Groundbreaking Novels
This author’s novel Their Eyes Were Watching God is a cornerstone of African-American literature.
Who is Zora Neale Hurston?
This poet, best known for her work I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, is also celebrated for her poetry.
Who is Maya Angelou?
This Colombian author, known for her magical realism, won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1982.
Who is Gabriel García Márquez? (For this one, her works are critical in the genre, but she, being a woman of color, fits the focus on women writers.)
This author became the first African-American woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1993.
Who is Toni Morrison?
This Malaysian-American author’s Crazy Rich Asians was turned into a popular movie.
Who is Kevin Kwan?
In her novel The God of Small Things, this Indian author explores family dynamics and caste in Kerala.
Who is Arundhati Roy?
Known for her powerful verse on social justice and identity, this poet is the author of Milk and Honey.
Who is Rupi Kaur?
he House on Mango Street is a coming-of-age novel by this Chicana author.
Who is Sandra Cisneros?
This Puerto Rican author wrote When I Was Puerto Rican, a memoir exploring her childhood.
Who is Esmeralda Santiago?
The Night Tiger blends historical fiction and magical realism, written by this Malaysian author.
Who is Yangsze Choo?
This Nigerian author wrote Half of a Yellow Sun, exploring the Nigerian Civil War.
Who is Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie?
Born in India, this poet won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1990 for her collection The Half-Finished Heaven.
Who is Agha Shahid Ali?
In Wide Sargasso Sea, this Jamaican-born author reimagines the backstory of Bertha Mason from Jane Eyre.
Who is Jean Rhys?
This Ghanaian-American writer won the 2019 Booker Prize for her novel Girl, Woman, Other.
Who is Bernardine Evaristo?
Known for her book The Henna Artist, this Indian author’s stories are often set in the colorful world of modern India.
Who is Alka Joshi?
The Joy Luck Club tells the story of Chinese-American women and their immigrant mothers, written by this author.
Who is Amy Tan?
The Black Unicorn is one of the works of this poet and political activist.
Who is Audre Lorde?
Americanah explores the immigrant experience and race in America, written by this Nigerian author.
Who is Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie?
Funeral Blues is one of the most famous poems by this West Indian-British poet.
Who is W. H. Auden? (As an exploration of the British Caribbean perspective, there's some flexibility in categorizing works.)
This Black feminist writer has authored Bad Feminist and is known for her sharp takes on pop culture.
Who is Roxane Gay?
Song of Solomon, a novel about African-American identity, was written by this Nobel Prize-winning author.
Who is Toni Morrison?
This Mexican-American poet’s collection The Last Poem is considered a vital part of Chicano literature.
Who is Sandra Cisneros?
This Indian-American author’s debut novel The Namesake is about the experience of assimilation in the U.S
Who is Jhumpa Lahiri?
This Somali-British author’s novel Brit(ish) discusses the intersections of race and identity.
Who is Afua Hirsch?
This author’s The Vanishing Half tells the story of twin sisters navigating race and identity in America.
Who is Brit Bennett?