Toni Morrison to be Honored With Presidential Medal of Freedom

Toni Morrison will need to make some more room in her awards cabinet. The 81-year-old writer and educator has already garnered a Nobel Prize, a Pulitzer Prize, and numerous literary awards, and now she has been named as one of the recipients of this year’s Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Speaking of her talents, a statement from the White House hailed Morrison as “one of our nation’s most celebrated novelists” and agreed with the Nobel Prize committee when they said Morrison was an author “who in novels characterized by visionary force and poetic import, gives life to an essential aspect of American reality.”

Despite her age, Morrison continues to write today and is gearing up for the release of her latest novel, Home.

Morrison will be honored along with singer Bob Dylan; former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright; astronaut John Glenn; legendary basketball coach Pat Summitt; and eight others.