We celebrated a magnificently rich imagining of one of Harlem’s most turbulent and triumphant life stories in Diane Richards’s debut novel, Ella, which follows the early years of legendary jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald. This event was part of The Center for Fiction’s The Stories of NYC series in recognition of the 400th anniversary of the city’s establishment in 1624.
Following her journey from Depression-era Harlem to the biggest stages in the world, Ella is a heart-wrenching exploration of Fitzgerald’s turbulent beginnings, battling racism, sexism, and colorism on her way to becoming the First Lady of Song. Richards, the Executive Director of the Harlem Writer’s Guild, “has blended her literary magic with the sonic boom of Fitzgerald’s life, poetically resurrecting the great vocalist’s journey” (Kevin Powell, Grammy-winning poet).
Richards was joined by Sidik Fofana (Stories from the Tenants Downstairs), a Whiting Award-winning writer and The Center for Fiction / Susan Kamil Emerging Writer Fellowship alumnus. Richards engaged in a rousing conversation with Fofana about her novel, her connection to Fitzgerald, and how she brought new life to her story.
Featured Book
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Ella
By Diane Richards
Published by HarperCollins
When fifteen-year-old Ella Fitzgerald’s mother dies at the height of the Depression in 1932, the teenager goes to work for the mob to support herself and her family. When the law finally catches up, the “ungovernable” adolescent is incarcerated in the New York Training School for Girls in upstate New York—a wicked prison infamous for its harsh treatment of inmates, especially Black ones. Determined to be free, Ella escapes and makes her way back to Harlem, where she is forced to dance for pennies on the street.
Looking for a break into show business, Ella draws straws to appear at the Apollo Theater’s Amateur Night on November 21, 1934. Rather than perform a dance routine directly after “The World Famous Edwards Sisters” number, the homeless Ella, wearing men’s galoshes a size too big, risks everything when she decides to sing Judy instead. Four years later, at barely twenty-one, Ella Fitzgerald has become the bestselling female vocalist in America.
Diane Richards’s Ella Fitzgerald is inspiring and intriguing—an emotionally rich, psychologically complex character, a flawed mother and wife who struggles with deep emotional scars and trauma and battles racism, sexism, and colorism as she learns to find her voice on the stage. Ella takes us from the brothels, speakeasys, and streets of Depression-era New York City to the grand hotel suites where Ella, now older and wiser, looks back on her life and finally confronts the demons from childhood that torment her.
Compelling and rich in historical detail, Ella is a remarkable debut novel about an extraordinary woman.
In Conversation
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Diane Richards
Diane Richards
Diane Richards is the Executive Director of the Harlem Writers Guild and a writer, playwright, music producer. She is also a singer who cut her own album in the 1980s and performed backup for Whitney Houston. Like Ella, Diane won a talent competition that launched her career—singing “Watch What Happens,” a song made famous by Ella Fitzgerald. She lives in New York City.
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Sidik Fofana
Sidik Fofana
Sidik Fofana is a graduate of New York University’s MFA program and a public school teacher in Brooklyn. His work has appeared in the Sewanee Review and Granta. He is a 2018 alumnus of The Center for Fiction / Susan Kamil Emerging Writer Fellowship. Stories from the Tenants Downstairs, his debut short-story collection composed of eight narratives about residents of a fictional building in Harlem, was published by Scribner in August 2022.
Photo Credit: Roque Nonini
