Toni Morrison was an American novelist, professor, and essay writer. She published her first novel The Bluest Eye in 1970, but her most well-known work is Beloved, published in 1987. This novel gave her the recognition to go on to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1993. Morrison was the first black female editor of fiction for Random House NYC. She carries a string of honours and rewards for her work across the last half-century.