African American Literature

Contains nearly 3,000 poems by African American poets of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Provides a comprehensive survey of the early history of African American poetry, from the earliest published African American poems to the works of Paul Laurence Dunbar.

An African-owned mission-based distribution outlet for books published independently in Africa. Publishers include scholarly and literary presses, children’s book publishers, research institutes, university presses, commercial presses, NGOs, as well as writer, academic, and activist organizations or collectives.

Contains the full text of more than 1,700 plays written from the mid-1800s to the present by more than 200 playwrights from North America, English-speaking Africa, the Caribbean, and other African diaspora countries. More than 40 percent of the collection consists of previously unpublished plays.

Brings together essential historical and current material for researching the past, present and future of African-Americans, the wider African Diaspora, and Africa itself. Includes the Schomburg Studies on the Black Experience, the historical backfiles of the Chicago Defender newspaper, and full-text coverage of core Black Studies journals. Also includes the International Index to Black Periodicals and the Black Literature Index.