There are a LOT of romance/erotica books with black characters that are listed as polyamory. Unfortunately, they are very hit-or-miss with may of them fetishizing black characters or including coersive or other un-polyam elements in the relationships. The things listed here are things I can say for certain are not fetishizing blackness AND represent polyamory (or honest attempts at polyam). Most of them have been created by black people. As always, you are welcome to leave comments with addition suggestions.
Compersion: YouTube video series, currently 11 episodes with new episodes every two weeks. Keena tells her husband she wants to try polyamory. Drama ensues. (I want to say here that part of why I love Compersion is it is NOT showing an idealized polyam relationship. It is showing three flawed people who make mistakes and hurt each other, but are in their own ways trying to make things work. Or as EnchantTV tweeted, “…show is called #Compersion for a reason. Journey to. Not an easy arrival.” But if you are looking for happy polyam representation, this isn’t it [yet].)
3:The New Normal: video featuring the daily life of an FMF triad. (What I said about Compersion? Here’s you happy, healthy polyam representation.)
Ascension by Jacquiline Koyanagi: Science fantasy novel, one of my faves, supposedly a sequel coming eventually.
The Changing of Allison Dutch by Michon Neal. And most of Michon’s other books.
Domina: Submission is a Privilege by Peter Mack. I haven’t had a chance to read any of Mack’s work yet, but he’s on my to-read list. Rec’d by Kato Cooks of Black & Poly.
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein. Polyamory classic.
Patternmaster series and Xenogenesis series by Octavia Butler.
Showtime’s Shameless includes a polyam throuple that (according to one reviewer) may be the most normal part of the show. Details on the polyam plot line on Poly in the Media.
This post is part of a series on Minority Representation in Polyam Fiction.