Literary One Hit Wonders
Often in literature authors are known for their many works, however there are those who "produced" only one piece. These authors will be referred to as One Hit Wonder Authors for the sake of this timeline. For many different reasons the list includes authors that are known to have published only one piece--some of their pieces were lost or else they merely published a memoir of a crucial and significant time in their life. All of these authors deserve recognition for their literary contributions and illustrate how sometimes all you need is one remarkable story to make a difference in history. Each date listed is significant because it is the year the book was published, though some were not popular until many years later. Each excerpt was selected from each text because it best illustrates the significance and main importance of each selected text. These excerpts include a range of kinship (Henry Highland Garnet), naming (Lucy Terry), and an overall elevation of speech even for slaves and former slaves.


1742-“Bars Fight” by Lucy Terry

1828-“Theresa, A Haytien Tale” by S

1837-“The Mulatto” by Victor Sejour
1849- “Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom” by William and Ellen Craft

1853-“Twelve Years  a Slave” by Solomon Northup

1859-“Our Nig” by Harriet E. Wilson

1867-“A Native of Bornoo” by Nicolas Said

1882-“An Address to the Slaves of the United States of America” by Henry Highland Garnet