Octavia E. Butler. Alice Walker. Toni Morrison. Though their work spans genres and subject matter, each of these award-winning authors has made significant contributions to contemporary American literature.
In celebration of African American History Month, we’re proud to present three free posters featuring each of these acclaimed authors. Print and display them together to make one giant poster!
Octavia E. Butler
Born on June 22, 1947, in Pasadena, California, Octavia E. Butler developed her love for storytelling at a young age after receiving a typewriter as a gift from her mother. Inspired by the fantastic novels she read as a child, Butler spent her college years writing science fiction, a genre traditionally dominated by men. Her big break arrived in 1984 when her work “Speech Sounds” won the prestigious Hugo Award for Best Short Story. In 1995, after continuing to garner awards for her writing, Butler became the first science fiction author to receive a MacArthur Fellowship. Before her death in 2006, Butler published more than ten novels, the most notable being her dystopian works, Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents.
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Alice Walker
Alice Walker was born on February 9, 1944, in Eatonton, Georgia. After a childhood accident left her blind in one eye, Walker turned to writing to cope with the trauma, a process she described in her 1983 essay, “Beauty: When the Other Dancer Is the Self.” In 1983, her novel The Color Purple won both the National Book Award for hardcover fiction and the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. This novel, written in the form of a series of letters to God, is considered to be her most famous work. Aside from writing, Walker is a prominent activist, advocating for feminism and the betterment of women of color in modern society.
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Toni Morrison
Born Chloe Ardelia Wofford on February 18, 1931, Toni Morrison is one of the most celebrated contemporary African American authors. Morrison began her career working as an editor at Random House during the 1960s. Her first novel, The Bluest Eye, was published in 1970 and remains popular due to its poignant commentary on race, class, and gender identity. In 1988, Morrison’s novel Beloved received a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Five years later, she became the first black woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. In 2012, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America’s highest civilian honor, from President Obama.
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