2011 Library of Congress Creative Achievement Award for Fiction

The work of Toni Morrison has gained worldwide acclaim. The 1993 Nobel Prize in literature was awarded to Morrison, “who in novels characterized by visionary force and poetic import, gives life to an essential aspect of American reality.” Her novel “Beloved” won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1988. In 2006, The New York Times asked several hundred well-known writers, critics, editors and other knowledgeable parties to identify “the single best work of American fiction published in the last 25 years.” “Beloved” was at the top of the list. 

Toni Morrison writes of the African-American experience often focusing on the relationship between the individual and society. While teaching at Howard University, she began her budding career. Her first novel, “The Bluest Eye,” was published in 1970 and she quickly became known as a promising writer. In 2000, the Library of Congress named her a Living Legend. 

• View Resource Guide on Toni Morrison
• Video of Toni Morrison at the 2011 National Book Festival

 

Related Library Resources

• View a history of African immigration to the United States.
• Read “African American Making History: Howard University President Gives Keynote” from the February 1996 Library of Congress Information Bulletin.

Selected Works at the Library of Congress

• Toni Morrison