Toni Morrison (1931-2019) wrote numerous novels, children’s books, short stories, plays, poetry, and nonfiction work. She is renowned for her handling of American race relations in her work. Although she did not identify herself or her work with feminism, her novels typically center Black women characters. As the first Black female senior editor in the fiction department of Random House, Morrison was influential in bringing Black literature into the mainstream. As a celebrated writer, Morrison has received numerous awards and honors, including but not limited to induction into the Ohio Women’s Hall of Fame and the National Women’s Hall of Fame, as well as the American Book Award, the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Morrison received a B.A. in English from Howard University in 1953, and she received an M.A. in American Literature from Cornell University in 1955. During the span of her career, she received Honorary Doctorates from the University of Pennsylvania, Howard University, Gustavus Adolphus College, the University of Oxford, Rutgers University, the University of Geneva, and Princeton University. Morrison has held professorships at Texas Southern University, Howard University, Bard College, Rutgers University, and the State University of New York. Morrison published her first novel, The Bluest Eye, in 1970, followed by Sula in 1973.