James Lee Burke is an American author, best known for his Dave Robicheaux series. He has won Edgar Awards for Black Cherry Blues (1990) and Cimarron Rose (1998), and has also been presented with the Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America. The Robicheaux character has been portrayed twice on screen, first by Alec Baldwin and then Tommy Lee Jones.
Edward Paul Jones is an American novelist and short story writer. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the International Dublin Literary Award for his 2003 novel The Known World.
Thomas Grey Wicker was an American journalist. He was a political reporter and columnist for The New York Times.
Jess Walter is an American author of seven novels, two collections of short stories, and a non-fiction book. He is the recipient of the Edgar Allan Poe Award, and was a finalist for the National Book Award in 2006.
Gillian Schieber Flynn is an American author, screenwriter, and producer. She is known for writing the thriller and mystery novels Sharp Objects (2006), Dark Places (2009), and Gone Girl (2012), which are all critically acclaimed. Her books have been published in 40 languages and according to The Washington Post, as of 2016 Gone Girl alone has sold more than 15 million copies.
Lauren Groff is an American novelist and short story writer. She has written five novels and two short story collections, including Fates and Furies (2015), Florida (2018), and Matrix (2022).
Investigating Tarzan is a 1997 Canadian documentary film written and directed by Alain d 'Aix for InformAction Films to investigate the history and cultural impact of the character of Tarzan and the books and films in which the character was depicted.
Attica Locke is an American fiction author and writer/producer for television and film.
Art Taylor is an American short story writer, book critic and an English professor.
Yoon Ha Lee is an American science fiction and fantasy writer, known for his Machineries of Empire space opera novels and his short fiction. His first novel, Ninefox Gambit, received the 2017 Locus Award for Best First Novel.
The African American population in Houston, Texas, has been a significant part of the city's community since its establishment. The Greater Houston area has the largest population of African Americans in Texas and west of the Mississippi River. Black Enterprise has referred to Houston as a Black mecca.
The Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence is an annual national literary award designed to recognize rising African-American fiction writers. First awarded in 2007, the prize is underwritten by donors of the Baton Rouge Area Foundation in honor of the literary heritage provided by author Ernest J. Gaines, with the winner receiving a cash award "to support and enable the writer to focus on writing." It has been described as "the nation's biggest prize for African-American writers".
Doug Locke is an American singer, songwriter, actor, model and host. As a recording artist, he is also sometimes known mononymously as Locke. Locke was born in Houston, Texas to Gene and Aubrey Locke.
Angie Thomas is an American young adult author, best known for writing The Hate U Give (2017). Her second young adult novel, On the Come Up, was released on February 25, 2019.
Jason Reynolds is an American author of novels and poetry for young adult and middle-grade audience. Born in Washington, D.C., and raised in neighboring Oxon Hill, Maryland, Reynolds found inspiration in rap and had an early focus on poetry, publishing several poetry collections before his first novel in 2014, When I Was The Greatest, which won the John Steptoe Award for New Talent.
Alyssa Cole is an American author of historical, science fiction, and contemporary romance novels. Her stories include diverse casts of characters with a variety of professions, from Civil War spies to modern day epidemiologists. Her romance works explore both straight and gay relationships.
The Nickel Boys is a 2019 novel by American novelist Colson Whitehead. It is based on the historic Dozier School, a reform school in Florida that operated for 111 years and was revealed as highly abusive. A university investigation found numerous unmarked graves for unrecorded deaths and a history into the late 20th century of emotional and physical abuse of students.
John D. Tucker, known as Dr. Teeth, is an American film director, commercial director, music video director, television producer, and professor. He has directed films such as Warner Brothers Records KeAnthony's A Hustlaz Story, directed commercials for Obamacare initiative Access Health CT and music videos for songs like "Hip Hop Saved My Life" by Lupe Fiasco, "Rock Yo Hips" by Crime Mob, and "Spit Yo Game" by Notorious B.I.G. Tucker is also the founder of the HBCU Film Festival.
Vivian Lorraine Stephens is an American editor of romance novels, literary agent, and founder of Romance Writers of America (RWA). While at Dell Publishing, she created and was the editor of Candlelight Ecstasy, a romance line that revolutionized the genre in the 1980s. In 1980, as part of the Candlelight Romance line, she published Entwined Destinies by Rosalind Welles, the first category romance novel by an African-American author to feature African-American main characters. "A Black editor in a predominantly white industry, Stephens sought to incorporate the voices of women of color into the burgeoning romance industry." Over the course of her career, Stephens helped launch Sandra Kitt, Jayne Ann Krentz, and Beverly Jenkins, among others.
Bryan Washington is an American writer from Houston. He published his debut short story collection, Lot, in 2019 and a novel, Memorial, in 2020.
