E. Lynn Harris is an American author. Harris, who is African-American and openly gay, writes primarily about African American men on "the down-low," or in the closet. Five of Harris' novels were on The New York Times Best Seller list.

Invisible Life was followed by Just As I Am (1994), And This Too Shall Pass (1996), If This World Were Mine (1997), and Abide With Me (1999), all published by Doubleday. All of Harris's books have been bestsellers; And This Too Shall Pass, If This World Were Mine, Abide With Me, Not A Day Goes By, and A Love of My Own were New York Times bestsellers. They also appeared on the bestseller lists of The Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Publishers Weekly, USA Today, Entertainment Weekly, and Los Angeles Times. Not A Day Goes By, Harris' sixth novel (2000), debuted at #2 on the New York Times bestseller list and was a #1 Publishers Weekly bestseller for two consecutive weeks. His seventh novel, Any Way the Wind Blows (2001), also debuted at #2 on the New York Times Best Seller list. His most recent novel, A Love of My Own (2002), was a national bestseller as well. Currently, there are over three million copies of Harris' novels in print.

Three of his novels have been optioned for film: Invisible Life and Just As I Am by Showtime and Not A Day Goes By by actress Pam Grier for her production company. Harris' writing has also appeared in American Visions, Essence, the Washington Post Sunday Magazine, Savoy, The Advocate, and the award-winning anthology Brotherman: The Odyssey of Black Men in America, Go The Way Your Blood Beats. His novella, Money Can't Buy Me Love, was published in Got To Be Real: Four Original Love Stories (2000). In fall 2002, his short fiction appeared in Gumbo: A Celebration of African American Writers (Harlem Moon), a collection he co-edited with writer Marita Golden.

Harris has won numerous accolades and prizes for his work. In 1996, Just As I Am was awarded Blackboard's Novel of the Year prize. In 1997, If This World Were Mine was nominated for a NAACP Image Award and won the James Baldwin Award for Literary Excellence. Abide With Me, Any Way the Wind Blows, and A Love of My Own were also nominated for NAACP Image Awards. In 2002, Any Way the Wind Blows won Harris his second Blackboard Novel of the Year prize, and A Love of My Own was recently named Blackboard Novel of the Year, making Harris the first author to receive back-to-back honors and to receive the prize a record three times.

In 1999, the University of Arkansas honored Harris with a Citation of Distinguished Alumni for outstanding professional achievement, and in October 2000, he was inducted into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame. Over the past three years, he has also been named to Ebony's "Most Intriguing Blacks" list, Out Magazine's "Out 100" list, New York Magazine's "Gay Power 101" list, and Savoy 's "100 Leaders and Heroes in Black America" list. Other honors have included the Sprague Todes Literary Award and the Harvey Milk Honorary Diploma. Harris is a member of the Board of Directors of the Hurston/Wright Foundation and the Evidence Dance Company.