Nella Larsen was an American author and short story writer. She is best known
for her novels "Quicksand" (1928) and "Passing" (1929), which explore the
challenges of being a Black woman in a white-dominated society.
Larsen was born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1891 to Peter Walker, a mixed-race
Afro-Caribbean man, and Pederline Marie Hansen, a white Danish woman. Larsen
was raised in a racially segregated society where she experienced firsthand
the challenges faced by Black Americans in the early 20th century.
During Larsen's lifetime, she had a successful work life. She began writing at
a young age and was published in various magazines while still in college at
the University of Copenhagen. After graduating in 1912, she moved from Denmark
back to New York City and entered a nursing program at Lincoln Hospital. She
then spent a year as a supervising nurse at Tuskegee Institute and later worked
for several years as a nurse at Lincoln Hospital. In 1921, she became the
assistant of the New York Public Library and completed the library's training
course within the next two years. Then from 1924 to 1926, Larsen worked as a
children's librarian in Harlem.
In the meantime, she also had a balanced family life. In May of 1919, Larsen
had married a physicist named Elmer Imes and had become active in the Harlem
social scene; even though she had a reserved personality and cultivated manners
that made her seem standoffish. Her library work gave her easy access not only
to the excellent Black cultural material housed in the Schomburg Collection at
the 135th Street branch but to the literary activities—such as book readings
and discussions—that took place there. Always an avid reader and book collector,
Larsen decided that she too would like to try her hand at writing about Black
literature and arts.
Larsen published a total of 2 novels and 8 short stories in her lifetime.
Nella Larsen's "Sanctuary" is a story that is similar to a story by the popular
British writer Sheila Kaye-Smith. Scholars agree that in "Sanctuary," Larsen
turns a story about British class-consciousness into a story of African American
race loyalty. Larsen's "Sanctuary" bitterly critiques the triumph of culture,
education, and moral agency. However, many critics at the time failed to see past
the similarities and accused Larsen of plagiarism. Tormented by the false
allegations, depression, and her husband’s cheating, Larsen left the literature scene.
Larsen died in 1964.
