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1st African-American woman Nobel laureate Toni Morrison dies

As the world grieved for her, prominent personalities wrote condolences for her on social media.

SNS | New Delhi | August 7, 2019 3:10 pm

1st African-American woman Nobel laureate Toni Morrison dies

( Photo: Twitter/@ava)

First African-American woman to win the Nobel Prize in literature, in 1993, Toni Morrison passed away in Bronx( US) on Tuesday. She was 88.

Her demise was announced by her publisher, Alfred A. Knopf.

One of the rare American authors whose books were both critically and commercially acclaimed, Toni Morrison was a prolific writer with 11 novels, many children’s books and essay collections to her name.

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After Song of Solomon(1977) won the National Book Critics Circle Award and brought her into light, Morrison never looked back and continued to flourish as a writer to reckon.

In 1988, she won the Pulitzer Prize and the American Book Award for Beloved(1987) and established herself as part of the Post-Colonial canon.

Despite courting controversy for various reasons in her literary career, Morrison was a deeply admired and respected figure in literary circles across the world.

As the world grieved for her, prominent personalities wrote condolences for her on social media.

Former US President Barack Obama who presented Morrison with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012 wrote, “a national treasure, as good a storyteller, as captivating, in person as she was on the page. ”

Carles Puigdemont wrote, “”We die. That may be the meaning of life. But we do language. That may be the measure of our lives”.

US Senator and Presidential candidate for 2020 elections, Kamala Harris wrote, “In the passing of Toni Morrison, we lost one of our greatest voices & storytellers. Holding close those touched by her being & her gift. Her work gave us power, hope & freedom. While our world shines a little less bright today, we know “something that is loved is never lost.”

U.S. Senator from Vermont and candidate for President of the United States Bernie Sanders wrote on Twitter, “”If you are free, you need to free somebody else. If you have some power, then your job is to empower somebody else.” -Toni MorrisonToday we lost an American legend. May she rest in peace.”

Former US Senator and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton wrote, “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 said. We are all so lucky to live in a world where she took her own advice and shared it with others.”

American Television producer, Shonda Rhimes, best known for Grey’s Anatomy wrote on Twitter, “She made me understand“writer” was a fine profession. I grew up wanting to be only her. Dinner with her was a night I will never forget. Rest, Queen. “Toni Morrison, seminal author who stirringly chronicled the Black American experience, dies”

Filmmaker and distributor Ava DuVernay wrote, ““If you look at the world as a brutal game, then you bump into the mystery of the tree-shaped scar. There seems to be such a thing as grace, such a thing as beauty, such a thing as harmony. All of which are wholly free and available to us.” Your life was our gift,#ToniMorison”

 

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