Blog Post

Discover the Impact of Black Authors

Hayley DenningsJul 23 2023

We're excited about our collaboration with Black Writers Weekend, the largest gathering for Black writers. The festival takes place in Atlanta, Georgia, and has been bringing Black literary and film creatives together since 2009. This year BWW will happen August 6th through 9th, and will feature many activities including movie screenings, masterclasses, a pitch fest where creatives can pitch their projects to be greenlit by judges, a lit crawl where people can find new books and share their own, and artist panels where attendees can learn and share knowledge of the publishing and film industry. Over 100 talented black authors will grace the stage, captivating readers with their stories and engaging everyone in insightful author talks, lively book signings, and exclusive reader meet-ups. Mingle with fellow book lovers and cultural enthusiasts at vibrant parties and socials, creating an atmosphere brimming with excitement and new connections. There will even be a Harlem Renaissance costume party, where you can embrace the glamour and vibrancy of this iconic era. The AAMBC Literary Awards serves as the final event honoring Kwame Alexander and Frank Morrison.Whether you're a writer, reader, or simply someone who appreciates the power of words, Black Writers Weekend promises to be an unforgettable experience and celebration of black literary excellence. Get your tickets now and let your literary journey begin!

Honoring Black writers

We're excited to collaborate with Black Writers Weekend this year here at Fable. In an industry that is incredibly whitewashed and often skips over including diverse voices, it's important to support movements like Black Writers Weekend that honor and celebrate Black creatives. So this year, Black Writers Weekend is offering their attendees an exclusive gift of one free year of Fable premium!This exclusive membership will grant all BWW attendees unlimited access to every book club on the platform, including those curated by renowned authors and celebrities such as LeVar Burton.

Discover the impact of Black authors

Black literature has always exposed the world to new perspectives and conversations about race. Understanding the Black experience is instrumental in beginning to dismantle the barriers of inequality, racism, and oppression. Black identities, Black experiences, and Black voices are essential in storytelling and should be celebrated, rather than ostracized. To get you started, here is a list of Black authors and their books to read here on Fable.

Toni Morrison

She was the author of eleven novels, from The Bluest Eye (1970) to God Help the Child (2015). She received the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Pulitzer Prize, and in 1993 she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. She died in 2019.BelovedThe Bluest EyeSong of Solomon

James Baldwin

He was a novelist, essayist, and activist. He is best known for the novels Go Tell It on the Mountain (1953) and Giovanni’s Room (1956), and the collections Nobody Knows My Name (1961) and The Fire Next Time (1963). Go Tell It on the MountainNotes of a Native SonGiovanni's Room

Alice Walker

She is an award-winning author of novels, stories, essays, and poetry. In 1983, Walker became the first African-American woman to win a Pulitzer Prize for fiction with her novel The Color Purple, which also won the National Book Award.The Color PurpleMeridian

Angie Thomas

She is the author of the award-winning, bestselling novels The Hate U Give, On the Come Up, and Concrete Rose, as well as Find Your Voice: A Guided Journal for Writing Your Truth. A former teen rapper who holds a BFA in creative writing, Angie was born, raised, and still resides in Mississippi.The Hate U GiveOn the Come Up

Jesmyn Ward

She received her MFA from the University of Michigan and has received the MacArthur Genius Grant, a Stegner Fellowship, a John and Renee Grisham Writers Residency, the Strauss Living Prize, and the 2022 Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction. She is the historic winner—first woman and first Black American—of two National Book Awards for Fiction for Sing, Unburied, Sing (2017) and Salvage the Bones (2011). Sing, Unburied, Sing

Ta-Nehisi Coates

He is a national correspondent for The Atlantic. His book Between the World and Me won the National Book Award in 2015. Coates is the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship. He lives in New York City with his wife and son.Between the World and MeThe Water Dancer

Zora Neale Hurston

She was a novelist, folklorist, and anthropologist. She wrote four novels (Jonah’s Gourd Vine, 1934; Their Eyes Were Watching God, 1937; Moses, Man of the Mountain, 1939; and Seraph on the Suwanee, 1948); two books of folklore (Mules and Men, 1935, and Tell My Horse, 1938); an autobiography (Dust Tracks on a Road, 1942); an international bestselling nonfiction work (Barracoon: The Story of the Last “Black Cargo,” 2018); and over fifty short stories, essays, and plays. Their Eyes Were Watching GodMoses, Man of the Mountain

Maya Angelou

She was raised in Stamps, Arkansas. In addition to her bestselling autobiographies, including I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and The Heart of a Woman, she wrote numerous volumes of poetry, among them Phenomenal Woman, And Still I Rise, On the Pulse of Morning, and Mother. I Know Why the Caged Bird SingsAnd Still I Rise

Octavia Butler

A writer who darkly imagined the future we have destined for ourselves in book after book, and also one who has shown us the way toward improving on that dismal fate, Butler is recognized as among the bravest and smartest of contemporary fiction writers. A 1995 MacArthur Award winner, Butler transcended the science fiction category even as she was awarded that community’s top prizes, the Nebula and Hugo Awards. KindredParable of the Sower

Ralph Ellison

He was the author of the novel Invisible Man one of the most important and influential American novels of the twentieth century, as well as numerous essays and short stories. He was born on March 1, 1913, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.Invisible Man

Gwendolyn Brooks

She was one of the most accomplished and acclaimed poets of the last century, the first black author to win the Pulitzer Prize and the first black woman to serve as poetry consultant to the Library of Congress—the forerunner of the U.S. Poet Laureate.A Street in Bronzeville

W.E.B. Du Bois

He was an American sociologist, socialist, historian, civil rights activist, Pan-Africanist, author, writer and editor. Du Bois was one of the founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1909.The Souls of Black Folk

Frederick Douglass

He was an African-American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. After escaping from slavery in Maryland, he became a national leader of the abolitionist movement in Massachusetts and New York, becoming famous for his oratory and incisive antislavery writings.Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave

Nella Larsen

She was the author of two novels, Quicksand and Passing, and several short stories. She received a Guggenheim fellowship to write a third novel in 1930 but, unable to find a publisher for it, she disappeared from the literary scene and worked as a nurse. Passing

Audre Lorde

She published eleven volumes of poetry and five works of prose. Her constellation of honors includes honorary doctorates from Hunter, Oberlin, and Haverford colleges.The Collected Poems of Audre LordeSister Outsider

Tracy Deonn

She grew up in central North Carolina as a second-generation fangirl, devouring fantasy books and Southern food in equal measure. After earning her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in communication and performance studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Tracy worked in live theater, video game production, and K–12 education.Legendborn

Rivers Solomon

They write about life in the margins, where they are much at home. In addition to appearing on the Stonewall Honor List and winning a Firecracker Award, Solomon's debut novel An Unkindness of Ghosts was a finalist for a Lambda, a Hurston/Wright, an Otherwise (formerly Tiptree) and a Locus award. The Deep

Akwaeke Emezi

They are the author of Pet, a finalist for the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature, a Walter Honor Book and a Stonewall Honor Book; the New York Times bestseller The Death of Vivek Oji, which was a finalist for the Dylan Thomas Prize, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and the PEN/Jean Stein Award; Freshwater, which was named a New York Times Notable Book and shortlisted for the PEN/Hemingway Award.The Death of Vivek Oji

Brit Bennett

Born and raised in Southern California, she graduated from Stanford University and later earned her MFA in fiction at the University of Michigan, where she won a Hopwood Award in Graduate Short Fiction as well as the 2014 Hurston/Wright Award for College Writers. Her work is featured in The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, The Paris Review, and Jezebel.The Vanishing Half

Kennedy Ryan

She writes for women from all walks of life, empowering them and placing them firmly at the center of each story and in charge of their own destinies. Her heroes respect, cherish, and lose their minds for the women who capture their hearts. Kennedy and her writings have been featured in Chicken Soup for the Soul, USA Today, Entertainment Weekly, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, TIME, O magazine, and many others.Before I Let Go

Hayley Dennings is a queer, Black woman from the Bay Area in California. While finishing her French and English undergraduate degree from Loyola Marymount University, she also spends time on her YouTube channel, Pages of Hayley, where she discusses books and writing with over 45,000 subscribers. Because of reading, Hayley learns about experiences other than her own and gains empathy for those around her. Seeing people like her represented in books encouraged her to write her own books and pursue publishing. When Hayley is not working, she is spending time with her three dogs and baking.