'Beloved' professor Morrison set to retire

Only months before creative writing professor Toni Morrison is set to retire, the New York Times Book Review has named her 1987 novel "Beloved" the best book in American fiction in the last 25 years.

"It is a happy occurrence that at the very moment that Professor Morrison has decided to retire she should have received this honor, one that is so richly deserved," Edmund White, director of creative writing and author of the recent memoir "My Lives," said in an email.

Though University officials declined to confirm Morrison's decision, several individuals familiar with her plans said she is likely to retire, though the move has not been finalized. Morrison, a Nobel laureate, has taught at Princeton since 1989.

"Not until the June 5 meeting of the Board of Trustees will they sign off on retirements," University spokeswoman Cass Cliatt '96 said. "We will know then."

The Times' honor was bestowed on Morrison by 125 writers, critics, editors and other prominent literary figures who were sent a letter by the Book Review's editor, Sam Tenanhaus, asking them to identify the "single best work of American fiction published in the last 25 years," Times critic A.O. Scott said in an essay about the list.

The winner of the 1988 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, "Beloved" follows the story of a mother and her daughter after they escape from slavery.

Eddie Glaude GS '97, associate professor of religion and acting director of the Program in African-American Studies, said his initial reaction to the Times' list was one of "excitement and joy."

"They obviously gathered a group of reasonable people [to judge]," Glaude said.

White, who was one of the judges for the award, also expressed admiration for the novel. "It seemed to me unsurprising and totally justified that Toni Morrison should have received the award for 'Beloved,' " White said. "It is, among other things, a great American historical epic about race, the most absorbing question our culture has yet proposed."

"Beloved" received 15 votes, beating out Don DeLillo's "Underworld," which received 11 votes. The other runners-up were Cormac McCarthy's "Blood Meridian" and John Updike's "Rabbit Angstrom," each earning eight votes. Philip Roth's "American Pastoral" followed with seven votes.

"Beloved" was adapted into a 1998 film of the same title starring Oprah Winfrey.

"The beauty of its language is an example of the mastery of craft," Glaude said. "The subject matter goes to the heart of the fragile experiment of democracy. The content reflects what is essential to who we are as Americans."

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While at the University, Morrison has taught creative writing classes and started the Princeton Atelier program, which brings professional artists to campus to teach seminars.

"Professor Morrison has brought so much to Princeton in her teaching and in the ateliers she has organized, which have exposed our students to leading writers from all over the world and to those who excel in all the arts," White said.

Glaude echoed White's sentiments. "I personally feel blessed to have had the opportunity to know Professor Morrison, to witness her genius, to see how masterful she is, not only as a writer but as a teacher," he said. "This award, this honor, acknowledges the power and expands the nature of her imaginative vision."