Black Paper

Teju Cole is a novelist, photographer, critic, curator, and the author of six books, which include Open City, Blind Spot, and, most recently, his photobook Fernweh. He was the photography critic of the New York Times Magazine from 2015 until 2019. A 2018 Guggenheim Fellow, he is currently the Gore Vidal Professor of the Practice of Creative Writing at Harvard.

• List of IllustrationsPrefacePart OneAfter CaravaggioPart Two: ElegiesRoom 406Mama’s ShroudFour ElegiesTwo ElegiesA Letter to John BergerA Quartet for Edward SaidPart Three: ShadowsGossamer World: On Santu MofokengAn Incantation for Marie CosindasPictures in the AftermathShattered GlassWhat Does It Mean to Look at This?A Crime Scene at the BorderShadow Cabinet: On Kerry James MarshallNighted Color: On Lorna SimpsonThe Blackness of the PantherRestoring the DarknessPart Four: Coming to Our SensesExperienceEpiphanyEthics Part Five: In a Dark TimeA Time for RefusalResist, RefuseThrough the DoorPassages NorthOn Carrying and Being CarriedEpilogueBlack PaperAcknowledgmentsIndex

"He takes in news from African countries and American cities; but also, by necessity and interest, Asian, European and Latin American culture and history. In short, the world belongs to Cole and is thornily and gloriously allied with his curiosity and his personhood."-- "Claudia Rankine, New York Times Book Review, on Known and Strange Things" "The forms of resistance depend on the culture they resist, and in our era of generalizations and approximations and sloppiness, Teju Cole's precise and vivid observation and description is an antidote and a joy. This is a book written with a scalpel, a microscope, and walking shoes, full of telling details and sometimes big surprises."-- "Rebecca Solnit, on Known and Strange Things" "[Teju Cole is] an emissary for our best selves. He is sampling himself for our benefit, hoping for enlightenment, and seeking to provide pleasure to us through his art. May his realm expand." -- "Norman Rush, New York Review of Books, on Known and Strange Things" "The places he can go, you feel, are just about limitless." -- "Dwight Garner, New York Times, on Every Day Is for the Thief"