February 5th, 2021

As an award winning American novelist, Toni Morrison is one the most celebrated authors around the world. Her novels are known for their epic themes, exquisite language and richly detailed African American characters. As the first African-American woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, Morrison’s work inspired generations of writers to follow in her footsteps.

Morrison grew up in the American Midwest in a family that prioritized an intense love and appreciation for Black culture. Storytelling and songs were a deeply formative part of her childhood. She also lived in a semi-integrated area where racial discrimination was a constant threat. Morrison later graduated from Howard University with her Bachelor’s Degree in English,and earned her Master’s in American Literature at Cornell University.

After seven years of teaching Morrison joined Random House in New York City as the first Black woman editor. Even though she worked for a publishing company, Morrison did not publish her first novel, The Bluest Eye, until she was 39 years old. A few years later, Morrison published her second novel called Sula, which was nominated for the National Book Award. Her third novel Song of Solomon earned critical acclaim as well as the National Book Critics Circle Award. These 3 novels would be considered what reshaped the literary landscape in the 1980s due to their honesty and intimacy of black culture. By the 2000s, Toni Morrison was named a Living Legend by the Library of Congress.

Morrison also wrote children’s books with her son until his death at 45 years old. Two years later, Morrison published the last book they were working on together and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in that same month. Morrison passed away months after from complications of pneumonia.