He portrayed with vivid intensity the suffering and despair of black Americans in contemporary society. After his first novel, Go Tell It On The Mountain 1953, set in Harlem, and Giovanni's Room 1956, about a homosexual relationship in Paris, his writing became more politically indignant with Another Country 1962 and The Fire Next Time 1963, a collection of essays. Other works include his play The Amen Corner 1955, the autobiographical essays Notes of a Native Son 1955, and the novel Just Above My Head 1979.
