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Leon Richard Forrest (January 8, 1937 — November 6, 1997) was an African American novelist. His novels concerned mythology, history, and Chicago.

Forrest was born into a middle-class family in Chicago. His mother was Catholic and from New Orleans, while his father's family was Baptist. His paternal great-grandmother had a role in his early upbringing. Forrest later attended a racially integrated high school after winning an award, but he was a generally mediocre student except for writing. His parents divorced in 1956; his mother remarried, and the couple opened a liquor store.

Forrest went on to attend the University of Chicago, studying journalism, but left to serve in the military. After leaving the service, he returned to the University of Chicago and worked for the Catholic Interracial Council's Speakers Bureau. In 1969 he began working for Muhammed Speaks, a Nation of Islam newspaper. Forrest would become the last non-Muslim editor of the paper.

His first novel, There is a Tree More Ancient than Eden, came out in 1973. His third novel Two Wings to Veil My Face won several awards. From 1985 to 1994, he headed the African American Studies department at Northwestern University. He cited Charlie Parker, Dylan Thomas, William Faulkner, Eugene O'Neill, Ralph Ellison, and his parents' religions as inspiration.

He died in Evanston, Illinois.

This author page uses material from the Wikipedia article "Leon Forrest", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0