Final answer:
Zora Neale Hurston became the first best-selling African American novelist with her work "Their Eyes Were Watching God." Her literature, along with that of Langston Hughes and Booker T. Washington, profoundly impacted African American narrative and the quest for identity.
Step-by-step explanation:
The first best-selling African American novelist was Zora Neale Hurston, with her novel Their Eyes Were Watching God. This novel was a landmark in African-American literature and was set in the all-black town of Eatonville, Florida. The novel was semi-autobiographical, detailing life in the African American community and exploring themes relevant to the African American experience. Zora Neale Hurston's unique narrative voice and celebration of black dialogue in her work set her apart from other writers during the Harlem Renaissance, although her work did not receive widespread appreciation until after her death.
Other important figures in African-American literature include Langston Hughes and Booker T. Washington. Hughes was a prolific writer of the Harlem Renaissance whose poetry addressed the importance of African-American heritage and the triumph of the African-American spirit. Booker T. Washington, born into slavery, became an influential African American leader and author whose work, Up from Slavery, is an important piece in African-American narrative and autobiography.