Toni Morrison

Toni Morrison (1931–2019) was an American writer and professor of African American literature at Princeton University. Born in Lorain, Ohio, she studied English at Cornell University. Her best-known works include *The Bluest Eye*, *Song of Solomon*, *Beloved*, and *Jazz*, as well as her essays. She received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1993. Her other honors included the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, awarded by Barack Obama in 2012.