African American Writers and Literature

Peyton Duplechien • 07 Sep 2007 • 2 min read

African American culture resonates from the experiences of African Americans from the Middle Passage deeply rooted in Africa. These experiences have shaped a dynamic culture that speaks bounds in the influences of mainstream America. The imprint of African American literature and the Harlem Renaissance period helped shape African American culture. Influences from writers such as Langston Hughes, Phillis Wheatley, and Maya Angelou have impacted culture in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. To grasp the richness of African American culture, follow the story of culture and the literary impact of the world.
African American Culture
African American Culture-Library of Congress manuscript collection of African American culture.
African American Literary Movements and Genres
The Slave Narrative– Narratives of slaves that impacted more than a literary movement.
A Historical Movement– Overview of a historical art movement.
Literature and Life– Five chapters of the 18th-century literature movement of poetry and slave narratives.
African American Quilts
Quilting Traditions-Traditions of the African American quilt.
Harriet Powers– Biography of southern quilter Harriet Powers.
Electronic Texts
Black Literature Index– Index of electronic texts of black literature.
General Literary Sites
The Given Foundation-Foundation for African American literature.
Documenting the South-Collections of southern literature.
Periodicals
African American Review– A journal of essays, theater, and poetry on African American literature.
Mosaic Magazine– Mosaic Magazine of African American Literature.

Women Writers
African American Writers– Biographies and literary works of African American women writers.
The Cambridge Companion to African American Women’s Literature– Assemblage of history and biographies of African American women writers.