Tag Archives: Ralph Ellison

New James Baldwin letters

Posted on January 1, 2014 by wcd2

January 1, 2014 The 100 letters recently acquired by the Beinecke Library are not to famous people, just Baldwin’s friends. The letters to Painter began in 1954, when his play “The Amen Corner” opened at Howard, and came up to 1964, … Continue reading →

Posted in African-American literature, Europe, Friendship, Libraries, Turkey, Twentieth century literature | Tagged Another Country, Beinecke Library, David Leeming, Ernest Hemingway, Eugene Lerner, For Whom the Bell Tolls, Invisible Man, Istanbul, James Baldwin, Langston Hughes, Malcolm X, Martha Gellhorn, Martin Luther King, Mary Painter, Medgar Evers, No Name in the Street, Ralph Ellison, Rosa Parks, The Fire Next Time, The Panther and the Lash | Leave a comment

Ralph Ellison, Gordon Parks: Photographers

Posted on September 18, 2013 by wcd2

Sept 18, 2014 The photos, under the title “A Man Becomes Invisible,” were in Life Magazine, 25 August 1952, close on the heels of novel’s publication earlier that year, on April 14. It was a coup. Parks had been a … Continue reading →

Posted in African-American literature, collaboration, Photography, Race | Tagged " Life Magazine, "From Harlem is Nowhere", Farm Security Administration, Gordon Parks, Harlem, Invisible Man, James Baldwin, LaFargue Psychiatry Clinic, Langston Hughes, Lorraine Hansberrry, Magazine of the Year, Ralph Ellison, Richard Avedon, Richard Wright, Roy DeCarava | Leave a comment

Housemates: Ralph Ellison, Saul Bellow, John Hersey

Posted on September 11, 2013 by wcd2

September 11, 2013 I can’t find pictures of them together, just houses that they shared. 713 Windsor Lane, a modest cottage in a writer’s compound in Key West, shared by John Hersey, his wife, and Ralph Ellison, whose Invisible Man … Continue reading →

Posted in African-American literature, Black-Jewish alliances, Ethnicity, Friendship, Twentieth century literature | Tagged Bard College, Henderson the Rain King, Hudson, Hudson River, Invisible Man, John Hersey, Key West, Ralph Ellison, Saul Bellow, Twentieth Century Views, Viking, Yale | Leave a comment

Bono on Seamus Heaney

Posted on September 4, 2013 by wcd2

September 4, 2013 He was there at the funeral, of course, with Adam Clayton, and also wrote this short piece in the Guardian: “Every meeting I’ve ever had since I began full-time advocacy, I have brought with me a book … Continue reading →

Posted in African-American literature, African-American music, contemporary poetry, jazz, Music, Race, Rock music, Twentieth century literature | Tagged " Seamus Heaney, Adam Clayton, Bono, Gandhi, Guardian, Invisible Man, James Baldwin, Johnson Sirleaf, Louis Armstrong, Nina Smone, Ralph Ellison | Leave a comment

March on Washington: unsung

Posted on August 28, 2013 by wcd2

August 28, 2013 No, not literally unsung. In fact, the most memorable moments at the microphone, other than Martin Luther King’s “I had a Dream” speech, featured singers: Mahalia Jackson; Marian Anderson; Peter, Paul and Mary; Joan Baez and … Continue reading →

Posted in African-American literature, African-American music, Journalism, Media, Music, Twentieth century literature | Tagged Bob Dylan, Ghana, James Baldwin, Joan Baez, Langston Hughes, Mahalia Jackson, Malcolm X, March on Washington, Marian Anderson, Martin Luther King, Norman Mailer, Odetta, Paul and Mary, Peter, Ralph Ellison, Richard Wright, The Armies of the Night, W. E. B. Du Bois | 2 Comments

Ralph Ellison, Marianne Moore: Yams and Nectarines

Posted on January 16, 2013 by wcd2

January 16, 2013 The yams are as real as anything in Invisible Man. The mere smell of them sends a “stab of swift nostalgia” coursing through the protagonist. The years of his life seem so many yams eaten: candied, … Continue reading →

Posted in African-American literature, China, Chinese art, Ethnicity, Food in literature, Gender, lyric, Poetry, Twentieth century literature | Tagged China, Invisible Man, Marianne Moore, Nine Nectarine and Other Porcelain, Ralph Ellison, The World's Geography | 2 Comments

Gertrude Stein and Richard Wright

Posted on November 2, 2011 by wcd2

November 2, 2011 When Richard Wright applied for a passport in January 1946, he was turned down. The State Department did not look favorably on left-leaning Americans (in this case, an ex-Communist) leaving their country and maligning it from abroad. … Continue reading →

Posted in Paris | Tagged Add new tag, Billie Holiday, black English, Ralph Ellison, Richard Wright, Saul Bellow | 2 Comments