Nella Larsen

Nella Larsen (April 13, 1891 – March 30, 1964) was an African-American novelist of the Harlem Renaissance who wrote two novels and a few short stories. Though her literary output was scant, what she wrote was of extraordinary quality, earning her recognition by her contemporaries and by present day critics.

Biography

Nella Larsen went by various names throughout her life, including Nellie Walker, Nellye Larson, Nellie Larsen and, finally, Nella Larsen as well as by her married name Nella Larsen Imes. She was born in Chicago on April 13, 1891 as Nellie Walker, the daughter of the Danish Marie Hanson and Peter Walker, a West Indian man of color from Saint Croix. Her mother later married a white man. As a result, she grew up as the black child of a lower-middle class white household. Her family, perhaps ashamed of her race and anxious to get rid of her or perhaps interested in her education and future, enrolled her in Fisk University, a prestigious African-American school.

Related Topics:
Chicago - April 13 - 1891 - Danish - West Indian - Saint Croix - Fisk University

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In 1912, Larsen enrolled in nursing school at New York's Lincoln Hospital. Upon graduating in 1915, she went South to work in Tuskegee, Alabama where she became head nurse at a hospital and training school. While in Tuskegee, she came in contact with Booker T. Washington's model of education and became disillusioned with it.

Related Topics:
1912 - New York - 1915 - Tuskegee, Alabama - Booker T. Washington

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In 1916, she returned to New York to work again as a nurse. In 1919, she married Elmer Samuel Imes, a prominent African American physicist. In the year after her marriage, she began to write, publishing her first pieces in 1920. She left nursing in 1921 and, in 1922, began working as a librarian.

Related Topics:
1916 - 1919 - Elmer Samuel Imes - 1920 - 1921 - 1922

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In 1926, having made friends with important figures in the Harlem Renaissance, Larsen gave up her work as a librarian and began to work as a writer active in the literary community. In 1927, she published Quicksand (ISBN 0141181273), a largely autobiographical novel, which received significant critical acclaim, if not great financial success.

Related Topics:
1926 - 1927

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In 1928, she published Passing (ISBN 0142437271), her second novel, which was also successful.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In 1930, Larsen published "Sanctuary" http://www.nku.edu/~diesmanj/sanctuary.html, a short story for which she was accused of plagiarism. Though the accusations turned out to be false, Larsen apparently never recovered from them and gave up writing, in spite of having been traveling through Europe on funds from a Guggenheim award to research a third novel. To make things worse, Larsen's marriage was falling apart due to the infidelity of her husband.

Related Topics:
1930 - Guggenheim

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Larsen never wrote again, returning instead to nursing and disappearing from the literary circles in which she had travelled. Many of her old acquaintances speculated incorrectly that she, like some of her characters, had crossed the color line and disappeared.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Larsen attempted to visit white family members several times in her later years, but they refused to acknowledge her. Upon her death, her white relatives denied knowing of her existence. She died alone on March 30th, 1964.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

For a detailed biography, see Nella Larsen, Novelist of the Harlem Renaissance: A Woman's Life Unveiled by Thadious M. Davis (ISBN 0807120707).

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~