Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Favourite Poems and Short Stories from Black Writers

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Black Woman reading a book Click here to read everyone else’s replies to this week’s question and here to see the full list of topics for the year.

In light of the protests happening in the U.S. and across the world, everyone I recommend today is a black or African-American writer. I stand with Black Lives Matter and the other protestors in their fight against racism, violence, and oppression.

May we all one day know a peaceful and just word.

I chose these specific works because of the vivid imagery in them. All of these writers excel at creating unforgettable worlds with a few carefully-chosen words.

That’s the sort of writing that grabs my attention immediately and makes me want to read everything else that author or poet has ever written.

Poems

I, Too, Sing America by Langston Hughes

Mortality by Paul Laurence Dunbar

Caged Bird by Maya Angelou

The Blue Dress by Saeed Jones

A Poem for Ella Fitzgerald by Sonia Sanchez

Short Stories

Everyday Use  by Alice Walker

Africanfuturist 419 by Nnedi Okorafor

The Devil in America by Kai Ashante Wilson

The Space Traders by Derrick Bell

The City Born Great by N.K. Jemisin

34 Responses to Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Favourite Poems and Short Stories from Black Writers

  1. A wonderful list, thanks. I’ll definitely chase up the NK Jemisin. I keep hearing amazing things about her work and been wanting to read some for ages.

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