African American Short Stories

When writer John Chapter is found dead, it's the words he didn't write that might hold the key. In the heart of the roaring twenties, Harlem is a nexus of intellectual verve and literary prowess. Esteemed writers hold court at elegant soirées, critics debate the merits of the newest works, and ambition is the lifeblood of every aspiring novelist and poet. But as autumn casts its golden-red spell over the city, Harlem murmurs with mysteries that remain unseen beneath its vibrant surface. Lanie Price, a society reporter with unparalleled access to Harlem's elite, is accustomed to uncovering ...

Pick a master and serve. Serve them well and die. Marigold wants to die the right way. She wants a transformative bite from her master. Vampires have it all: the statuesque look, the immortal life, and the power to enchant others. All she has is debt, a distracted boyfriend, and a desire to be more than human. When unwanted holiday gifts are exchanged between two master vampires, Marigold’s wish might come true if she can survive until dawn. A perfectly sized introduction into the new paranormal worlds created by urban fantasy and paranormal romance author Azaaa Davis. Start reading Hiss,...

She still holds a grudge. When the one who abandoned her returns, will she let bitterness tear apart all she loves? Washington, DC, 1997. Maxine “Maxi” Weldon is living her best life. After her childhood sweetheart bailed when their son was six, the devoted mother forged a promising career and happy home with her big-hearted husband. But the hard-working Jamaican native becomes alarmed when she walks in on her usually levelheaded twelve-year-old hanging up on a suspicious phone call. With layoff rumors at work weighing heavily on her mind, Maxi's stress rises exponentially when she ...

Humorous, poignant, perceptive, and full of grace, Kathleen Collins' stories masterfully blend the quotidian and the profound in a personal, intimate way, exploring deep, far-reaching issues - race, gender, family, and sexuality - that shape the ordinary moments in our lives.

A security gaurd, a feisty elderly woman, a passive son, a deranged gunman and one tragic event. A short story about a single event told in four different perspectives.

A civil rights activist and key figure in African American literary history, Alice Dunbar-Nelson made her mark during the emerging Harlem Renaissance. Violets and Other Tales is her debut (included here in full, save for three stories later updated in The Goodness of St. Rocque). The collection includes poetry, short stories, and essays offering a varied examination of class differences, racial identity, oppression, intolerance, and women’s societal roles. The Goodness of St. Rocque and Other Stories assembles 14 of Dunbar’s short works of fiction.

In his sharply crafted, unnerving first collection of speculative short stories, Courttia Newland envisages an alternate future as lived by the African diaspora. Robots driven by all-too-human urges set out to colonize space; Kill Parties roam the streets of a postapocalyptic world; a matriarchal race of mer creatures depends on interbreeding with mortals to survive; mysterious seeds appear in cities across the world, growing into the likeness of people in their vicinity.

Roberto "Papa" Huffington. Beloved husband. Father. Friend. This is a very short story in honor of his legacy that he has left behind.

A young man treads delicate emotional waters as he navigates a series of sexually fraught encounters with two dancers in an open relationship, forcing him to weigh his vulnerabilities against his loneliness. In other stories, a young woman battles with the cancers draining her body and her family, menacing undercurrents among a group of teenagers explode in violence on a winter night, a little girl tears through a house like a tornado, driving her babysitter to the brink and couples feel out the jagged edges of connection, comfort and cruelty.

Dr. Harmon refers to her style of writing as "Short Stories With A Purpose". Her fictional Christian short stories were created to highlight God's goodness, grace, and mercy. Sometimes we become so busy with our everyday lives that we forget to pause and say thank you. The stories in this book will inspire and encourage discussions about faith and purpose.

The dating world is hard enough as it is. Meet Natasha Murphy: a 30-something serial dater secretly coping with borderline personality disorder.

Anna is from a poor home. It's only a matter of time before she loses her sick younger sister to a deadly illness. Without money for constant medical care, she would die. Anna seizes an opportunity to travel abroad, but she is in for a surprise when she finds herself among trafficked teenagers heading to Italy. Caged in a web of human trafficking, she must either choose to flee from her nightmare, or stay and prevent her sister from dying.

Showcasing the work of literary giants like Langston Hughes, James Baldwin, Audre Lorde, Alice Walker, and authors whom listeners may be surprised to learn were "in the life", Black Like Us is the most comprehensive collection of fiction by African American lesbian, gay, and bisexual writers ever published.

Gutta Mamis includes four novellas featuring cold-hearted women who get ahead in America's grimiest underworld: "Twisted Loyalty" by Kai, "Three the Hard Way" by C. J. Hudson, "The Face of Death" by Brandie Davis, and "Chasers" by N'Tyse.

Aisha is a young girl forcefully married to a wealthy forty-year-old man.The poverty in her family is heightened by the drought in her country. Daily, she visits her mother’s dry farmland, praying for rain to fall and moisten the soil. She knows all hope is lost. Having sustained her family for as long as he could, after her father’s sudden disappearance, her uncle decides the marriage is their last resort. She must marry her old suitor, or bear the responsibility should her mother and younger ones perish in poverty. Aisha weighs her options and decides to marry, with a hidden agenda ...

In Even Sinners Have Souls, each gritty and profound story is told in a raw and real voice, luring the listeners in by the poignant story lines, themes, and the genuine talents and abilities of each of these prolific authors. The stories have characters who face the same struggles and tragedies that any other person growing up in the hood might endure.

In the 1970s, Topper and Sanya flee to Miami as political violence consumes their native Kingston. But America, as the couple and their two children learn, is far from the promised land. Excluded from society as Black immigrants, the family pushes on first through Hurricane Andrew and later the 2008 recession, living in a house so cursed that the pet fish launches itself out of its own tank rather than stay. But even as things fall apart, the family remains motivated, often to its own detriment, by what their younger son, Trelawny, calls “the exquisite, racking compulsion to survive.”

Early morning, while sweeping the village in preparation for the village festival, Boma—an only son— is kidnapped and whisked away from the shores of Calabar to the Caribbean Island as a slave. The village festival requires all participants to remain mute throughout the spiritual cleansing to prevent misfortunes from befalling the Kalabari community. When caught in the captives’ net, Boma faces a dilemma to save himself or his people. He chooses to protect his family and embarks on a journey to the unknown. In chains, he organizes with the other captives to kill the slave masters and ...

Delight in intriguing, thought-provoking conversations about ethics, philosophy, and social issues! After Dinner Conversation is a monthly literary magazine publishing short fiction. Each issue features both established writers and up-and-coming authors who contribute fascinating philosophical insights on controversial topics like marriage equality, assisted suicide, the meaning of death, animal rights, and defining your "purpose." It's time to go deep in search of truth! If you love reading imaginative short stories on hot topics that make your brain think deeply but also have you laughing...

Best Black Women's Erotica 2 showcases the hottest, most arousing and surprising erotic literature by African American women writers. Representing a wide range of styles and voices, these 20 stories offer a steamy assortment of fiction from popular authors, including C.C. Carter, T'Ashia Asante, Dorothy Randal Gray, Carol Smith Passariello, Kiini Ibura Salaam, Shawn F. Rhea, Opal Palmer Adisa, R. Erica Doyle, Tara Betts, and Tracy Price-Thompson among others.