Classics

90 classic titles celebrating 90 years of Penguin Books'I am Black because I come from the earth's insidenow take my word for jewel in the open light.'Impassioned and profound, the...

Translated by Bonnie Huie * Winner of the Lucien Stryk Asian Translation Prize* Longlisted for the PEN Translation Prize* A New York Times Editors' Choice The English-language premiere of Qiu...

Women so empowered are dangerous Written with a 'black woman's anger' and the precision of a poet, these searing pieces by the groundbreaking writer Audre Lorde are a celebration of...

A Biomythography A soaring, sensual coming-of-age novel, by the legendary 'Black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet'If I didn't define myself for myself, I would be crunched into other people's fantasies for...

A brave, beautiful book that could double as a handbook to accompany anyone on their journey through cancer Jackie Kay, New StatesmanI would never have chosen this path, but I am...

The most acclaimed volume of poetry by the legendary 'Black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet'I have been womanfor a long timebeware my smileI am treacherous with old magicFilled with rage and...

Ripples in the Pool is a symbolic and powerful novel that delves into the tragedy and spiritual disconnection in rural Africa. Central characters, like Selina, a former prostitute, and Gikere,...

A breakthrough work of social and cultural criticism from one of the foremost intellectuals of his era Written during the 1940s and early 1950s, when Baldwin was only in his...

Baldwin's ground-breaking novel which established him as one of the great American writers of his timeDavid, a young American in 1950s Paris, is waiting for his fiancee to return from...

The essential writings of black lesbian poet and feminist writer Audre Lorde The woman's place of power within each of us is neither white nor surface; it is dark, it...

THE ICONIC CLASSIC, WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE ONE OF THE BBC '100 NOVELS THAT SHAPED OUR WORLD'The Color Purple is my go-to comfort novel. Every single time I read...

Kitchen juxtaposes two tales about mothers, transsexuality, bereavement, kitchens, love and tragedy in contemporary Japan. It is a startlingly original first work by Japan's brightest young literary star and is...

A phenomenal modern classic, new to the Vintage Classics list, for readers both long-standing and new. Through dialogue and flashback we learn of the colonialism and racism, love and envy,...

Black Britain: Writing Back A groundbreaking novel exploringthe intersection between race, class and mental health in the UK It is the 1990s, and Gloria is living in a London psychiatric...

A cult cyberpunk masterpiece, and Ryu Murakami's most famous novel. Two babies are left in a Tokyo station coin locker and survive against the odds, but their lives are forever...

"Nothing but the darkness, and all around them destruction, and before them nothing but the fire — a bastard people, far from God, singing and crying in the wilderness!" First...

Translated by Meredith Weatherby Long regarded as one of the most important novels to appear in post-war Japan, Confessions of a Mask is an allegory of a lonely boy’s yearning...