Toni Morrison in conversation with Junot Diaz at the New York Public Library

Toni Morrison has written harrowing, elegant, gut wrenching books for over thirty years. Her skill as a master storyteller is heralded by readers and critics all over the world. Last December,  Ms. Morrison was interviewed by her self-professed biggest fan Junot Diaz at the New York Public Library. Their conversation was wide ranging. In addition to discussing the art and process of writing, Ms. Morrison talked extensively about her work editing some of the seminal works of the post-Civil Rights Movement /1960's African American Letters.

Junot Diaz lays out his ardor throughout their conversation, but I believe this rumination on Ms. Morrison’s influence on his existence speaks loudest:

“Besides the fact that you can out-write any motherfucker on the planet sentence by sentence…. that little fact always puts me to bed comfortable, no matter what the hell is going on in the world. I always lay in bed and I’m like, the best writer in the world is of African descent. Peace.”