We felt that she had allowed us to enter into a sanctuary, and that, however subtly, she was completely in control of the situation. Despite the high ceilings, the big desk, and the high-backed black rocking chairs, the room had the warm feeling of a kitchen, maybe because talking to Morrison about writing is the intimate kind of conversation that often seems to happen in kitchens or perhaps it was the fact that as our energy started flagging she magically produced mugs of cranberry juice. Jade plants sit in a window and a few more potted plants hang above.

On her desk is a blue glass teacup emblazoned with the likeness of Shirley Temple filled with the number two pencils that she uses to write her first drafts. The interview took place in her office, which is decorated with a large Helen Frankenthaler print, pen-and-ink drawings an architect did of all the houses that appear in her work, photographs, a few framed book-jacket covers, and an apology note to her from Hemingway-a forgery meant as a joke. We talked with Morrison one summer Sunday afternoon on the lush campus of Princeton University. Lawrence of the black psyche.” She is also a master of the public novel, examining the relationships between the races and sexes and the struggle between civilization and nature, while at the same time combining myth and the fantastic with a deep political sensitivity. But she does not reject all classifications, and, in fact, embraces the title “black woman writer.” Her ability to transform individuals into forces and idiosyncrasies into inevitabilities has led some critics to call her the “D. As one of the few novelists whose work is both popular and critically acclaimed, she can afford the luxury of choosing what praise to accept. Toni Morrison detests being called a “poetic writer.” She seems to think that the attention that has been paid to the lyricism of her work marginalizes her talent and denies her stories their power and resonance.

Interviewed by Elissa Schappell & Claudia Brodsky Lacour Issue 128, Fall 1993

Toni morrison on beloved