Nobel prize winner and renowned professor, Toni Morrison, is a very influential writer whose impact deserves more discussion.

Hoping to inspire multiple generations, Toni Morrison created her works to appeal to both a young adult audience and an older audience. Her main focus throughout her writing was to show the beauty within the culture she grew up in under the influence of her family.

By incorporating Black culture into her writing, Toni Morrison has gone on to inspire not only the African American community, but other communities as well in an effort to foster a society that celebrates originality and a strong sense of character.

Some of Toni Morrison’s most famous works include: Beloved (which won a Pulitzer Prize for fiction), The Bluest Eye, and Song of Solomon. Beloved specifically details the story of Sethe, a runaway slave, as she navigates life in a world where the ghost of her deceased daughter haunts her family. This story was extremely touching for me to read because I have always had a love for history, and hearing a historical fiction novel Morrison’s perspective was specifically enlightening for me. 

The importance of examining the work of Toni Morrison in literature is evident as she has served to showcase the unjust society in which many African American people lived, specifically women, and its impact on the world we see today.

 Morrison’s perspective is one that goes beyond what schools often teach from textbooks, and gives a deeper meaning to the hardships that many faced in the 19th century.

– Taylor O.

Books by Toni Morrison are available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.