The Harlem Writers Guild, founded in 1950 by John Oliver Killens, Rosa Guy, John Henrik Clarke, Willard Moore and Walter Christmas, is the oldest, continuously operating African American Writers Guild in the world.
The HWG was set up as a forum where African-American writers could develop their craft. After funding for an organization active in the late 1940’s called The Committee for the Negro in the Arts ended, these writers felt excluded from the mainstream literary culture of New York. The HWG was also part of the Black Arts Movement of the 1960’s. By 1986, members of the Guild had produced more than 300 published works of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, plays and screenplays.
Writers who have been associated with the HWG include Lonne Elder III, Douglas Turner Ward, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Paule Marshall, Sidney Poitier, Audre Lorde, Walter Dean Myers, Maya Angelou, Terry McMillan, and Sarah E. Wright. The Guild’s rationale continues to be to celebrate, develop and aid in the publication of works by writers of the African diaspora.
The Vanishing Half: a Novel by Brit Bennett
Fiction (Adult)
The Vignes, twin sisters, will always be identical. But after growing up, one sister lives with her black daughter in the same southern town she once tried to escape. The other will secretly pass for white, and her white husband knows nothing of her past. What will happen to the next generation when their own daughters’ storylines intersect?
The Residue Years by Mitchell S. Jackson
Fiction (Adult)
Grace is just out of a drug treatment program, trying to stay clean and get her kids back. Champ is in and out of incarceration, trying to do right by his mom and younger brothers. He dreams of the home his family once shared. The Residue Years switches between the perspectives of a young Champ and his mother Grace. When both are left few options and little opportunity, how can this family overcome the addictions that have torn them apart?
Speaking of Summer: a Novel by Kalisha Buckhanon
Fiction (Adult)
On a cold December evening, Autumn Spencer’s twin sister, Summer, walks to the roof of their shared Harlem brownstone and is never seen again. Faced with authorities indifferent to another missing Black woman, Autumn must pursue the search for her sister all on her own.
The World According to Fannie Davis: My Mother’s Life in the Detroit Numbers by Bridgett M. Davis
Fiction (Adult)
In 1958, a pretty young mother from Nashville, Tennessee, borrowed $100 from her brother to run a number racket out of her home. Part bookie, part banker, mother, wife, and granddaughter of slaves, that woman was Fannie Davis, Bridgett M. Davis’s mother. Fannie ran her numbers business for thirty-four years, doing what it took to survive the times, in a business that just happened to be a criminal enterprise.
Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson
Fiction (Adult)
Moving forward and backward in time, the book opens in 2001. It is the evening of sixteen-year-old Melody’s coming of age ceremony in her grandparents’ Brooklyn brownstone. But the event is not without poignancy. Sixteen years earlier, that very dress was measured and sewn for a different wearer: Melody’s mother, for a celebration that ultimately never took place.
I’m Not Dying with You Tonight by Kimberly Jones and Gilly Segal
Fiction (Young Adult)
Lena has her killer style, her awesome boyfriend, and a plan. Campbell, on the other hand, is just trying to keep her head down and get through the year at her new school. When both girls attend the Friday-night football game, everything descends into sudden mass chaos, the chaos that unexpectedly throws them together.
A Gift to Treasure by Judy C. Andrews
Fiction (Adult)
The legacy of small affluent African American community implodes, due to scandal at the local hospital, involving insurance fraud, illegal painkillers, and sex trafficking. In the small town of Jewel Park, it is a mysterious 14-year-old who has the keys to unlock all the seedy details.
Tyrell by Coe Booth
Fiction (Young Adult)
Tyrell is living with his spaced-out mother and little brother cramped in a vermin-infested homeless shelter. His father is incarcerated. Tyrell’s girlfriend supports him, but he doesn’t feel good enough for her, especially when he can never seem to get a break. As a young African American male, shouldered with adult responsibilities, can Tyrell find his way and continue to do the right thing?
The Tree: A Journey to Freedom by Minnette Coleman
Historical Fiction (Adult)
Epsie journeys from slavery to freedom with the bellowing hounds close behind her. Her only chance for salvation is the Tree, the Underground Railroad, and the ‘Friends’ that man it.
The Stars and the Blackness Between Them by Junauda Petrus
Fiction (Young Adult)
This is the story of two black girls, Sixteen-year-olds Mabel and Audre, newly arrived from Port of Spain, Trinidad. Both girls from different backgrounds search for love and happiness in a world that seems determined to deny them both.
On the Come Up by Angie Thomas
ISBN-13: 978-0062498588
Fiction (Young Adult)
Sixteen-year-old Bri wants to be one of the greatest rappers of all time. Or at least win her first battle. As the daughter of an underground hip hop legend who died right before he hit big, Bri’s got massive shoes to fill.
Sasha Savvy Loves to Code by Sasha Ariel Alston (Author), Vanessa Brantley-Newton (Illustrator)
An early reader chapter book (ages 7-10)
Sasha Savvy is a super-smart 10-year old African American girl, who lives in Washington, DC. Sasha must choose which class to take for summer camp. Her mom discovers that the camp is offering a new class for girls on how to code.
The Everyday Excellence Student Planner by Eartha Watts Hicks
(Middle School)
This Planner has a monthly calendar, space class schedules, and weekly appointments. The Everyday Excellence Student Planner also includes a Monthly Calendar At-a-Glance with Brainstorming Section and Checklist, Cursive Writing Instruction Sheets, Charts, and Tools designed to help smart girls plan their academic success right from the start.
My Friend, My Hero by Jerald LeVon Hoover
(Middle School)
Bennett Wilson is one of the top basketball players in New York State. Many of the nation’s top colleges are already reaching out, eager to sign him to their roster. Bennett’s dreams come to a screeching halt. Will Bennett succumb to a life he has avoided and if he does, what will it cost?
