Community Book Read Event #2 - Ralph Ellison's "Invisible Man" (A "Black to the Future" 2024 Project)

About this event

Our Lodge Foundation's "*Black to the Future" project is introducing our Saratoga Springs’ community to the thriving literary field of richly diverse worlds and alternate realities penned by Black science fiction and fantasy writers. Just about everyone knows the writers Langston Hughes, James Baldwin, Alice Walker, and Toni Morrison. But few people know that there is a large body of science fiction and fantasy work by Black writers, examining the western construct of what it means to be human, who gets to define “human” … and how does it manifest itself in the larger culture?

Our second “Community Read” discussion, facilitated by Skidmore dancer/creative Davin Arzu, will be about Ralph Ellison's “INVISIBLE MAN.” Originally published in 1952 as the first novel by a then unknown author, it remained on the bestseller list for sixteen weeks and established Ralph Ellison as one of the key writers of the century.

SYNOPSIS: In this deeply compelling novel and epic milestone of American literature, a nameless narrator tells his story from the basement lair of the Invisible Man he imagines himself to be. He describes growing up in a Black community in the South, attending a Negro college from which he is expelled, moving to New York and becoming the chief spokesman of the Harlem branch of "the Brotherhood," before retreating amid violence and confusion.

Light refreshments provided. Please note: No Bar Service.

Attendance is free. Please register with your name + contact info:  OurLodgeFoundation@gmail.com
Participants are responsible for obtaining a copy of the book.  Saratoga Springs Public Library and Northshire Bookstore will carry stock.

*Saratoga Arts made this project possible through the Community Regrant Program, funded by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.