Heavenly belated birthday wishes Sutton E. Griggs! Born June 19, 1872, Sutton Elbert Griggs was an American author, Baptist minister, academic administrator, educator, publisher, and social activist. He is best known for his novel Imperium in Imperio, a utopian work that envisions a separate African-American state within the United States. He passed away in 1933. Some of his notable works:
Heavenly belated birthday wishes George Wylie Henderson! Born June 14, 1904, George Wylie Henderson was an African American author of the Harlem Renaissance. He passed away in 1965.
Happy birthday John Edgar Wideman! Born June 14, John Edgar Wideman is an African American novelist, short story writer, memoirist, and essayist. He was the first person to win the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction twice. His writing is known for experimental techniques and a focus on the African-American experience. A few of his notable books are:
Happy birthday Paul Beatty! Born June 9, Paul Beatty is an African American American author and professor of writing at Columbia University. In 2016, he won the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Man Booker Prize for his novel The Sellout. It was the first time a writer from the United States was honored with the Man Booker. Here are a few more of his works:
Heavenly birthday wishes Gwendolyn Brooks! Born June 7, 1917, Gwendolyn Brooks was an award winning author, poet, and United States Poet Laureate. My favorite poem is “We Real Cool”. She passed away in 2000. Here are some of her classic poetry books.
Happy birthday Akwaeke Emezi! Born June 6, Akwaeke Emezi is a Nigerian fiction writer and visual artist, best known for their novels Freshwater, Pet, and the New York Times bestselling work The Death of Vivek Oji. Emezi is a generalist who writes speculative fiction, romance, memoir, and poetry for both young adults and adults with mostly LGBTQ themes.
Belated heavenly birthday wishes Dorothy West! Born June 2, 1907, Dorothy West was an African American novelist, short-story writer, and magazine editor associated with the Harlem Renaissance, a cultural movement in the 1920s and 1930s that celebrated black art, literature, and music. She passed away in 1998. Her most notable works are The Wedding and The Living is Easy.
Belated heavenly birthday wishes Melvin Dixon! Born May 29, 1950, Melvin Dixon was an American Professor of Literature, and an author, poet and translator. He wrote about black gay men. He passed away in 1992. Some of his notable works:
Today’s post feature books written in the 1960s. Some of them are debut novels. I read a couple of them; I want to read a couple more!
Originally published in 1969
Originally published in 1966
Originally published in 1967
Originally published in 1967
Originally published in 1962
Heavenly birthday wishes James McEachin! Born May 20, 1930, James McEachin was an African American actor, author, veteran, and Purple Heart recipient. His memoir, Swing Low My Sweet Chariot was an international best seller. He passed away in 2025. Other notable books:
