American · 1931–2019
Toni Morrison won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1993—the first African American woman laureate—for novels that "give life to an essential aspect of American reality." "Beloved" (1988) won the Pulitzer Prize for its story of a former slave haunted by her murdered daughter. "Song of Solomon," "Sula," "The Bluest Eye"—each novel expanded what American fiction could contain. Morrison edited and championed Black writers throughout her career. She died in 2019, having transformed American literature.