Octavia E. Butler
Octavia Butler was a pioneering writer of science fiction. As one of the first African American and female science fiction writers, Butler wrote novels that concerned themes of injustice towards African Americans, global warming, women’s rights, and political disparity. Butler became the only science fiction writer to receive the MacArthur “Genius” Grant. She also won the Nebula and Hugo Awards, the two highest honors for science fiction, a PEN Lifetime Achievement Award, and the City College of New York’s Langston Hughes Medal in 2005. Her books are now taught in schools and universities across the U.S.
Read more about Butler here: https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/octavia-estelle-butler
Maya Angelou
Poet, dancer, singer, activist, and scholar Maya Angelou was a world-famous author. She was best known for her unique and pioneering autobiographical writing style. She wrote numerous poetry volumes, such as the Pulitzer Prize-nominated Just Give me a Drink of Water ‘fore I Diiie (1971), as well as several essay collections. She also recorded spoken albums of her poetry, including “On the Pulse of the Morning,” for which she won a Grammy for Best Spoken Word Album.
Read more about Angelou here: https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/maya-angelou
James Baldwin
James Baldwin was an American essayist, novelist, and playwright whose eloquence and passion on the subject of race in America made him an important voice, particularly in the late 1950s and early 1960s, in the United States and, later, through much of western Europe. During his life, Baldwin dealt with racial discrimination everywhere that he went, fulling his stance on the Civil Right Movement.
Read more about Balwin’s life here: https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stories/introduction-james-baldwin
W.E.B Du Bois
As an activist, Pan-Africanist, sociologist, educator, historian and prolific writer, W.E.B. Du Bois was one of the most influential African American leaders of the 20th century. He studied Black America and wrote some of the earliest scientific studies on Black communities, calling for an end to racism. His thesis, The Suppression of the African Slave-Trade to the United States of America, 1638-1870 remains an authoritative work on the subject.
Read more about Du Bois life here: https://hutchinscenter.fas.harvard.edu/web-dubois
What are some other POC authors that you enjoy reading? Let us know in the comments!
VARconnection 
Thank you. These are some of the most profound authors – truly, they spoke to readers from their souls.