Best Philadelphia Authors You Need to Know

Fellow bookworms, this one’s for you. Here’s a roundup of some of the best local authors that you should know about:

🗞️ Solomon Jones

Jones is an award-winning columnist and storyteller. You can find his work in The Philadelphia Inquirer, and listen to him on WURD 900 AM on weekday mornings.

Read first: “Pipe Dream”

Jones is a lifelong Philadelphian who draws on his own experiences to chronicle the issues of substance use disorder and poverty within Philly’s Black communities. In 2013, he was selected among 50 writers to represent Philadelphia’s Literary Legacy.

🇵🇷 Quiara Alegría Hudes

Hudes is a Pulitzer prize-winning playwright, and a powerful essayist and memoirist. She currently lives in New York, but was born and raised in West Philly.

Read first: “My Broken Language”

“What I really love about “My Broken Language” is that it’s not just about her, but it’s so much of a preservation of family history and 'Philly Rican' culture, especially within the enclaves that no longer exist.” - Hey Philly reader Siani C.

✍🏻 Lisa Scottoline

Scottoline is an award-winning author with more than 30 novels under her belt. She co-writes a weekly column called “Chick Wit,” that ran in the Philadelphia Inquirer for 15 years. You can now read it online!

Read first: “Best Friends, Occasional Enemies”

Scottoline believes in “writing what you know,” and values firsthand experiences to make her books more authentic. This could mean poker games, boxing lessons, convent visits, and yes, even driving her car up the Rocky steps! We love those wild Philly adventures 🤪