Ralph Ellison

From Ralph Ellison to Harper Lee, those who made great work in one field — before their creative lives went in a different direction.

Before he became a writer, Ralph Ellison was an emerging photographer. Rarely-seen documentary images, gathered in a forthcoming book, reveal his lifelong engagement with the camera.

Four writers and one bookseller gathered over Zoom to make a list devoted to fiction in which the city is more than mere setting.

“It is felt that there is something in the Negro experience that makes it not quite right for the novel,” Ellison told us when “Invisible Man” was published in 1952. “That’s not true.”

In the early 20th century, the building became a meeting place for many of the writers, artists, actors and activists who defined a new and vibrant Black culture.

The writer and scholar Adam Bradley speaks about Ralph Ellison’s 1952 classic.

Ralph Ellison’s classic 1952 novel has influenced not just writers but photographers, sculptors and painters, all grappling with what it means to be seen.

Breaking with the dominant literary styles among Black writers at the time, the author expanded the limits of realism to create a world that was, and remains, all too familiar.

Have you ever wondered when your favorite writers first appeared in the pages of the paper? It might be earlier than you think.

The photographer’s show at the Brooklyn Museum explores collecting and photography as acts of possession and desire.