Interested in diving into Black literature? Check out this list from Baylor English profs
February is Black History Month, a time for intentionally learning more about the roles African Americans have played in our nation’s history. One approach is to read up on Black history in the U.S.; Baylor history professor Ronald Johnson put together an excellent list of resources.
Another approach is to dive into some of the outstanding literary contributions made by Black American writers. Baylor English professors Coretta Pittman and Ryan Sharp have suggested the poems, novels and other writings below as excellent entry points into Black American literature.
“I intentionally listed Black writers who are well-known and others who are not,” explains Dr. Pittman. “I want people to see the range of Black writers who were and are engaging in questions about individual and communal responses to race in America. While race might be at the heart of their novels, the literary merit is unquestioned. The writing is beautiful, heartfelt, and representative of the various ways Black writers use the vernacular and ‘Standard English’ to tell stories about everyday Black people.”
“These are texts that I found foundational, that I would want included in a Black American literature syllabus,” adds Dr. Sharp, “and/or items I felt might be more accessible for people who are just beginning to access Black literary traditions. I also tried to pick pieces that somewhat intentionally offer complicated narratives. Pieces that speak to the complexity of life — the joys, the hardships, and the mundane — and so illustrate Black experiences, not ‘the Black experience.'”
Poems and Short Prose:
- “won’t you celebrate with me” (Lucille Clifton)
- “BLK History Month” (Nikki Giovanni)
- “I, Too” and “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” (Langston Hughes)
- “alternate names for black boys” (Danez Smith)
Poetry Collections:
- Dark Testament: and Other Poems (Pauli Murray)
- Citizen: An American Lyric (Claudia Rankine)
- Don’t Call Us Dead: Poems (Danez Smith)
- Monument: Poems New and Selected (Natasha Trethewey)
Novels and Longer Prose:
- Go Tell It on the Mountain and If Beale Street Could Talk (James Baldwin)
- Kindred (Octavia Butler)
- The Souls of Black Folk (W.E.B DuBois)
- Invisible Man (Ralph Ellison)
- Their Eyes Were Watching God and Jonah’s Gourd Vine (Zora Neale Hurston)
- Passing and Quicksand (Nella Larsen)
- The Good Lord Bird (James McBride)
- Beloved, Sula, and The Bluest Eye (Toni Morrison)
- The Street (Ann Petry)
- The Color Purple (Alice Walker)
- The Underground Railroad: A Novel (Colson Whitehead)
Sic ’em, Black History Month!