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Quick Facts
- NAME: Ralph Ellison
- OCCUPATION: Educator, Literary Critic, Academic Author, Author
- BIRTH DATE: March 01, 1914
- DEATH DATE: April 16, 1994
- EDUCATION: Tuskegee University
- PLACE OF BIRTH: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
- PLACE OF DEATH: New York, New York
Best Known For
African American novelist Ralph Ellison is best known for his novel Invisible Man which remains one of the central texts of the African-American experience.
Ralph Waldo Ellison. (2012). Biography.com. Retrieved 10:04, Feb 08, 2012 from http://www.biography.com/people/ralph-ellison-9286702
Ralph Waldo Ellison [Internet]. 2012. http://www.biography.com/people/ralph-ellison-9286702, February 08
" Ralph Waldo Ellison." 2012. Biography.com 08 Feb 2012, 10:04 http://www.biography.com/people/ralph-ellison-9286702
' Ralph Waldo Ellison', Biography.com,(2012) http://www.biography.com/people/ralph-ellison-9286702 [accessed Feb 08, 2012]
" Ralph Waldo Ellison," Biography.com, http://www.biography.com/people/ralph-ellison-9286702 (accessed Feb 08, 2012).
Ralph Waldo Ellison [Internet]. Biography.com; 2012 [cited 2012 Feb 08]. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/ralph-ellison-9286702.
Ralph Waldo Ellison, http://www.biography.com/people/ralph-ellison-9286702 (last visited Feb 08, 2012).
Ralph Waldo Ellison, http://www.biography.com/people/ralph-ellison-9286702 (last visited Feb 08, 2012).
Synopsis
African American novelist Ralph Ellison originally studied music and sculpture but was drawn into the world of literature as Richard Wright's protégé. Ellison spent seven years writing Invisible Man (1952, National Book Award), and although it was his only novel it gained him a place as a respected American writer and remains one of the central texts of the African-American experience.
Profile
Writer. Born March 1, 1913 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He studied music at Tuskegee Institute before moving to New York City to study sculpture. A protégé of Richard Wright, whom he met in 1937, he wrote reviews, essays, and short stories.
Ellison spent seven years writing Invisible Man (1952, National Book Award), and although it was his only novel it gained him a place as a respected American writer and remains one of the central texts of the African-American experience. His other major work, Shadow and Act (1964), is a collection of his essays and interviews, and the short story, Flying Home, was published posthumously in 1996.
After teaching at various universities, he became the Albert Schweitzer Professor in the Humanities at New York University (1970–9). He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1969.
© 2012 A&E Television Networks. All rights reserved.
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