Nella Larsen was born on April 13, 1891 in Chicago, Illinois (Larson 276). She was of mixed descent, her mother was Danish and her father was West Indian ("Nella Larsen"). when she was two, she lost her father and her mother later remarried someone with the same race. Her birthname was Nellie Walker; when her mother remarried she took her stepfather's last name and finally settled on Nella Larsen. She was discriminated against for having a mixed family. She went to Fisk University, but was expelled. From there she went to Denmark for a few years and then went into nursing. She continued being nurse and then she married Elmer Imes, who was a physicist; they lived in Harlem. In 1921, she started working as a librarian up until 1926 because of the Harlem Renaissance. She began writing her novels about social, sexual, and race issues. She wrote short stories, Passing, and Quicksand. In 1933, she divorced and lived on alimony until her ex-husband died in 1942. She had difficulties with depression and decided not to write ever again, and she never did. She gave up her writing career and recontinued h er work in nursing. She was found dead in her Brooklyn apartment on March 30, 1964 at the age of 64.
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| This is Nella Larsen. In a way, you can notice certain characteristics of both her races. |