and the Blac...
Kaija Langley
Kaija Langley NONE Kaija Langley, a New Jersey native and Morgan State University alumna, earned her MFA in fiction from St. Mary’s College of California. An accomplished author, she started writing ...
Lemn Sissay
Lemn Sissay 0000000079088199 Lemn Sissay is a British author, poet, and broadcaster, known for his contributions to BBC Radio 4 and his role as the first poet commissioned for the London Olympics. He...
Flores Forbes
Flores Forbes NONE Flores Alexander Forbes, a former Black Panther Party member and convict, turned his experiences into criminal justice-related work at Columbia University and two memoirs. His book...
Scott Haskins
Scott Haskins NONE Born on February 21, 1962, in Sandusky, Ohio, sports fanatic Scott Denton Haskins discovered his passion for writing in the sixth grade. Scott pursued a degree in Mass Media Arts a...
Christian Keyes
Christian Keyes NONE Christian Keyes is a versatile actor, singer, and songwriter from Detroit, Michigan, recognized for his consistent performances in Tyler Perry's productions. He's also known for ...
Steven Barnes
Steven Barnes 0000000120240667 Steven Barnes is a bestselling author and screenwriter, known for his award-winning Tennyson Hardwick mystery series and Lifewriting course. With over 30 years of self-...
Brenda M. Greene
Brenda M. Greene 000000008095850X Dr. Brenda M. Greene is a respected professor, writer, and scholar, leading the Center for Black Literature and the National Black Writers Conference. She has contri...
Sydney McGee
Sydney McGee NONE “McGee is the youngest bestselling author in AALBC.com History!” Sydney McGee, also known as “Sydney Sunshine”, is a young author from Houston, Texas, known for her uniqu...
Evelyn Collins
Evelyn Collins NONE Dr. Evelyn Collins is a renowned luminary in theater, African American history, and arts education with over 35 years of experience. As CEO of Onyx Production Company and the forc...
Chuck Sambuchino
Chuck Sambuchino 0000000051156057 Chuck Sambuchino is an editor and published author who runs the Guide to Literary Agents Blog, one of the biggest blogs in publishing. His site has instruction and ...
Troy Johnson
Troy Johnson 0000000530602616 “I lead the world's oldest and largest online platform dedicated to books by and about people of African descent.” Troy Demetrius Johnson, founder and President of AALBC....
Kelvin Bodley
Kelvin Bodley NONE Kelvin D. Bodley, a Chicago native and now Florida resident, is a social change advocate, author, and Minister of the Gospel. He served as the Special Assistant to Mayor Anthony Gr...