Alice Walker
Alice Walker (1944 - ) is an African American writer, most known for her book The Color Purple. Walker won the National Book Award, the Pulitzer Prize (1985) , and the O. Henry Award.
- Alice WalkerOfficial website of Alice Walker.
- Alice Walker: BritannicaAlice Walker, in full Alice Malsenior Walker, (born February 9, 1944, Eatonton, Georgia, U.S.), American writer whose novels, short stories, and poems are noted for their insightful treatment of African American culture.
- Alice Walker: Poetry FoundationWalker’s writing reflects her roots in Georgia, where Black vernacular was prominent and the stamp of slavery and oppression were still present.
Research & Reference
- Alice Walker: Credo ReferenceA Credo Reference landing page on Alice Walker. This page includes links to reference works, journal articles, and a mind map.
- Alice Walker papers, circa 1930-2014Papers of Alice Walker, an African American poet, novelist, and activist, including correspondence, manuscript and typescript writings, writings by other authors, subject files, printed material, publishing files and appearance files, audiovisual materials, photographs, scrapbooks, personal files journals, and born digital materials.
Streaming Media
- Alice WalkerBeing black, being a woman, and being a writer is just the most wonderful challenge. It’s like having three eyes, three hearts, rather than one," says the author of The Color Purple in this profile, as she relives her journey from an impoverished childhood in rural Georgia to the peace and creativity of her present life in northern California. Alice Walker describes how the Civil Rights movement transformed her life, defines her concept of "womanism," and explains her recurrent theme of a woman’s recovery of wholeness through resistance to racism and sexism.
Author's Works & Perspectives
The Color Purple
The Pulitzer Prize-winning novel that tells the story of two sisters through their correspondence. With a new Preface by the author.
Alice Walker's The Color Purple
Alice Walker's Pulitzer Prize winning novel The Color Purple is a tale of personal empowerment which opens with a protagonist Celie who is at the bottom of America's social caste. A poor, black, ugly and uneducated female in the America's Jim Crow South in the first half of the 20th century, she is the victim of constant rape, violence and misogynistic verbal abuse. Celie cannot conceive of an escape from her present condition, and so she learns to be passive and unemotional. But The Color Purple eventually demonstrates how Celie learns to fight back and how she discovers her true sexuality and her unique voice. By the end of the novel, Celie is an empowered, financially-independent entrepreneur/landowner, one who speaks her mind and realizes the desirability of black femaleness while creating a safe space for herself and those she loves. Through a journey of literary criticism, "Dialogue: Alice Walker's The Color Purple" follows Celie's transformation from victim to hero. Each scholarly essay becomes a step of the journey that paves the way for the development of self and sexual awareness, the beginnings of religious transformation and the creation of nurturing places like home and community.