urban literature

Metropolitan storytelling genre

Urban literature is fiction depicting life in inner-city neighborhoods, typically featuring African American characters navigating street culture, poverty, crime, and relationships.

The genre emerged in the 1960s and exploded in the 1990s with authors like Sister Souljah and Iceberg Slim.

Also called street lit or urban fiction.

She devoured urban lit novels about hustle and survival.

Related

housing projects · corner store · metropolitan areas · crime · trap house · broken windows · systemic inequality · resilience · coming of age · moral ambiguity · survival · block party · social critique · street corners · redemption · fragmented narrative · rap lyrics · vivid imagery

Opposites
setting/environment

urban literaturenature writing

Genre depicting landscapes and ecology

cultural milieu

urban literaturefolk literature

Traditional community storytelling

literary prestige/market category

urban literatureliterary fiction

Prose emphasizing craft and depth

experimental fiction

Family

urban, literature, urbane, urbanity, urbanize, urbanization, suburban, suburbanite, exurban

Familiarity
Top 500,000
Profile
Timeless · Rated PG