Theme & Character Lists: Women of Color Protagonists

This page lists works with women of color as protagonists. Not all these works are written by women of color, and some may be problematic in their depictions of women of color.

see also
Index to Women SF Writers of Color
Black Women in Science Fiction (on tv)

• Amadahy, Zainab. The Moons of Palmares
• Anthony, Patricia. "White Boy" in Eating Memories
• Benford, Gregory. Cosm (African-American female physicist)
• Borden, Lizzi. "Born in Flames" (1982 film)
• Bryant, Dorothy. The Kin of Ata Are Waiting for You (1971); also published as The Comforter
• Bury, Steven. (pseud. for Neal Stephenson & his uncle) Interface (Black woman plays central role in later part of novel)
• Busby, F.M. Zelde M'Tana (Black female heroine)
• Butler, Octavia. Parable of the Sower
  --. Xenogenesis Trilogy:
  Dawn
  Imago
  Adulthood Rights
  --. Kindred
  plus just about all of her other work.
• Clarke, Arthur C., and G. Lee. Rendezvous to Rama sequels: Rama 2; The Garden of Rama; Rama Revealed: Nicole, main protagonist
• Divakaruni, Chitra Banerjee. The Mistress of Spices (Indian woman)
• Gomez, Jewelle. The Gilda Stories (Black lesbian vampire)
• Goto, Hiromi. The Kappa Child (2001) (Japanese/Canadian woman)
• Greenland, Colin. Tabitha Jute series (Black lesbian spaceship captain)
• Nalo Hopkinson's Brown Girl in the Ring (Afro-Canadian protagonist)
• Hossain, Rokeya Sakhawat. "Sultana's Dream" (1905) (Indian woman protagonist; a short story in which the Sultana visits Ladyland, where purdah has been reversed to the great benefit of the land)
• Larbalestier, Justine. Magic or Madness (2005) (Aboriginal/white teen protagonist)
• Le Guin, Ursula K. The Telling (2000) (Indo-Canadian protagonist)
• Mootoo, Shani. Cereus Blooms at Night
• Marge Piercy's Woman on the Edge of Time (Latina protagonist)
• Perry, Steve. Matadora (1986) (Black woman protagonist)
• Ryman, Geoff. Air (2005)
• Starhawk's The Fifth Sacred Thing [latina protagonist]
• Sheri S. Tepper. The Fresco (2000) (working class latina woman)
• Varley, John. The Gaean Trilogy: Titan, Wizard, Demon. Cirocco Jones. [mixed-race woman protagonist]

TV / Film

• "Strange Days" [Angela Bassett kicks ass but is not really the protagonist]
• Cindy [African-American] on "Dark Angel"
• Storm [African-American] on "The X-Men" [although her role was really minimal, and her coolness was way down, compared with the comic role of Storm]
• Kennedy [Latina] on "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" (2002-03) [The character's ethnicity is never discussed, but the actor, Iyari Limon, is Mexican-American.]