Order of Book Series
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Ralph Ellison Books in Order

12 books are credited to Ralph Ellison, published between 1938 and 2019; 8 of them appeared after Ralph Ellison's death in 1994. The first book is A Party Down at the Square (1938) and the newest is The Selected Letters of Ralph Ellison (2019). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books
12
Published
1938–2019
Confirmed
1 of 12 titles
Pages on record
4,930 in 11 of 12 books
Reading time
82–123 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 4,930 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 11 of 12 titles with a page count on record.

See all 12 books in order Printable Ralph Ellison checklist
Photo of Ralph Ellison, author

Ralph Waldo Ellison was an American writer, scholar and literary critic who died on April 16, 1994. Ellison's novel Invisible Man (1952) received the National Book Award in 1953 and is the work Ellison is best known for. Shadow and Act (1964) gathers essays on political, social and critical subjects, and Going to the Territory followed in 1986. Juneteenth (1999) was published posthumously, assembled from the extensive notes left at Ellison's death. The catalogue spans 1938 to 2019, from A Party Down at the Square to The Selected Letters of Ralph Ellison.

How many Ralph Ellison books are there?

Ralph Ellison has 12 books, released between 1938 and 2019. 8 of them were published after Ralph Ellison's death in 1994.

Ralph Ellison Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 12 Ralph Ellison books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.

  1. Cover of Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison (1952)
  2. Cover of Shadow and Act by Ralph Ellison (1964)
  3. Cover of Going to the Territory by Ralph Ellison (1986)
  4. Cover of The Collected Essays by Ralph Ellison (1995)
  5. Cover of Conversations with Ralph Ellison by Ralph Ellison, book 48 of the Literary Conversations series (1995)
  6. Cover of Juneteenth by Ralph Ellison (1999)
  7. Cover of Trading Twelves by Ralph Ellison (2000)
  8. Cover of Living with Music by Ralph Ellison (2001)
  9. Cover of The Black Ball by Ralph Ellison (2018)
  10. Cover of The Selected Letters of Ralph Ellison by Ralph Ellison (2019)
  1. 1
    A Party Down at the Square1938 · 173 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1938173
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    Invisible Man1952 · 581 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1952581
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    Shadow and Act1964 · 317 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1964317
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    Going to the Territory1986 · 338 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1986338
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    The Collected Essays1995 · 904 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1995904
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    Conversations with Ralph EllisonLiterary Conversations #481995 · 409 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1995409
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    Juneteenth1999 · 400 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1999400
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 8
    Trading Twelves2000 · 272 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2000272
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 9
    Living with Music2001 · 336 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2001336
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  10. 10
    Three Days Before the Shooting...2010 · 1136 pages · confirmed 1/4
    20101136
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  11. 11
    The Black Ball2018 · 64 pages · confirmed 1/4
    201864
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  12. 12
    The Selected Letters of Ralph Ellison2019 · confirmed 1/4
    2019–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

Ralph Ellison books grouped by series

Each title below is a row in the publication-order table above. None of these groups has a reading-order page of its own on this site.

Literary Conversations in order

1 book
  1. 48. Conversations with Ralph Ellison

Standalone books

11 books

11 Ralph Ellison titles here are not listed as part of any series.

Do you have to read Ralph Ellison books in order?

No. No source lists any of the 12 Ralph Ellison books here as part of a series. The numbered table above gives them by publication date.

Where to start with Ralph Ellison

Start with A Party Down at the Square (1938), the earliest published title.

What is the newest Ralph Ellison book?

The Selected Letters of Ralph Ellison (2019) is the newest Ralph Ellison book released so far.

Is there a new Ralph Ellison book coming?

No next Ralph Ellison book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.

Awards Ralph Ellison has won

Wikidata records 3 awards for Ralph Ellison. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.

  • Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards1992Won
  • Langston Hughes Medal1984Won
  • National Book Award1953Wonfor Invisible Man

Ralph Ellison at a glance

Died
Ralph Ellison died in 1994, according to Wikidata.
After death
Books credited to Ralph Ellison are still being published after Ralph Ellison's death in 1994; the newest appeared in 2019.
Release pace
Ralph Ellison books have appeared about one every 7 years on average.
Length
4,930 pages across the 11 of 12 books with a recorded length, a median of 338 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most Ralph Ellison books, 3 of 12, were published in the 2010s.

What the Ralph Ellison books are about

All 12 Ralph Ellison books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: african americans is tagged on 6 of 12. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.