BIRTHDAY:
February 18th, 1931
ABOUT HER
In her first grade, Toni Morrison was the only black student in her
class and the only student who could read. After graduation from college,
she became an editor and started sending her own novel, The Bluest
Eye, out for publication. It was published in 1970 to much critical
acclaim.
Her second book
became an alternate selection by the Book-of-the-Month Club. It was
nominated for the 1975 National Book Award in fiction.
Song of Solomon
won the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters Award as
well as the National Book Critics Circle Award. Toni Morrison was appointed
to the National Council on the Arts. Her picture has appeared on the
cover of Newsweek.
Beloved
was a best-seller and won the Pulitzer prize for fiction. In 1987, Toni
Morrison became the first black woman writer to hold a named chair at
an Ivy League university (Princeton). In 1993, Toni Morrison became
the eighth woman and the first black woman to receive the Nobel Prize
for Literature.
AWARDS/HONORS
- The first black
woman to receive Nobel Prize for Literature
- Pulitzer Prize
for Fiction
- Appointed to
the National Council on the Arts
- American Academy
and Institute of Arts and Letters Award
- National Book
Critics Circle Award
BIBLIOGRAPHY
The Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison
Sula, Toni Morrison
Song of Solomon, Toni Morrison
Tar Baby, Toni Morrison
Beloved, Toni Morrison
Jazz, Toni Morrison