Black Boy
A powerful and eloquent autobiography that has sold more than a million copies since publication. More
Lawrence Hill
Writing is the one pursuit I have always pursued, and always known I was compelled to pursue. More
1949: Harper & Brothers publishes the Pulitzer-Prize winning Annie Allen by Gwendolyn Brooks…
Harper & Brothers publishes Annie Allen by Gwendolyn Brooks, which wins the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry and makes Brooks the first African American writer to receive the award. More
The Known World
The Pulitzer Prize–winning novel that examines the troubling complexities of slavery. More
1938: Harper & Brothers publishes Richard Wright’s debut story collection…
Harper & Brothers publishes Richard Wright’s debut story collection, Uncle Tom’s Children. More
Stride Toward Freedom
Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s memoir of the Montgomery bus boycott. More
The Book of Negroes
A milestone in Canada’s understanding of black history and one of the bestselling books in Canadian publishing history. More
Social Change: African American Identity in the U.S.
HarperCollins has published a number of books that explore the racial identity of African Americans during periods of great social conflict. More
1958: Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. selects Harper & Brothers to publish his memoir…
After leading the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955 and becoming the voice of the civil rights movement, the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. selects Harper & Brothers to publish Stride Toward Freedom, his memoir about the Montgomery bus boycott. More
Native Son
Wright’s unsparing reflection on what it means to be black in America. More
Brenda Jackson
Of all the books I’ve read, it was a romance story that influenced me the most. More
The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith
This 1972 Booker Prize–nominated novel was also made into a 1978 Australian film. More
1937: Zora Neale Hurston’s masterpiece, Their Eyes Were Watching God is published…
J. B. Lippincott publishes Zora Neale Hurston’s masterpiece, Their Eyes Were Watching God. More
Half of a Yellow Sun
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s masterpiece, and winner of the Orange Prize for Fiction. More
Rita Williams-Garcia
My childhood reading helped to build me from the inside. More
