Special Issue of South Central Review Spring 2024 41.1

“The Legacies of Toni Morrison”

Call for Submissions

Nobel laureate Toni Morrison (1931-2019) has left an indelible imprint on the national and international literary landscape.  She is the author of eleven novels, five children’s books, two plays, and nine non-fiction texts.  Her powerful prose—at once scathing and soothing, always insightful—has been translated to reach the minds and hearts of readers of fifteen languages ranging from Chinese, Italian, and French to Persian, Hebrew, and Czech.  Morrison’s novel, Sula was nominated for the National Book Award in 1973 and Song of Solomon won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction in 1978. Her novel Beloved won the Pulitzer-prize for fiction in 1988 and the film adaptation starring Oprah Winfrey and Danny Glover was released to popular audiences ten years later.  More recently, Timothy Greenfield’s stellar documentary, Toni Morrison: The Pieces That I Am was released shortly after her passing in 2019.  Toni Morrison stands tall as one of the most well-known, well-read, and often-taught authors of the 20th and 21st centuries.  Clearly, her legacy will continue to have a lasting effect on generations to come.

The editors of this special issue of the South Central Review, “The Legacies of Toni Morrison,” seek submissions from a diversity of approaches that explore Morrison as novelist, essayist, playwright, editor, teacher, orator, activist, and cultural critic. Of particular interest are essays that examine

‣ varied interpretations of Morrison’s individual literary works;

‣adaptations of Morrison for the stage or screen;

‣Morrison’s less well-known works, including her poetry, short story “Recitatif,” and the 2005 opera libretto Margaret Garner;

‣ the political, social, educational, and artistic impact of Morrison’s literature and criticism;

‣ Morrison’s impact as the first African American female editor at Random House, responsible for creating The Black Book (1974) and influencing the works and careers of Angela Davis, Muhammad Ali, Henry Dumas, Gayl Jones, Toni Cade Bambara, and many others;

‣ the implications surrounding the inclusion and/or exclusion of Morrison’s works from classroom curricula and libraries;

‣ the ways in which scholars configure Morrison in the American and global literary canon;

‣ effective approaches and successful strategies for teaching the works of Morrison;

‣ Morrison’s influence and inspiration on writers, artists, and students today

For consideration, essays should be 6500-7000 words and formatted in The Chicago Manual of Style 17th edition. Please send submissions and inquiries to Rebecca Nicholson Weir  at rweir@wtamu.edu and DeLinda Marzette at demarzette@pvamu.edu.  Deadline for consideration March 15, 2023.