Toni+Morrison

[|Lorain, Ohio], the second of four children in a working-class family. As a child, Morrison read constantly; among her favorite authors were [|Jane Austen] and [|Leo Tolstoy]. Morrison's father, George Wofford, a welder by trade, told her numerous folktales of the black community (a method of storytelling that would later work its way into Morrison's writings). In 1949 Morrison entered [|Howard University] to study humanities. While there she began going by the nickname of "Toni," which derives from her middle name, Anthony.[|[1]][|[3]] Morrison received a B.A. in English from Howard in 1953, then earned a [|Master of Arts] degree, also in English, from [|Cornell University] in 1955, for which she wrote a thesis on suicide in the works of [|William Faulkner] and [|Virginia Woolf].[|[4]] After graduation, Morrison became an English instructor at [|Texas Southern University] in [|Houston, Texas] (from 1955-57) then returned to Howard to teach English. She became a member of [|Alpha Kappa Alpha] Sorority, Inc.In 1958 she married Harold Morrison. They had two children, Harold and Slade, and divorced in 1964. After the divorce she moved to [|Syracuse, New York], where she worked as a textbook editor. Eighteen months later she went to work as an editor at the [|New York City] headquarters of [|Random House]. As an editor, Morrison played an important role in bringing [|African American literature] into the mainstream. She edited books by such black authors as [|Toni Cade Bambara], and [|Angela Davis] Toni Morrison has made many achievements throughout her career as an author and also stirred up some controversy too. She was the first African American to win Nobel Prize for literature in 1993. Her book the __Bluest Eye__ was chosen as a selection in Oprah’s Book Club. Her book __Sula__ was nominated for the National Book Award and __Song of Solomon__ was the first book by an African American to win the National Book Critics Circle. When Morrison’s book __Beloved__ failed to win the National Book Critics Circle, a number of writers protested and the book later won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

Toni Morrison also caused quite a stir when she refered openly to Bill Clinton as the first black president. Toni reasoned this by saying that Clinton coming from a single parent houshold, born poor, a working class family from arkensas who loved to eat junk food and play the saxaphone. She said that Clinton had every aspect of a blackperson. This then got many radio announcers and tabloid writers refering and making jokes about Clinton being black as well. This caused much controversy and much popularity for the former president of the United States of America.

Toni Morrison was born on February 18, 1931 in Lorain, Ohio.She has published seven books, including The Bluest Eye. She often writes about the slavery struggles of Black Americans, usually through the point of view of children. In the first grade, Toni was the only girl in her class who knew how to read. Many people couldn’t pronounce her first name Chloe, so she changed it to Toni, from her middle name Anthony.

Toni Morrison was not always known by that name.The name she was born with was **Chloe Anthony Wofford**