Huffington Post’s Black Voices rounded up 50 books the editors think every African American should read (they added on Twitter that of course the list has value to everyone, but these books focus primarily on the black experience in America). We were thrilled to see how many Anisfield-Wolf winners were on the list, proving to us once again that our winners stand out in the crowded literary field.
Gwendolyn Brooks
“Annie Allen” (1949)
Edwidge Danticat
“Breath, Eyes, Memory” (1999)
Chimamanda Adichie
“Half Of A Yellow Sun” (2008)
Ralph Ellison
“Invisible Man” (1952)
Edward P. Jones
“The Known World” (2003)
Alex Haley
“The Autobiography of Malcolm X” (1987)
Toni Morrison
“Song of Solomon” (1977), “Sula” (1973) and “The Bluest Eye” (1970)
Langston Hughes
“The Weary Blues” (1925)
Zora Neale Hurston
“Their Eyes Were Watching God” (1937)
Zadie Smith
“White Teeth” (2000)
Isabel Wilkerson
“The Warmth of Other Suns” (2010)
Walter Mosley
“Devil in a Blue Dress” (1990)
Ernest J. Gaines
“A Lesson Before Dying” (1993)