Nella Larsen
A lady of the Harlem Renaissance
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April 13, 1881-March 30, 1964
LIFE:
• Nellie Marion Walker was born in Chicago. Her parents were Mary Hanson who was Danish and Peter
Walker who is of Caribbean Descent.
She always felt like an outsider to her family and other people because of her mixed race.
Attended Fisk University’s Normal School in Nashville, TN when she was 16.
Lived in Denmark for a time.
Moved to New York City to attend Lincoln School of Nursing .
Was a Nurse in Alabama for one year before returning to New York City.
Was very involved in the Harlem Renaissance.
Married Dr. Elmer Imes in 1919 and divorced in 1933. Soon after he passed away.
While continuing to be a nurse, she volunteered to be a librarian, which inspired her to write.
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She was accused of plagiarism after writing Sanctuary.
After a deep depression caused from being accused of plagiarism, losing her husband and financial instability.
• She disappeared from the public and her social life.
THEMES:
• Issues of: race, gender, class, identity, marriage, motherhood and her life experiences
STYLE:
• Wrote during the American naturalistic period o
Which means the faithful representation of reality or psychological realism
• She was also known as a modernist writer
• Predominantly English genre of fiction writing
• Realism is also represented in her stories
NOVELS
• Passing
• Quicksand
SHORT STORIES
• Freedom
• The Wrong Man
• Sanctuary
Work cited
Barnes, Paula C. "Nella Larsen." Critical Survey Of Long Fiction, Fourth Edition (2010): 1-4. Literary
Reference Center . Web. 1 Oct. 2014.
"Evidence of Psychological Realism in Nella Larsen's Passing." Katherine Wilson. Web. 24 Sept. 2014.
"Harlem Renaissance." History.com
. A&E Television Networks. Web. 30 Sept. 2014.
"In Search of Nella Larsen." Google Books . Web. 30 Sept. 2014.
"Quicksand and Passing Summary & Study Guide." BookRags . BookRags. Web. 30 Sept. 2014.
"The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Multiethnic American Literature: I - M.” Google Books . Web. 30 Sept.
2014.
"The Harlem Renaissance 1." YouTube . YouTube. Web. 30 Sept. 2014.