This is the first time that the literary works of contemporary Afro-Brazilian women have been compiled presenting a comprehensive vision of what it means to be both black and female in Brazil. Though the canon of Brazilian literature is rich in Afro-Brazilian female characters, until recently it has included only a handful of Afro-Brazilian women writers, sprinkled across the centuries. The authors collected in this anthology emerged during a veritable explosion of expression, enhanced by the conjunction of a series of political and social changes.