14 questions · Literature
Toni Morrison, born Chloe Ardelia Wofford in 1931 in the steel town of Lorain, Ohio, grew up with the songs, ghost stories and storytelling art of her family, who had fled the South. After studying at Howard University she became an editor at Random House (the first Black woman in the position) and brought other Black voices into the catalogue, from Toni Cade Bambara to Muhammad Ali's autobiography and texts by Angela Davis. She wrote her first novel at nearly 40, in the mornings before work, as a single mother of two sons: 'The Bluest Eye' (1970) tells of a Black girl who wishes for blue eyes because the world has persuaded her she is not beautiful. 'Song of Solomon' brought the breakthrough; 'Beloved' (1987) the work of the century: the escaped slave Sethe is haunted by the ghost of the daughter she killed to save her from slavery: after the real case of Margaret Garner. The novel won the Pulitzer Prize; in 1993 came the crowning honour, the Nobel Prize in Literature: Morrison was the first Black woman to receive it. The Academy praised novels that 'give life to an essential aspect of American reality' with 'visionary force and poetic import'. Morrison wrote consistently from a Black perspective ('I don't write for the white gaze') and made the experience of slavery and its aftermath central to American literature. As a professor at Princeton she shaped generations; in 2012 Barack Obama presented her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. She died in New York in 2019. Did you know that the seed of 'Beloved' was planted while Morrison, as an editor, was collecting historical documents for 'The Black Book' and came across the 1856 newspaper article about Margaret Garner?
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Beloved
Published in 1987, Pulitzer Prize in 1988: after the real case of Margaret Garner.
💡 Did you know? „Beloved“ is considered one of the most important American novels of the 20th century.
first Black woman to win the Nobel
The Academy praised her 'visionary force and poetic import'.
💡 Did you know? In 1993 Morrison became the first Black woman to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature.
Margaret Garner
The escaped slave killed her daughter to save her from slavery: Morrison found the newspaper article while working as an editor.
💡 Did you know? The real case of Margaret Garner, who in 1856 killed her child rather than return it to slavery, inspired the novel.
blue eyes
Because the world has persuaded her she is not beautiful: written in the mornings before work, at nearly 40.
💡 Did you know? Pecola's longing for blue eyes shows how deeply racism poisons ideals of beauty and self-image.
editor
She brought Black voices into the catalogue: from Toni Cade Bambara to Muhammad Ali's autobiography.
💡 Did you know? As an editor at Random House, Morrison championed a whole generation of Black authors.
Song of Solomon
Published in 1977: the family saga of the flying ancestor made her famous nationwide.
💡 Did you know? „Song of Solomon“ made Morrison nationally known and won the National Book Critics Circle Award.
Chloe Wofford
'Toni' from her baptismal name Anthony, 'Morrison' from her early-divorced husband: she later regretted the pen name.
💡 Did you know? She took „Toni“ from her baptismal name Anthony; „Morrison“ came from her former husband.
from a Black perspective
She made slavery and its aftermath central to American literature.
💡 Did you know? Morrison wrote deliberately for a Black audience, refusing to explain anything to the white gaze.
the Pulitzer Prize
Before that, 48 Black writers had publicly protested that Morrison had still been passed over.
💡 Did you know? „Beloved“ won the 1988 Pulitzer Prize: after an open protest by numerous fellow authors.
Princeton
As one of the first Black women to hold a named chair at an Ivy League university.
💡 Did you know? At Princeton University, Morrison held a distinguished chair until 2006.
the Medal of Freedom
The USA's highest civilian honour: Obama praised her prose's 'moral and emotional intensity'.
💡 Did you know? In 2012 Barack Obama awarded Morrison the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest US civilian honour.
Lorain
Her debut 'The Bluest Eye' is set there too: the family had fled the South.
💡 Did you know? Growing up in an Ohio steel town, Morrison was the first in her family to earn a university degree.
Musée du Louvre
Under the title “The Foreigner's Home” she brought together literature, art and music about homelessness and migration.
💡 Did you know? Her starting point was Géricault's painting “The Raft of the Medusa”.
Foto: Gotfryd, Bernard, photographer · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Toni Morrison
Toni Morrison (1931 to 2019) was an American writer. In 1993 she became the first Black woman awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature; her novel „Beloved“ is a modern classic.
💡 Did you know? Before achieving world fame herself, Morrison spent years as a publishing editor bringing other Black authors' work into print.
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