JUST BUFFALO LITERARY CENTER’S BABEL WELCOMES NATIONAL 
TREASURE & NOBEL LAUREATE TONI MORRISON


Legendary Author Visit Marks 50th Anniversary of Martin Luther King’s appearance in Buffalo

At 8:00pm on Thursday November 9th at Kleinhans Music Hall (3 Symphony Circle) Just Buffalo Literary Center’s acclaimed BABEL series will offer the rare opportunity to see one of America’s few living Nobel Laureates in Literature: Toni Morrison.

Perhaps the most famous literary figure in America, Morrison’s eleven major novels—The Bluest Eye, Sula, Song of Solomon, Tar Baby, Beloved, Jazz, Paradise, Love, A Mercy, Home, and God Help the Child—have earned extensive critical acclaim. She received the National Book Critics Award in 1978 for Song of Solomon and the 1988 Pulitzer Prize for Beloved. In 2006, Beloved was chosen by the New York Times Book Review as the best work of American fiction published in the last quarter century.

November 9th also marks a special day in Buffalo’s history as it is exactly 50 years to the day since Dr. Martin Luther King Jr appeared on the exact same Kleinhans stage. His 1967 address on “The Future of Integration” came just months after Buffalo faced race riots. Buffalo’s contin- uing struggle with segregation makes it all the more important to return to Dr. King’s words as we imagine the next 50 years.

The evening will provide a rare opportunity to meet the author, learn about her work, and ask her questions. After Morrison’s talk, there will be an audience-generated Q&A. Audience questions can be submitted prior to the event by email (submissions@justbuffalo.org) or at the event on index cards. Following the Q&A, the author will sign books. Talking Leaves Books, the official BABEL bookseller, has copies of Morrison’s books at their Elmwood location and will also sell books at Kleinhans the night of the event.

The BABEL Series is made possible through major support from the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library, The Buffalo News, the City of Buffalo, Erie County Cultural Funding, Hodgson Russ, the Library Foundation of Buffalo and Erie County, the National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, and a variety of additional individual, educational, foundation and collaborating partners.

About JUST BUFFALO LITERARY CENTER

Just Buffalo Literary Center believes in the love of reading, the art of writing, and the power of the literary arts to transform individual lives and communities (www.justbuffalo.org). Estab- lished in 1975, and celebrating its 40th Anniversary in 2015-2017, Just Buffalo Literary Center serves the region with author readings and conversations, literary events, writing workshops, in- terdisciplinary performances, a comprehensive website, and student publications. Its signature author series BABEL has been recognized as“…the most exciting literary series Buffalo has ever seen;” and its newest program, the Just Buffalo Writing Center, offers after-school writing work- shops, mentoring, and a year-round writer-in-residence to teens in downtown Buffalo. More in- formation is available at: justbuffalo.org or by calling (716) 832-5400.