Shari Dorantes Hatch

Encyclopedia of African-American Writing:
Five Centuries of Contribution

Published by Grey House Publishing, copyright 2009.
Edited by Shari Dorantes Hatch.

In addition to biographies of individual writers, this encyclopedia includes thematic entries on topics such as African-American Vernacular English, literary eras and movements, oral tradition, folktales, proverbs, slave narratives, spirituals, newspapers and other periodicals, anthologies, publishers, writing collaboratives and other organizations, and more. This greatly expanded edition also includes primary documents, a timeline, four other appendixes, and complete references.

African-American Writers: A Dictionary
Published by ABC-Clio in 2000

From Booklist

This very complete and readable dictionary . . . [spans] the entire history of African American expression, it covers more than 530 individuals, including writers of commercials, hymns, newspaper editorials, and rap songs along with screenplays, novels, autobiographies, essays, and poetry.