Ralph Ellison

Ralph Ellison was an American novelist, critic and scholar, born in Oklahoma City on 1 March 1914. He grew up in a young state where Black and white life were separated by law, and he studied music, especially the trumpet, before moving to New York in the 1930s. There he met the writer Richard Wright, who encouraged him to try writing seriously. Ellison worked as a writer and editor and served in the merchant marine during the Second World War.

His first novel, Invisible Man, appeared in 1952 and won the National Book Award. It made him one of the leading voices in American letters. He later taught at several universities and published essays on literature, music and American culture, gathered in volumes such as Shadow and Act. He spent decades working on a second novel, which remained unfinished when he died on 16 April 1994. His work matters for its sharp, humane look at identity, race and the American experience.