#Voices from the Stacks
Five Poems By Toni Morrison
Toni Morrison, who sadly passed away earlier this year (February 1931- August 2019) was born in Lorain, Ohio, USA as Chloe Ardelia Wofford. The central theme of Morrison's work was “the black American experience; in an unjust society, her characters struggle to find themselves and their cultural identity.” (Britannica) She won numerous awards for her work, including being the first African-American woman to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature, awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama in 2012, a Pulitzer Prize for Beloved, a National Book Critics Circle award for Song of Solomon, and the Coretta Scott King Award.
The item for today showcases five of Morrison’s poems in a fine art binding, illustrated with silhouettes by Kara Walker. The archives copy is signed by Morrison, as well as the illustrator and letterpress printer.
“If there is a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, you must be the one to write it.“ --Toni Morrison
--Diane R.
