Simplify the following text for a Grade 7 native English-speaking person.
Original: Ralph Waldo Ellison ( March 1 , 1914 -- April 16 , 1994 ) was an American novelist , literary critic , scholar and writer .
Simplified: Ralph Waldo Ellison ( March 1 , 1913 -- April 16 , 1994 ) was an African-American writer .