The first African-American woman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, Toni Morrison, has died at the age of 88 years.
According to the AFP news agency, Morrison died at the Montefiore Medical Center in New York.
A statement issued by Morrison’s family confirmed “with profound sadness” that Morrison died “following a short illness”.
The statement read; “Our extremely devoted mother, grandmother, and aunt has passed away peacefully last night [5 August] surrounded by family and friends”.
“The consummate writer who treasured the written word, whether her own, her students or others, she read voraciously and was most at home when writing.
“Although her passing represents a tremendous loss, we are grateful she had a long, well lived life.”
The family also added that “while we would like to thank everyone who knew and loved her, personally or through her work, for their support at this difficult time, we ask for privacy as we mourn this loss to our family.
“We will share information in the near future about how we will celebrate Toni’s incredible life.
During her lifetime, she was a novelist, editor and educator, also a professor emeritus at Princeton University
Ms Morrison’s works specialized on African-American life and culture, and also dominated an industry in which depictions of black life were often limited and rooted in stereotype.
Her novels were usually on the lives of African Americans. She told their stories with a singular lyricism, from the post-Civil War maelstrom of “Beloved” to the colonial setting of “A Mercy” to the modern yet classic dilemmas depicted in her 11th novel, “God Help the Child.”
