Photos: Remembering Toni Morrison, doyenne of literature for freedom
Updated On Aug 08, 2019 12:14 PM IST
Toni Morrison, a pioneer and reigning giant of modern literature whose imaginative power in “Beloved,” ‘’Song of Solomon” and other works transformed American letters by dramatizing the pursuit of freedom within the boundaries of race, died on August 05, 2019 at age 88 following a brief illness. The recipient of Pulitzer Prize, Nobel Prize for literature and Presidential Medal of Freedom, publisher Alfred A. Knopf announced her demise on Monday, August 05, 2019 in New York. A look at her illustrious career in literature and as a voice for the African-American community.
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Visitors view a portrait of Toni Morrison, by the artist Robert McCurdy at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington. Morrison, a pioneer and giant of modern literature whose imaginative power in ‘Beloved,’ ‘Song of Solomon’ and other works transformed American letters by dramatizing the pursuit of freedom within the boundaries of race, died aged 88 following a brief illness. (Patrick Semansky / AP)
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Toni Morrison smiles with then US President Barack Obama as he prepares to award her a 2012 Presidential Medal of Freedom during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House on May 29, 2012. “I remember reading ‘Song of Solomon’ when I was a kid and not just trying to figure out how to write, but also how to be and how to think,” Obama said, referring to her 1977 novel. (Kevin Lamarque / REUTERS File)
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An artist completes a wall painting depicting Morrison at the unveiling ceremony of a memorial bench marking the abolition of slavery in Paris, November 5, 2010. The Nobel committee honoured her career and dedication to centering the lives and histories of African Americans, writing in its citation that Morrison’s work is “characterized by visionary force and poetic import” and “gives life to an essential aspect of American reality.” (Benoit Tessier / REUTERS File)
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Toni Morrison holds an orchid at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York on April 5, 1994. “I’m not a victim. I refuse to be one... if you can only be tall because somebody is on their knees, then you have a serious problem. And my feeling is that white people have a very, very serious problem and they should start thinking about what they can do about it. Take me out of it,” said Morrison. (Kathy Willens / AP File)
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Morrison receives the Nobel Prize in literature from King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, on December 10, 1993. Though Bob Dylan (somewhat controversially) was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2016, Morrison was the last American novelist to win the award, and the last American to actually show up to deliver an acceptance lecture. “Narrative is radical, creating us at the very moment it is being created,” she said. (AP File)
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Toni Morrison poses in her New York apartment, on January 12, 1998. Morrison was best known for her 1987 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel “Beloved,” later adapted into a 1998 film starring Oprah Winfrey and Danny Glover. (Jim Cooper / AP File)
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Updated on Aug 08, 2019 12:14 PM IST