Considering the African Literary Landscape

Literary traditions not only offer us ways to highlight landmark works of literature within a particular period, geographic place, and/or culture but also allow us to engage works within their larger contexts. To date, no comprehensive and open digital resource has attempted to map the genealogical topographies of the Caribbean literary tradition. Originally rooted in a longstanding project to track the African literary tradition, the project utilizes an open digital platform in order to facilitate broad scholarly and pedagogical engagement with African and Caribbean literary histories. The most recent version of the project identifies and tracks pivotal African, Caribbean, and African-American works of literature (with plans to add Afro-Brazilian literature in the near future) starting in the 1700s and ending in the 1990s.

The beta site will be up beginning Spring 2019 and will allow visitors to view works by geographic region and in connection with works from across the African diaspora. We envision the site as a tool for both research and teaching; the platform will be a living document that encourages visitors to suggest and request additions. Most importantly, this work seeks to begin a conversation with fellow Caribbean Digital participants in order to introduce the beta site and discuss how this project might be most effective and useful for scholars and students interested in engaging with Caribbean literary history.

Suggestions for additions to the digital map and timeline can be sent here.

Digital Mapping

Click here to explore a digital map of the African Literary Landscape on the Cornell University project website.

See below for the List of Works and click here to make new submissions.

List of Works

year title author location region
1753 Bars Fight Lucy Terry Vermont Afro-America
1759 Ode to Governor Haldane Francis Williams Jamaica Caribbean and Latin America
1760 An Evening Thought. Salvation by Christ with Penitential Cries: Composed by Jupiter Hammon, a Negro belonging to Mr. Lloyd of Queen’s Village, on Long Island, the 25th of December, 1760 Jupiter Hammon New York Afro-America
1773 Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral Phyllis Wheatley Massachusetts Afro-America
1820 Poesías José María Heredia Cuba Caribbean and Latin America
1829 Appeal, in Four Articles David Walker Massachusetts Afro-America
1845 Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass Massachusetts Afro-America
1853 Clotel; or, the President’s Daughter William Wells Brown Massachusetts Afro-America
1859 Stella Eméric Bergeaud Haiti Caribbean and Latin America
1859 Our Nig Harriet G. Wilson Massachusetts Afro-America
1861 Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl Linda Brent (Harriet Jacobs) North Carolina Afro-America
1869 The Theory and Practice of Creole Grammar J.J. Thomas Trinidad & Tobago Caribbean and Latin America
1873 Francesca, les jeux du sort (Francesca, The Game of Fate) Demesvar Delorme Haiti Caribbean and Latin America
1877 Le Damné Demesvar Delorme Haiti Caribbean and Latin America
1886 Treading the Winepress (A Mountain of Misfortune) Clarissa Minnie Thompson Texas Afro-America
1887 The Goophered Grapevine Charles Chesnutt Ohio Afro-America
1889 The Conjure Woman Charles Chesnutt Ohio Afro-America
1889 Froudacity J.J. Thomas Trinidad & Tobago Caribbean and Latin America
1892 Iola Leroy Frances Watkins Harper Pennsylvania Afro-America
1892 A Voice from the South Anna Julia Cooper Washington, D.C. Afro-America
1903 The Souls of Black Folk W.E.B. DuBois Massachusetts Afro-America
1904 Becka’s Buckra Baby Tom Redam (Thomas Macdermot) Jamaica Caribbean and Latin America
1907 The Traveller of the East Thomas Mofolo South Africa Africa
1911 Ethiopia Unbound: Studies in Race Emancipation Joseph E. Casely-Hayford Ghana Africa
1912 Constab Ballads Claude McKay Jamaica Caribbean and Latin America
1912 The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man James Weldon Johnson Massachusetts Afro-America
1914 Jane’s Career Herbert G. de Lisser Jamaica Caribbean and Latin America
1919 If We Must Die Claude McKay Jamaica Caribbean and Latin America
1919 The Negro Speaks of Rivers Langston Hughes New York Afro-America
1921 Batouala René Maran Martinique Caribbean and Latin America
1923 Cane Jean Toomer New York Afro-America
1925 Chaka Thomas Mofolo South Africa Africa
1926 Tropic Death Eric Walrond Guyana Caribbean and Latin America
1926 The Haunting Hand W. Adolphe Roberts Jamaica Caribbean and Latin America
1928 Ainsi parla l’oncle (So Spoke the Uncle, translated 1983) Jean Price-Mars Haiti Caribbean and Latin America
1928 Home to Harlem Claude McKay Jamaica Caribbean and Latin America
1929 The White Witch of Rose Hall Herbert G. de Lisser Jamaica Caribbean and Latin America
1929 Passing Nella Larsen New York Afro-America
1929 The Autobiography of Segilola: The Lady with the Delicate Eyeballs Isaac Thomas Nigeria Africa
1929 Plum Bun Jessie Redmon Fauset Pennsylvania Afro-America
1930 Motivos de son (Son Motifs) Nicolás Guillén Cuba Caribbean and Latin America
1930 After Leaving Mr. Mackenzie Jean Rhys Dominica Caribbean and Latin America
1930 Tropic Reveries Una Marson Jamaica Caribbean and Latin America
1930 Poemes: Chants d’Ombre, Ethiopiques Leopold Senghor Senegal Africa
1931 Sóngoro cosongo y otros poemas Nicolás Guillén Cuba Caribbean and Latin America
1932 Southern Road Sterling Brown Washington, D.C. Afro-America
1934 Pitch Lake Alfred Mendes Trinidad & Tobago Caribbean and Latin America
1935 The Black Fauns Alfred Mendes Trinidad & Tobago Caribbean and Latin America
1936 Minty Alley C.L.R. James Trinidad & Tobago Caribbean and Latin America
1937 Cantos para soldados y sones para turistas (Songs for Soldiers and Rhythms for Tourists) Nicolás Guillén Cuba Caribbean and Latin America
1937 Pigments Léon-Gontran Damas French Guiana Caribbean and Latin America
1937 Under the Sun: A Jamaican Comedy Herbert G. de Lisser Jamaica Caribbean and Latin America
1938 Their Eyes Were Watching God Zora Neale Hurston Florida Afro-America
1938 Uncle Tom’s Children Richard Wright New York Afro-America
1938 The Black Jacobins C.L.R. James Trinidad & Tobago Caribbean and Latin America
1939 Good Morning, Midnight Jean Rhys Dominica Caribbean and Latin America
1939 Cahier d’un retour au pays Natal (Return to My Native Land) Aimé Césaire Martinique Caribbean and Latin America
1940 Native Son Richard Wright New York Afro-America
1941 Corentyne Thunder Edgar Mittelholzer Guyana Caribbean and Latin America
1942 Dark Testament Peter Abrahams South Africa Africa
1944 For My People Margaret Walker Mississippi Afro-America
1945 If He Hollers Let Him Go Chester Himes California Afro-America
1945 And Most of All Man Roger Mais Jamaica Caribbean and Latin America
1946 The Street Anne Petry Connecticut Afro-America
1946 Mine Boy Peter Abrahams South Africa Africa
1947 El son entero (The Whole Rhythm) Nicolás Guillén Cuba Caribbean and Latin America
1948 Take’um so Aquah Laluah (Gladys Casely-Hayford) Sierra Leone Africa
1949 El reino de este mundo (The Kingdom of This World, translated 1957) Alejo Carpentier Cuba Caribbean and Latin America
1949 Anne Allen Gwendolyn Brooks Illinois Afro-America
1949 New Day Vic Reid Jamaica Caribbean and Latin America
1950 A Morning at the Office Edgar Mittelholzer Guyana Caribbean and Latin America
1950 Ògbójú ode nini Igbó irúnmalè (A Hunter’s Saga) D.O. Fagunwa Nigeria Africa
1952 Maude Martha Gwendolyn Brooks Illinois Afro-America
1952 Invisible Man Ralph Ellison New York Afro-America
1952 The Palm Wine Drinkard Amos Tutola Nigeria Africa
1953 In the Castle of My Skin George Lamming Barbados Caribbean and Latin America
1953 The Narrows Anne Petry Connecticut Afro-America
1953 Los pasos perdidos (The Lost Steps, translated 1956) Alejo Carpentier Cuba Caribbean and Latin America
1953 Orchid House Phyllis Shand Allfrey Dominica Caribbean and Latin America
1953 The Hills Were Joyful Together Roger Mais Jamaica Caribbean and Latin America
1953 Go Tell it On the Mountain James Baldwin New York Afro-America
1953 Things Fall Apart Chinua Achebe Nigeria Africa
1953 A Brighter Sun Sam Selvon Trinidad & Tobago Caribbean and Latin America
1954 Youngblood John Oliver Killens Georgia Afro-America
1954 Poems of Resistance Marin Carter Guyana Caribbean and Latin America
1954 The Fires that Burn in Heaven Clarence Major Illinois Afro-America
1954 Brother Man Roger Mais Jamaica Caribbean and Latin America
1955 The Primitive Chester Himes California Afro-America
1956 Giovanni’s Room James Baldwin New York Afro-America
1959 Brown Girl, Brownstones Paule Marshall New York Afro-America
1960 Palace of the Peacock Wilson Harris Guyana Caribbean and Latin America
1960 The African William Conton Sierra Leone Africa
1961 Preface to a Twenty Volume Suicide Note Amiri Baraka New Jersey Afro-America
1961 A House for Mr. Biswas V.S. Naipul Trinidad & Tobago Caribbean and Latin America
1962 Soul or Ice Eldridge Cleaver California Afro-America
1962 In a Green Night Derek Walcott Saint Lucia Caribbean and Latin America
1962 Gods Bits of Wood Ousmane Sembene Senegal Africa
1963 And then We Heard the Thunder John Oliver Killens Georgia Afro-America
1964 Catherine Carmier Ernest Gaines Louisiana Afro-America
1964 Dutchman and the Slave Amiri Baraka New Jersey Afro-America
1964 Blues for Mister Charlie James Baldwin New York Afro-America
1964 Love Poems of a Black Man Charles Major
1965 The River Between Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o Kenya Africa
1965 The Autobiography of Malcolm X Malcolm X and Alex Hayley New York Afro-America
1966 Wide Sargasso Sea Jean Rhys Dominica Caribbean and Latin America
1966 The Hills of Hebron: A Jamaican Novel Sylvia Wynter Jamaica Caribbean and Latin America
1966 The Wretched of the Earth Frantz Fanon Martinique Caribbean and Latin America
1967 Rights of Passage Edward Kamau Braithwaite Barbados Caribbean and Latin America
1967 Cotton Comes to Harlem Chester Himes California Afro-America
1967 Think Black Don L. Lee (Haki R. Madhubuti) Illinois Afro-America
1967 A Grain of Wheat Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o Kenya Africa
1967 Dutchman and the Slave, Two Plays Amiri Baraka New Jersey Afro-America
1967 The Crisis of the Negro Intellectual Harold Cruse New York Afro-America
1968 Masks Edward Kamau Braithwaite Barbados Caribbean and Latin America
1968 Soul on Ice Eldridge Cleaver California Afro-America
1968 Murmures, Poemes Clémentine Madiya Faïk-Nzuju Congo Africa
1968 Black Pride Don L. Lee (Haki R. Madhubuti) Illinois Afro-America
1968 Land Without Thunder Grace Ogot Kenya Africa
1968 The First Cities Audre Lorde New York Afro-America
1968 The Schoolmaster Earl Lovelace Trinidad & Tobago Caribbean and Latin America
1969 Islands Edward Kamau Braithwaite Barbados Caribbean and Latin America
1969 Don’t Cry, Scream Don L. Lee (Haki R. Madhubuti) Illinois Afro-America
1969 Daughter of Mumbi Charity Waciuma Kenya Africa
1970 19 Necromancers from Now Ishmael Reed New York Afro-America
1970 Dream on Monkey Mountain, and Other Plays Derek Walcott Saint Lucia Caribbean and Latin America
1971 The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman Ernest Gaines Louisiana Afro-America
1971 The Black Aesthetic Addison Gayle New York Afro-America
1971 Down Second Avenue Es’kia Mphahlele South Africa Africa
1972 Pluie et vent sur Télumée Miracle (The Bridge of Beyond, translated 1974) Simone Shwarz-Bart Guadeloupe Caribbean and Latin America
1972 Voices in the Whirlwind Es’kia Mphahlele South Africa Africa
1973 A Question of Power Bessie Head Botswana Africa
1973 Another Life Derek Walcott Saint Lucia Caribbean and Latin America
1973 Robben Island D.M. Zwelonke South Africa Africa
1975 Ripples in the Pool Rebeka Njau Kenya Africa
1975 Muriel at Metropolitan Miriam Tlali South Africa Africa
1975 Three Solid Stones Martha Mvungi Tanzania Africa
1975 Guerillas V.S. Naipul Trinidad & Tobago Caribbean and Latin America
1976 The Other Woman Grace Ogot Kenya Africa
1977 Mother Poem Edward Kamau Braithwaite Barbados Caribbean and Latin America
1977 Anowa, Dilemma of a Ghost Ama Ata Aidoo Ghana Africa
1977 Petals of Blood Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o Kenya Africa
1977 For colored girls who have considered suicide, when the rainbow is enuf: a choreopoem Ntozake Shange New York Afro-America
1978 The House of Hunger Dambudzo Marechera Zimbabwe Africa
1979 Edufa Efua Sutherland Ghana Africa
1979 The Joys of Motherhood Buchi Emecheta Nigeria Africa
1979 Death & the Kings Horsemen Wole Soyinka Nigeria Africa
1979 The Star Apple Kingdom Derek Walcott Saint Lucia Caribbean and Latin America
1979 La grève des battù (The Beggar’s Strike) Aminata Sow Fall Senegal Africa
1979 Over de gekte van een vrouw (About a Woman’s Madness) Astrid Roemer Suriname Caribbean and Latin America
1979 The Dragon Can’t Dance Earl Lovelace Trinidad & Tobago Caribbean and Latin America
1980 The Graduate Grace Ogot Kenya Africa
1980 The Island of Tears Grace Ogot Kenya Africa
1980 Mzala Mbulelo Mzamane South Africa Africa
1981 Orphée d’Afric: Theatre-rituel (African Orpheus: Ritual Theater) Werewere Liking Cameroon Africa
1981 L’isolé soleil (Lone Sun, translated 1989) Daniel Maximin Guadeloupe Caribbean and Latin America
1981 The Unbroken Song Es’kia Mphahlele South Africa Africa
1982 Sun Poem Edward Kamau Braithwaite Barbados Caribbean and Latin America
1982 Devil on the Cross Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o Kenya Africa
1982 I Will Marry When I Want Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o Kenya Africa
1982 A Soldier’s Play Charles Fuller Pennsylvania Afro-America
1982 L’áppel des arènes (The Call of the Arena) Aminata Sow Fall Senegal Africa
1982 The Wine of Astonishment Earl Lovelace Trinidad & Tobago Caribbean and Latin America
1983 At the Bottom of the River Jamaica Kincaid Antigua Caribbean and Latin America
1983 Elle sera de jaspe et de corail (She Will Be of Jasper and Coral) Werewere Liking Cameroon Africa
1983 The Color Purple Alice Walker Georgia Afro-America
1983 Praisesong for the Widow Paule Marshall New York Afro-America
1983 Fools and Other Stories Njabulo Ndebele South Africa Africa
1984 The History of the Voice: The Development of Nation Language in Anglophone Caribbean Poetry Edward Kamau Braithwaite Barbados Caribbean and Latin America
1984 Cuaderno de Granada (Grenada Notebook) Nancy Morejón Cuba Caribbean and Latin America
1984 Ségou (translated 1987) Maryse Condé Guadeloupe Caribbean and Latin America
1986 Frangipani House Beryl Gilroy Guyana Caribbean and Latin America
1986 Summer Lightning Olive Senior Jamaica Caribbean and Latin America
1986 Hungry Flames and Other Black South African Short Stories Mbulelo Mzamane South Africa Africa
1987 Soufriéres Daniel Maximin Guadeloupe Caribbean and Latin America
1987 Matigari Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o Kenya Africa
1987 The Colored Museum George Wolfe New York Afro-America
1987 Head Above Water Buchi Emecheta Nigeria Africa
1987 Fences August Wilson Pennsylvania Afro-America
1988 Boy-Sandwich Beryl Gilroy Guyana Caribbean and Latin America
1988 Eloge de la Créolité (Elegy to Creolity) Patrick Chamoiseau, Jean Bernabé, and Raphaël Confiant Martinique Caribbean and Latin America
1988 Beloved Toni Morrison New York Afro-America
1988 Mama Day Gloria Naylor New York Afro-America
1988 Anthills of the Savannah Chinua Achebe Nigeria Africa
1990 Omeros Derek Walcott Saint Lucia Caribbean and Latin America
1991 Stedman and Joanna Beryl Gilroy Guyana Caribbean and Latin America
1992 Waiting to Exhale Terry McMillan California Afro-America
1992 Texaco (translated 1997) Patrick Chamoiseau Martinique Caribbean and Latin America
1993 Portsmouth Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o Kenya Africa
1995 Push Sapphire New York Afro-America
1996 Salt Earl Lovelace Trinidad & Tobago Caribbean and Latin America
1997 Fires in the Mirror: Crown Heights, Brooklyn, & Other Identities Anna Deavere Smith New York Afro-America
2001 Welcome to Our Hillbrow Phaswane Mpe South Africa Africa
2002 The Stone Virgins Yvonne Vera Zimbabwe Africa
2003 A Human Being Died that Night Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela South Africa Africa
2007 Half of a Yellow Sun Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Nigeria Africa
2010 The Memory of Love Aminatta Forna Sierra Leone Africa