Toni Morrison receives $25K PEN/Saul Bellow Award for Achievement in American Fiction

Nobel laureate Toni Morrison(85) has been awarded the $25,000 2016 PEN/Saul Bellow Award for Achievement in American Fiction, an honorary prize given to a distinguished living American author of fiction.

"Toni Morrison not only opened doors to others when she began to publish, she has also stayed grounded in the issues of her time," said Louise Erdrich, a judge and former recipient of the award.

"At every turn, she has commented upon and enlarged the conversation about what it is to be black, female, human, universal. Her brilliant and bracing fiction continues to address what is crucial, timely and timeless."

Tori Morrison is the author of Beloved, Song of Solomon and most recently,God Help the Child