We are taking a look at these powerful black voices, spanning across various literary genres. From Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie, to Ta Nehisi Coates, to Tayari Jones, amongst others. These are great black writers whose works celebrated, has influenced the world hugely.
So here are 10 commendable books, the list not exhuated anyway, by black authors you should read;
- Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward
The award winning author, Jesmyn Ward, a native of Mississippi Gulf, draws from her experience, that of her family and community, in the 2005 Hurricane Katrina that devastated their collective lives.
Katrina recollects in an interview with The Paris Review, “I saw an entire town demolished, people fighting over water, breaking open caskets, searching for something that could help the survive.
- Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
For those who haven’t had time to read this National Bestseller from the author of Dear Ijeawele or A Feminist Manifesto in Twenty-Five Suggestions; it is time to read one of our finest, celebrated globally, she has given a new meaning to the concept of feminism.
- Home Going by Yaa Gyasi
This young writer of Ghanaian origin, tackles in this her debut novel, some 250 years of history on two continents. This book sets out to trace the legacy of sorrow that slavery has left on generations. This is not a book that should be consigned to the shelf, it should be read and re-read. Home Going won the National Book Critics Circle’s John Leonard Award for the best first book, the PEN/Hemingway Award for a first book of fiction, the National Book Foundations “5 under 35” honours for 2016 and the American Book Award.
- I Can’t Date Jesus by Michael Arceneaux
These collection of essays in memoirs, mirrors the life the life of American journalist, Michael Arcenuex, as he battles with faith crisis and coming to terms with his sexuality.
- An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
Winner of the prestigious Women’s Prize for Fiction, Tayari Jones, tells the story of a marital relationship gone sour, after Roy, Celestial husband was falsely accused of rape and wrongful imprisoned. He spends time in jail and things didn’t remain the same.
- Fresh Water by Akwaeke Emezi
Described by Toronto Star as, “A stunning and disorienting story about a broken woman trying to overcome the pain of her human life while straddling ‘the other side.’ It interweaves Igbo religious myth with a story of overcoming mental illness- floating between the corporeal and metaphysical. … Freshwater is unlike any novel I have ever read. Its shape-shifting perspective is radical and innovative, twisting the narrative voices like the bones of a python.”
This book made it to the shortlist of The Centre for Fiction First Novel Prize. Akwaeke Emezi is a Nigerian writer.
- Behold The Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue
Imbolo Mbue’s book, Behold The Dreamers, sheds light into the lives of African migrants, trooping into western countries, running away from the insecurities at home, in search of a better, greener life.
- How Not To Get Shot: And Other Advice From White People by D.L. Hughley
In Trump’s America, racial profiling and unprovoked shootings is the order of the day. Comedian Hughley takes a look at the vices rearing its ugly head, in the most caustic and hilarious way ever.
- Don’t Call Us Dead by Danez Smith
“The level of craft at work in each of the poems in Don’t Call Us Dead is exceptional. These are poems about black men and their imperiled, impassioned bodies, what it means to live with HIV, and so much more. There is pain here but there is so much joy, so much fierce resistance to anything that dares to temper the stories being told here.”
- Between The World and Me by Ta Nehisi Coates
This beautifully written memoir, navigates the wide paths of racism and police brutality, targeted against blacks in America. It is a deep reflection on the disturbing reality in America, whereby the lives of the whites are said to matter more, than those of the blacks.
