Reading Recs: Contemporary Writers
Contemporary means essentially major works ~1980 to now. This obviously leaves out some big names and classics, but this timeframe is where I do most of my reading. These lists are far from exhaustive; I’ll update it as I can, hopefully soon with links. All alpha by first name.
Note for 2020: I’ve updated this list to emphasize first Black contemporary writers.
Contemporary Black fiction + creative nonfiction writers
Alice Walker
Angela Flournoy
Angie Thomas
Anthony Grooms
Audre Lorde
Ayana Mathis
Brit Bennett
Bryan Washington
Charles Blow
Chimimanda Ngoze Adiche
Colson Whitehead
Danielle Evans
Edward P. Jones
Edwidge Danticat
Elizabeth Acevedo
Heidi Durrow
Helen Oyeyemi
Hilton Als
Imbolo Mbue
Jamaica Kincaid
Jamel Brinkley
James McBride
James Alan McPherson
Jacquelyn Woodson
Jeffrey Renard Allen
Jesmyn Ward
John Edgar Wideman
Kaitlyn Greenidge
Kiese Laymon
Marlon James
Mat Johnson
Maxine Clair
Nafissa Thompson-Spires
Nicole Dennis-Benn
Octavia Butler
Patrice Gopo
Paul Beatty
Pearle Cleage
Percival Everett
Randall Kenan
Ravi Howard
Rivers Solomon
Roxane Gay
Samantha Irby
Samuel Delaney
Stephanie Powell Watts
Ta-Nehesi Coates
Taiye Selasi
Tayari Jones
Teju Cole
Terry McMillan
Toni Morrison
Victor LaValle
Yaa Gyasi
Zadie Smith
Zinzi Clemmons
ZZ Packer
Contemporary Black poets
Allison Joseph
A. Van Jordan
Carl Phillips
Camille Dungy
Cave Canem: showcases Black poets (founded by Cornelius Eady and Toi Dellacotte)
Claudia Rankine
Danez Smith
Erica Dawson
Eve Ewing
Evie Shockley
Hanif Abdurraquib
Gary Jackson
Grace Ocasio
Jamaal May
Jericho Brown
Honoree Jeffers
Kevin Young
Kiki Petrosino
Kwame Dawes
Major Jackson
Marilyn Nelson
Mitchell L.H. Douglas
Natasha Tretheway
Nikki Finney
Nikki Giovanni
Reginald Dwayne Betts
Rickey Laurentiis
Rita Dove
Ross Gay
Ruth Ellen Kocher
Saeed Jones
Safiya Sinclair
Sonia Sanchez
Stephanie Pruitt Gaines
Terrance Hayes
Tiana Clark
Tracy K. Smith
Tyehimba Jess
Yusef Komunyakaa
More fiction + nonfiction writers + graphic novelists
Aimee Bender
A.M. Homes
Aleksander Hemon
Alex Espinoza
Alexander Chee
Alice Munro
Alison Bechdel
Andrea Barrett
Ann Cummins
Annie Proulx
Antonya Nelson
Amy Benson
Amy Bloom
Amy Hempel
Ann Beattie
Annie Dillard
Art Spiegelman
Arundahti Roy
Bret Lott
Brian Doyle
Carol Anshaw
Carmen Maria Machado
Celeste Ng
Charles Baxter
Chantel Acevedo
Chitra Divakaruni
Cheryl Strayed
Claire Vaye Watkins
Colm Toibin
Colum McCann
Cormac McCarthy
Cristina Garcia
Dan Chaon
David Means
David Sedaris
Deborah Eisenberg
Denis Johnson
Derek Palacio
Dinty W. Moore
Don Delillo
Dorothy Allison
Dustin M. Hoffman
Elizabeth McCracken
Elizabeth Strout
Elizabeth Wetmore
Etaf Rum
Eula Biss
Eugene Cross
Francine Prose
George Saunders
Grace Paley
Hannah Dela Cruz Abrams
Harrison Candelaria Fletcher
Hernan Diaz
Jayne Anne Phillips
Jeffrey Eugenides
Jennifer Egan
Jennifer S. Davis
Jennine Capó Crucet
Jill McCorkle
Jim Braziel
Jim Grimsley
J.M. Coetzee
Joan Didion
John Rowell
Joy Castro
Julia Alvarez
Julia Glass
Julie Otsuka
Jhumpa Lahiri
Judith Ortiz Cofer
Junot Diaz
Justin Quarry
Kathryn Davis
Kazuo Ishigiro
Kent Haruf
Kerry Madden
Kevin Wilson
Lee Connell
Leslie Jamison
Leslie Marmon Silko
Liam Callanan
Lia Purpura
Lisa Ko
Lorraine López
Lorrie Moore
Louise Erdrich
Lucia Berlin
Luis Alberto Urrea
Lydia Davis
Maggie Nelson
Marilynne Robinson
Marjorie Gellhorn Sa’adah
Margaret Atwood
Margot Livesey
Marjane Satrapi
Mary Gaitskill
Mary Hood
Mary Karr
Mary Laura Philpott
Matthew Baker
Megan Stielstra
Megan Mayhew Bergman
Min Jin Lee
Mohsin Hamid
Mona Simpson
Nancy Reisman
Nina McConigley
Oscar Casares
Pam Houston
Pat Barker
Patti Smith
Paul Auster
Paula Martinac
Peter Guralnick
Peter Ho Davies
Pico Iyer
Rachel Khong
Raymond Carver
Rebecca Makkai
Richard Russo
Rick Moody
Rivka Galchen
Rohinton Mistry
Russell Banks
Richard Bausch
Sandra Cisneros
Sigrid Nunez
Sherman Alexie
Stephanie Soileau
Stuart Dybek
Ted Chiang
Tommy Orange
Tobias Wolff
Toni Jensen
Tim O’Brien
T.C. Boyle
Tony Earley
Ursula K. LeGuin
Valeria Luiselli
Viet Thanh Nguyen
William Gay
More poets (more tk)
Ada Limón
Adam Vines
Allison Hutchcraft
Beth Ann Fennelly
Blas Falconer
Brian Turner
Carolyn Forche
Christopher Davis
Eduardo C. Corral
Gabrielle Calvocoressi
Gary Soto
Jessica Jacobs
Joy Harjo
Kate Daniels
Li-Young Lee
Mark Jarman
Megan Levad
Maurice Manning
Natalie Diaz
Nickole Brown
Rick Hilles
Craft and Pedagogy Texts
De-Canon is a fabulous resource, centering writers and teachers of color
Alice LaPlante, Method and Madness: The Making of a Story
Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life
Anne Bernays and Pamela Painter, What If? Writing Exercises for Fiction Writers
Aristotle, The Poetics
The Art of series at Graywolf Press
Brevity: Craft essays
Brenda Miller and Suzanna Paola, Tell It Slant: Creating, Refining, and Publishing Creative Nonfiction
Bret Anthony Johnston, Naming the World
Dinty W. Moore, Crafting the Personal Essay
Edwidge Danticat, Create Dangerously
E. M. Forster, Aspects of the Novel
Eudora Welty, The Eye of the Story: Selected Essays and Reviews
Felicia Rose Chavez, The Anti-Racist Workshop: How to Decolonize the Creative Writing Classroom
Flannery O’Connor, Mystery and Manners: Occasional Prose
Francine Prose, Reading Like a Writer
Heather Sellers, The Practice of Creative Writing
Janet Burroway, Writing Fiction: A Guide to Narrative Craft and Imaginative Writing
Jerome Stern, Making Shapely Fiction
John Dufresne, The Lie That Tells a Truth: A Guide to Writing Fiction
John Steinbeck, (Ed. Robert Demott.) Working Days
John Gardner, The Art of Fiction
Lee Gutkind, You Can’t Make This Stuff Up: The Complete Guide to Writing Creative Nonfiction
Matthew Salesses, Craft in the Real World: Rethinking Fiction Writing and Workshopping
Michael Kardos, The Art and Craft of Fiction
Natalie Goldberg, Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within
Renni Browne and Dave King, Self-Editing for Fiction Writers
Sherry Ellis, Now Write!: Fiction Writing Exercises from Today’s Best Writing & Teachers
Writing Resources
Charlotte Center for Literary Arts
