10 Contemporary Black Fiction Authors to Put On Your Radar

Charmaine Wilkerson is an author from New York who currently resides in Italy. Her debut novel, "Black Cake," was released in February 2022 and a series based on the book currently in development with Hulu. The novel follows Byron and Benny, siblings who haven't seen each other in years. Now these estranged siblings must set aside their differences to deal with their mother’s hidden past. Check it out!

Robert Jones Jr., often referred to as "the Son of Baldwin," in regards to James Baldwin, is an author from Brooklyn. His work includes a series of essays, with features in The New York Times, Essence and Variety, as well as many others. His debut novel, "The Prophets," was released in early 2021 and has since been translated into 12 different languages. The book follows the forbidden union between two enslaved young men on a Deep South plantation, the refuge they find in each other and a betrayal that threatens their existence. Check it out!

Terry McMillan is an American novelist from Michigan who has been writing since 1987. Since entering the literary scene, McMillan has had a number of her novels turned into films or TV shows and won an Essence Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2008. Her latest novel, "It's Not All Downhill From Here," published in March 2020, is the touching and humorous story of one woman’s plan to shake herself out of her midlife rut, and maybe, in reinventing herself and embracing the person she wants to be, find a second chance at love. Check it out!

Leila Mottley, a native of Oakland, California, is a writer who focuses on themes of institutional and individual inequity, liberation and joy through writing within her work. She has had pieces published in The New York Times and Oprah Daily, with her 2022 debut novel, "Nightcrawling," being selected as an Oprah's Book Club pick. "Nightcrawling" is an intense and edgy story of a young Black woman who walks the streets of Oakland and stumbles headlong into the failure of its justice system, becoming a key witness in a massive law enforcement scandal. Check it out!

Brandon Taylor is an American writer who holds graduate degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Iowa and is the 2022-2023 Mary Ellen von der Heyden Fellow at the Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers. His latest novel, "Real Life," released in early 2020, is partly autobiographical and tells of the experiences of a gay, Black doctoral student in a predominantly White, Midwestern PhD program. Check it out!

Farrah Rochon is a native of south Louisiana and a New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author. In the mood for romance? Rochon's specialty is romance novels; most known for her series, "The Boyfriend Project," consisting of three different books. The most recent addition to the trilogy, "The Hookup Plan," hit shelves in 2022 and follows successful pediatric surgeon London Kelley, who needs to find some balance and de-stress when her old archnemesis, Drew Sullivan, enters the scene and flips her plans upside down. Check it out!

Erin E. Adams is a first-generation Haitian-American who grew up in a small mountain town in Pennsylvania and is now an author, actress and playwright. Her work tends to explore myth, fantasy, horror and science fiction. Adams' novel, "Jackal," was released in October of 2022 and is a mystery thriller that follows a young woman who reluctantly returns to her small town for a friend's wedding. But on the day of the wedding, the couple’s daughter, Caroline, disappears—and the only thing left behind is a piece of white fabric covered in blood. With the evil in the forest creeping closer, Liz knows what she must do: find Caroline, or be entirely consumed by the darkness. Check it out!

Bryan Washington is a writer from Houston and columnist for the New York Times Magazine. Washington was featured on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in 2022 and is the recipient of multiple literary awards. His latest novel, "Memorial," was published in 2020 and tells the witty yet gently devastating story of Mike and Benson, a young couple living in Houston. When Mike's estranged father falls sick in Japan, Mike goes to see him while his mother becomes Benson's unconventional roommate. Both men will change in ways that will either make them stronger together, or fracture everything they've ever known. And just maybe they'll all be okay in the end. Check it out!

Tara M. Stringfellow is a southern American storyteller, currently residing in Memphis, Tennessee, and holds an MFA from Northwestern University. Her debut novel, "Memphis," published in the spring of 2022 and spanning over 70 years, tells the story of ten-year-old Joan, her mother and her younger sister after they flee her father's violence and seek refuge at her mother's ancestral home in Memphis. A long matrilineal line is explored, unraveling how the past and Joan's future are connected. Check it out!

Nick Brooks is a young author and filmmaker from Washington D.C., and a graduate of the University of Southern California's TV and Film Production program. In late January 2023, Brooks' latest mystery and thriller novel his shelves, titled "Promise Boys." The book is set at the Urban Promise Prep School, which vows to turn boys into men using strict rules and harsh discipline practices known as the Principal Moore Method. When Moore is found murdered, students J.B., Ramón and Trey become suspects. With all three maintaining their innocence, they must band together to track down the real killer before they are arrested. But is the true culprit hiding among them? Check it out!