“Toni Morrison: Sites of Memory” opens at the Princeton University Library Feb. 22 and anchors the series. An art exhibition, newly commissioned performances, a landmark symposium, courses, and a spring lecture series are also in store.
Emily Judd, Princeton Univeristy Library
Jan. 28, 2021 4:04 p.m.
Although the course Reading Toni Morrison was taught virtually this fall, students were given special digital access to the Toni Morrison papers in Princeton University Library s Special Collections to explore the Nobel Laureate and Princeton professor emerita s creative process.
Photos courtesy of Special Collections, Princeton University Library, and by Sameer A. Khan/Fotobuddy
What is it like to pore over and even touch the handwriting of a world-renowned author on the lined notepaper on which she drafted her famous novels? What do you learn about the writing process from reading an author’s handwritten pen and pencil scribbles as she made changes to early drafts of work on typewritten pages? And what happens when access to those literary pages of gold is threatened by the pandemic?