MetaChat - african american female authors

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19 August 2008

african american female authors please help me discover african-american female authors who write modern alternativey/literary/intelligent type fiction. →[More:]Not the curriculum classics, i know about Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, Zora Neale Huston ect. Authors that someone who likes tc boyle, mark twain, joyce carol oates, vonnegut, steve almond, and chuck palahniuk might enjoy. For instance, Zadie Smith would fit the bill if she was USian. tia.

post by: slackshot at: 23:49 | 8 comments

These are both primarily poets, but Claudia Rankin, and Harriet Mullen.

posted by treepour 20 August | 00:04

Ah. You're looking for Octavia Butler.

posted by Ambrosia Voyeur 20 August | 01:34

Why so specific? I just read the books I like, regardless of who wrote them. Is this for a course?

posted by Eideteker 20 August | 07:33

I like Danyel Smith's fiction pretty well, though I don't know if it's as alternativey/literary as you'd prefer.

posted by box 20 August | 10:09

Also: J. California Cooper, Edwidge Danticat, Sharon G. Flake (YA). Dunno if these are 'curriculum classics' or not.

posted by box 20 August | 10:16

Seconding Octavia Butler

Why so specific? Sometimes it's good to read other cultures/points of view.

posted by Brandon Blatcher 20 August | 13:52

I am asking for a friend and yes its for a college lit course, which is why the african-american female author part is non-negotiable. I though it might be cool to find him something he would like to read anyway that just happens to be by a black American woman instead of just picking someone off the classics list(not that those aren't good books...)

Thanks for all your suggestions so far, Octavia Butler sounds great, and I will look into the others.you all rock.

posted by slackshot 20 August | 15:02

Terry McMillan's another good one. Very contemporary and readable without sacrificing quality.

posted by Pips 20 August | 18:07

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