• Home
• About The Society
• Programs
• Resources
• Photo Gallery

The Toni Morrison Society will be well represented at the spring meetings of the two major scholarly organizations, where Society members will present papers and receive an award.

April –College Language Association Meeting April 23-April 26, Vancouver Washington

Toni Morrison Society President Michelle Hite, Board Member Kristine Yohe, and Research and Publications Committee Member Zanice Bond will join Yumina Barbour- Payne of the University of Virginia and Monic Ductan of Tennessee Technological University in a Roundtable Discussion on “Teaching Affrilachia: Cultivating Community and Culture. The Roundtable will feature discussions on Affrilachian writers and community members and strategies for teaching about Affrilachia in the college classroom. The panel will be held on Thursday April 24 th at 10:00am at the Hilton Vancouver Washington Hotel.

“Teaching Affrilachia: Cultivating Community and Culture”

Chair: Zanice Bond, Tuskegee University

Teaching Affrilachian Literature as Antiracist Pedagogy,” Kristine Yohe, Northern Kentucky University

“Ashley M. Jones, An Affrilachian in Alabama,” Zanice Bond, Tuskegee University

“Pivot to the Stage! A Director’s Pedagogy for Stage Adaptations of Crystal Wilkinson’s Blackberries, Blackberries,” Yumina Barbour-Payne, University of Virginia

“Teaching the Now: How to Teach the Affrilachian Poets in Our Contemporary Political Environment,” Monic Ductan, Tennessee Technological University

“Affrilachian Grandfathers: Leadership Lessons,” Michelle S. Hite, Spelman College

May-- American Literature Association Conference May 21-May 24 Boston, Massachusetts

As a member of the coalition of Author Society that make up the American Literature Association, the Toni Society will again host two scholarly sessions at the meeting.

The first session, ”Toni Morrison and Eulogy,” will be a panel of scholarly papers presented on Thursday morning May 22 nd and will be chaired by Vice President and Society Program Chair Emmanuelle Andres.

The second session, a Roundtable on Toni Morrison’s “Recitatif” will be held on Thursday afternoon, May 22 nd will be chaired by Society Membership Chair Tracyann Williams.

“Toni Morrison and Eulogy.” Session 1-F: 8:30-9:50 am

Chair: Emmanuelle Andres, La Rochelle Université, France

1. "Bringing Black History Home: Archival Healing in Toni Morrison’s The Black Book (1974)," Maddie Lacy, Rice University.
2. "Speculatively Rooted: The Ancestor as Supernatural Foundation". Britt Threatt, University of the South (Sewanee).
3. "Between Memory and Narrative: 'Recitatif's' Interpretive Demands," Kiran Lam-Saili, Harvard University.

Roundtable on "Recitatif". Session 4-G 1:00pm to 2:20pm

Chair: Tracyann Williams, Fordham University, New York

1. “Toni Morrison’s ‘Recitatif’ (1983) and the Trope of Two Women in American Literature,” Samantha English, Northwestern University.
2. “What the Author Does Not Know: ‘Recitatif’ as Toni Morrison’s ‘Controlled Wilderness,’” Hsiu-Chuan Lee, National Normal Taiwan University.
3. “Playing Outside: Toni Morrison’s Use of Music as Deterministic Disruption in ‘Recitatif’ and Jazz,” Emily Grace, Catholic University of America.
4. “The Sound of Blackness: ‘Recitatif’ and Hip-Hop,” Queen D. Scott, Brown University.

African American Literature and Culture Society Reading and Award Ceremony Friday 6:00pm-8:00pm

At the ALA conference, the Toni Morrison Society will be one of the author-society sponsors of the Reception and Awards Ceremony on Friday evening hosted by the African American Literature and Culture Society. The Stephen Henderson Award for Outstanding Achievement in Poetry will be presented to Tracy K. Smith. The Darwin T. Turner Award will be presented to Society Board Member Farah Jasmine Griffin, and the Octavia E Butler Award will be presented to Shirley Moody-Turner. The ceremony will be held from 6:00pm to 9:00pm Staffordshire. Room at the Copley Hilton Hotel.

upcoming

of interest