About
Alice Walker is an American writer and activist born in 1944 in Eatonton, Georgia. She is the author of the novel 'The Color Purple' (1982), which won the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award in 1983, making her the first African American woman to win the Pulitzer for fiction. Walker also coined the term 'womanist' in her essay collection 'In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens' (1983). Involved in the civil rights movement, she was the first legally married Black woman to a white man in Mississippi. Her work explores themes of racism, sexism, and spirituality.
* 1944-02-09
Major works
- Once (1968)poetry
- The Third Life of Grange Copeland (1970)novel
- Meridian (1976)novel
- The Color Purple (1982)novel
- In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens: Womanist Prose (1983)essays
Key milestones
- 1983Becomes the first African American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction with 'The Color Purple'.
- 1967Marries lawyer Melvyn Leventhal, becoming the first legally married interracial couple in Mississippi.
- 2007Donates her complete literary archives to Emory University, including the manuscript of 'The Color Purple'.
Themes
RacismSexismBlack feminismSpiritualitySocial justice
Sources: news.emory.edu · nmaahc.si.edu · georgiawritersmuseum.org
