During the first decade of the twenty-first century, African American literature maintained the high level of visibility established in the 1980s and 1990s. In the 1980s and 1990s, African American writers were working in every genre-from scriptwriting to poetry-as they signed more contracts with major publishing companies, and their works consistently appeared on bestseller lists. The Black Arts movement of the 1960s and 1970s brought acclaim and prominence to many African American writers, and fostered the growth of African American studies at numerous universities around the country. Since then, African American writing has embraced themes that range from the highly charged and sociopolitical to private and introspective.
African American Literature from Reconstruction to the Harlem Renaissance.African American Literature during the Antebellum Period.
African American Literature of Colonial America.
