John F. Callahan

Who is John F. Callahan?

John F. Callahan is literary executor for Ralph Ellison, and was the editor for his posthumously-released novel Juneteenth. In addition to his work with Ellison, Callahan has written or edited numerous volumes related to African-American literature, with a particular emphasis on 20th century literature.

Some of Callahan's other works include In the African-American Grain: The Pursuit of Voice in 20th Century Black Fiction, Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man: A Casebook, and The Illusions of a Nation: Myth and History in the Novels of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Callahan also edited Ellison's short story collection Flying Home and co-edited with Albert Murray the Modern Library edition of Trading Twelves: The Selected Letters of Ralph Ellison and Albert Murray. As Darryl Pinckney has observed: "Thanks to Callahan, there are more Ellison titles now than existed during his lifetime."

In 2010 Callahan published a fuller version of Ellison's unfinished second novel as Three Days Before the Shooting.

Callahan currently serves as the Morgan S. Odell Professor of Humanities at Lewis & Clark College.

He earned his B.A. from the University of Connecticut and his M.A. and Ph.