Larsen, who had a Danish-born mother and a West Indies-born father, was a writer in the literary movement known as the Harlem Renaissance. Her two novels, Quicksand and Passing, involved issues of gender and racial identity.

The first African American woman to win the coveted Guggenheim fellowship for creative writing, Larsen is unfortunately typical of many Harlem Renaissance figures in that her career was short though brilliant. When the Depression and other forces signaled the end of this literary flowering, she left writing. She spent her last 30 years as a supervising nurse in a hospital in New York.

Nella Larsen on the Web

• "Passing" and the fading subject
  Neil Sullivan, in this 1998 article from African American Review, looks at the racial identity and gender issues in the 1929 novel.
• Classroom Issues and Strategies
  Helpful to students as well as teachers, this page highlights some of the key issues in reading Nella Larsen. Includes questions for reading or discussion and a very complete bibliography.
• Biography, image, further readings
• PAL: Image, bibliography, list of works
  From Paul Reuben
• PAL: Student-written biography
• Voices from the Gaps
  Biography, bibliography and links
• Discovering Parallels to Nella Larsen
  Biography and personal reflections, from Sushama Austin, a writer and filmmaker.

About Nella Larsen

• Categories: Harlem Renaissance, writers, African American women
• Places: New York United States
• Period: 20th century

Also on this site

• Harlem Renaissance Women - Dreaming in Color 
• Harlem Renaissance Women  
• African American Women 

Bibliography

• Nella Larsen, Novelist of the Harlem Renaissance: A Woman's Life Unveiled: Thadious M. Davis. 1994.
• An Intimation of Things Distant: The Collected Fiction of NL: Nella Larsen, edited by Charles R. Larson. 1992.
• Harlem Renaissance and Beyond: Literary Biographies of 100 Black Women Writers 1900-1945: Lorraine Elena Roses and Ruth Elizabeth Randolph. Paperback, 1990. Buy the book
• Harlem's Glory: Black Women Writing 1900-1950: Lorraine Elena Roses and Ruth Elizabeth Randolph, editors. 1996.

More biographies, by name:

A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z

More Women's History:    • Site index  • Biographies of notable women  • Women's History Encyclopedia  • Quotations by notable women  • Etexts and Picture Gallery  • Today in women's history  • How to link to this site  • Post questions & comments

Text copyright 1999-2006 © Jone Johnson Lewis.