Most people know Alice Walker as the author of The Color Purple. But she has written many other books, including a collection of poetry and a memoir about her childhood in Georgia.
Alice Walker was born on February 9, 1944 in Eatonton, Georgia. She grew up in rural Georgia during the civil rights movement and became involved in the movement herself. In addition to writing books, Walker is an activist who fights against racism and sexism.
Walker’s parents were sharecroppers who worked on land owned by white men called landowners or planters. Sharecropping meant that farmers would work the land but could not own it — they had to pay rent to the landowner for their work.
The Color Purple is a 1982 novel by American author Alice Walker. It traces the life of Celie, a poor young African American girl who is abused by her father and husband. Celie’s letters to God, which she writes as a child, are featured prominently in the novel. The novel was adapted into an Academy Award-nominated film of the same name in 1985, starring Whoopi Goldberg as Celie and Danny Glover as Albert.
The Color Purple won both the National Book Award for fiction and the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1983. In 2002 it was included on TIME magazine’s list of “100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005”.
