On Morrison
Deepen your understanding of one of our greatest writers
Published on 19. February 2026
352 pages
978-1-5299-7387-7 (ISBN)
Description
'Breathtaking, provocative and refreshing' IMANI PERRY
'Serpell is a superlative essayist' DIANA EVANS
The essential companion to Toni Morrison's work, written by Namwali Serpell, 'one of the most innovative and intelligent writers today' (Financial Times)
Toni Morrison, Nobel Laureate and most beloved of writers, has inspired generations of readers. But her artistic genius is often overshadowed by her monumental public persona, perhaps because, as Namwali Serpell puts it, 'she is our only truly canonical black, female writer - and her work is highly complex.' In On Morrison, Serpell brings her unique experience as both an award-winning writer and professor to illuminate Toni Morrison's masterful experiments with literary form.
This is Morrison as you've never encountered her before, a journey through her vivid fiction and criticism, as well as her lesser-known dramatic works and poetry - with contextual guidance and original close readings. Accessible and thrillingly rigorous, On Morrison is a primer not only on how to read one of the most significant American contemporary authors of our time, but how to approach any great work of literature. The conversation between the two black women artist-readers that rises from these pages is stylish, edifying and spectacular in its scope and erudition.
'A literary miracle' KIESE LAYMON
'Stunning reconsiderations of Morrison... incisive, tender, and also honest and unsparing' HANIF ABDURRAQIB, author of A Little Devil in America
'Serpell is a superlative essayist' DIANA EVANS
The essential companion to Toni Morrison's work, written by Namwali Serpell, 'one of the most innovative and intelligent writers today' (Financial Times)
Toni Morrison, Nobel Laureate and most beloved of writers, has inspired generations of readers. But her artistic genius is often overshadowed by her monumental public persona, perhaps because, as Namwali Serpell puts it, 'she is our only truly canonical black, female writer - and her work is highly complex.' In On Morrison, Serpell brings her unique experience as both an award-winning writer and professor to illuminate Toni Morrison's masterful experiments with literary form.
This is Morrison as you've never encountered her before, a journey through her vivid fiction and criticism, as well as her lesser-known dramatic works and poetry - with contextual guidance and original close readings. Accessible and thrillingly rigorous, On Morrison is a primer not only on how to read one of the most significant American contemporary authors of our time, but how to approach any great work of literature. The conversation between the two black women artist-readers that rises from these pages is stylish, edifying and spectacular in its scope and erudition.
'A literary miracle' KIESE LAYMON
'Stunning reconsiderations of Morrison... incisive, tender, and also honest and unsparing' HANIF ABDURRAQIB, author of A Little Devil in America
Reviews / Votes
Serpell is a superlative essayist, and On Morrison a high-flying, fantastically erudite rendition of how Morrison wanted to be read, blending the scholarly and the personal response to her work with seamless flair and conviction -- DIANA EVANS, author of Ordinary People In On Morrison, Serpell applies her prodigious intellect, vast literary archive, and her own calling as a novelist to magnificent effect in this breathtaking, provocative, and refreshing engagement with Morrison as a thinker as well as an artist -- IMANI PERRY Morrison gave me language to understand the voices of my African-American kin. In this brilliant book, Namwali Serpell invites the reader into an intimate conversation. She is scholar - with an incisive intellect and a questing spirit. And she is literary bestie: accessible, challenging and illuminating -- ELLAH P. WAKATAMA Serpell offers a thrilling, candid and immersive study of one extraordinary mind by another, and a critical reappraisal of a body of work that readers of Morrison will find enlightening for years to come. A necessary book, and a brilliant achievement -- PRETI TANEJA, author of We That Are Young Immense gratitude for this book, and for Namwali Serpell's close looking, which has led to these stunning reconsiderations of Morrison, which are incisive, tender, and also honest and unsparing -- HANIF ABDURRAQIB, author of A Little Devil in America On Morrison is not simply a literary miracle; it is a cultural feat, a damn near perfect concoction made maybe once in a generation... we should be thankful to share the earth with this art object -- KIESE LAYMON, author of Heavy: An American Memoir As gripping as it is intellectually brilliant... a lucid and revelatory close-read of all of her work, it's also a love letter to reading itself; to the virtues of difficulty; to Black literary inheritance; and to Morrison's uncompromising vision in always bringing the center to the margins. Serpell has alchemized her scholarly erudition with her novelist's eyes and ears for pacing and detail. On Morrison is a classic -- CATHY PARK HONG, author of Minor Feelings An impressive, nuanced work of scholarship * Kirkus, starred review * Insightful and stimulating... Through exceptional close readings and sharp analyses, Serpell puts Morrison's genius on full display. This will enthrall Morrison fans and cultivate new ones -- Publishers Weekly, starred reviewMore details
Edition
New edition
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Vintage Publishing
Edition type
New edition
File size
1,64 MB
ISBN-13
978-1-5299-7387-7 (9781529973877)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Person
Namwali Serpell was born in Lusaka and lives in New York. Her debut novel, The Old Drift, won the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, the Arthur C. Clarke Award, and the Los Angeles Times's Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction. Her second novel, The Furrows, was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and selected as one of The New York Times's Ten Best Books of the Year. Her book of criticism, Stranger Faces, was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. She is a professor of English at Harvard University.
