[This entry was updated by Catherine E. Lewis (University of South Carolina) from the entry by Denise Heinze (Western Carolina University) in DLB 143: American Novelists Since World War II, Third Series.]

Toni Morrison became a novelist for the ages when she was awarded the 1993 Nobel Prize for literature. The eighth woman and the first black American to win the prize, Morrison expressed surprise and delight at receiving the honor and displayed an impetuous generosity:

I was thrilled that my mother is still alive and can share this with me. And I can claim representation in so many areas. I'm a Midwesterner, and everyone in Ohio is excited. I'm also a New Yorker, and a New Jerseyan, and an American, plus I'm an African-American, and a woman. I know it seems like I'm spreading like algae when I put it this way, but I'd like to think of the...