Alice Walker

Alice Malsenior Walker (born February 9, 1944) is an African American author whose most famous novel, The Color Purple, won both the Pulitzer Prize and the American Book Award.

Biography

Walker was born in Eatonton, Georgia, the United States. She attended Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia and graduated in 1965 from Sarah Lawrence College in Yonkers (Bronxville postal zone), New York. Her first book of poetry was written while she was still a senior at Sarah Lawrence. She returned to the South to work in the U.S. civil rights movement.

Related Topics:
Eatonton - Georgia - United States - Spelman College - Atlanta, Georgia - 1965 - Sarah Lawrence College - Yonkers - Bronxville - New York - U.S. civil rights movement

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Walker was also an editor for Ms. Magazine. An article she published in 1975 was largely responsible for the renewal of interest in the work of Zora Neale Hurston.

Related Topics:
Ms. Magazine - Zora Neale Hurston

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She won the 1986 O. Henry Award for her short story "Kindred Spirits" published in Esquire magazine in August of 1985.

Related Topics:
O. Henry Award - Short story - Esquire magazine

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A political activist (due in part to the influence of Howard Zinn), she is active in environmental, feminist, and civil rights causes. She has advocated ending the decades-long embargo against Cuba. Her daughter, Rebecca Walker, is also a prominent activist.

Related Topics:
Howard Zinn - Environmental - Feminist - Civil rights - Embargo against Cuba - Rebecca Walker

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During her youth, an incident left Alice with a permanent injury that would soon scar her for life. While playing with her brothers, she was accidentally shot in the eye, and forced to get a glass replacement because of people's attitudes toward her.

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