Toni Morrison Background

Toni Morrison has lived a very eventful life that has led to many interesting stories. Also after researching an author, I feel as though I can better understand where they may be coming from in their works. Toni Morrison was actually born Chloe Anthony Wofford but changed her name as some people actually found Chloe too hard to pronounce. She was the only black child in her first-grade class and the only child that could read. In college, Morrison wrote her thesis on the suicide of famous authors, and one of her favorite authors growing up was Jane Austen. In 1987, she was named the Robert F. Goheen Professor in the Council of Humanities at Princeton University. Winning this award made her the only African American woman to hold a named chair at an Ivy League University. One year later, in 1988 she won the Pulitzer Prize for Beloved and won the Nobel Prize in literature in 1993. Her house actually caught on fire and burned down in that same year. As you can see Morrison is a very experienced person and has gained lots of knowledge throughout her life.