Toni Morrison Tribute in Celebration of NYPL’s 125th Anniversary
By Taylor Smith
Produced in partnership with the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, the New York Public Library (NYPL) at 476 Fifth Avenue (at 42nd Street) presents an evening of performances and conversations centered around Toni Morrison, the American icon, writer, and intellectual, on Wednesday, March 18 at 7 p.m.
The NYPL has served millions of people from around the world since 1895. According to its website, “The Library’s 125th anniversary is a moment to celebrate and reaffirm the enduring power of libraries. Our values of trust, respect, and free and open access to knowledge and opportunity are as essential today as ever before. “
Morrison joined the board of the NYPL in 1985 and became a life trustee in 2006. Born in 1931, Morrison’s legacy includes a nearly 50-year career. She wrote more than 11 novels and received the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, Nobel Prize in Literature, PEN/Saul Bellow Award for Achievement in American Fiction, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. She also penned a wide variety of nonfiction, short fiction, and theater.
Morrison’s classic novel Beloved received the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction in 1988. Set during the Reconstruction, Beloved tells the story of Sethe, a runaway slave whose house becomes haunted by the ghost of her daughter. Arguably, her other best-known works are Song of Solomon (1977), A Mercy (2008), Sula (1973), Jazz (1992), and The Bluest Eye (1970).
The March 18th Toni Morrison tribute event will include appearances, readings, and theatrical performances by “an all-star lineup of writers, actors, and thinkers.”
Tickets to the Library’s Spring 2020 LIVE season will go on sale for members on Tuesday, January 21. General sale begins on Thursday, January 23. All proceeds from ticket sales benefit the NYPL. To learn more, visit https://www.nypl.org/events/programs/2020/03/18/toni-morrison-tribute or sign-up for their e-Newsletter at http://pages.email.nypl.org/livenewsletter/.
To learn more about NYPL’s vision for the future, history, and more than 92 locations, visit https://www.nypl.org/.