Black Paper

Teju Cole is a novelist, photographer, critic, curator, and the author of seven books, which include Open City, Blind Spot, and Golden Apple of the Sun. 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

"What we see is an individual taking stock of their surroundings, a mode that Cole has mastered. To read this book is to enjoy the generosity of his thought, to be invited into a contemplation of your inner life, to embrace the complexity of others, and to see in the darkness not only despair but also understanding and even refuge.”