On Tuesday, Oct. 25, at 7:30 p.m. at Auerbach Auditorium of St. Mary’s Hall, John Callahan, literary executor of Ralph Ellison’s estate and Morgan S. Odell Professor Emeritus of Humanities at Lewis & Clark College will present, “Consciousness, Consciousness, Consciousness. And with consciousness, a more refined conscientiousness: Ralph Ellison in Our Turbulent American Times.”
Ralph Ellison was an American writer and scholar best known for writing “The Invisible Man,” which won the National Book Award in 1953. In his lecture, Callahan will explore how Ellison’s 1974 call for “consciousness” and “a more refined conscientiousness” answers “Invisible Man’s” most vexing— and still relevant— question: “could politics ever be an expression of love?”
Drawing on Ellison’s essays, fiction, and extensive letters, Callahan will explore how reading Ellison today presents a retelling of “the lower frequencies” of American life that amount to a foretelling of our present.
This free event is open to the public and located at 47458 Trinity Church Road, St. Mary’s City, MD 20686.