Time-line of Walker's Life
Below is a snippet-summary of Alice Walker, from her birth during the war,
to her current literary projects in 2001. This provides a
glance-to-glance brief of all the key events that made Alice Walker - and
subsequently her literature - such an enjoyment to study.
1944: On February 9th 1944 in Eatonton,
Georgia, Alice Malsenior Walker is born
ê
1952: In a freak accident, while playing Cowboys and Indians
Alice is shot in the eye
ê
1961: She graduates and leaves for Spelman College, Atlanta,
Georgia
ê
1962: While at College she becomes actively involved in
civil rights demonstrations
ê
1963: Invited to Martin Luther King’s home she then hears his
famous speech at Washington
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1964: Transfers from Spelman to Sarah Lawrence College in
New York City
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1965: Writes her first short story To Hell with Dying after
becoming pregnant
ê
1966: Meets and soon falls in love with Jewish law student
Mel Laventhal
ê
1967: Marries Laventhal and they become the first
inter-racial couple in Mississippi
ê
1968: Publishes her first volume of poetry, Once.
ê
1969: Finishes first novel The Third Life of Grange
Copeland and gives birth to Rebecca
ê
1970: Third Life of Grange Copeland is published, to
a mixed reception
ê
1971: Becomes writer in residence at Tougaloo College,
Mississippi
ê
1973: Publishes In Love and Trouble and Revolutionary
Petunias and Other Poems
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1974: Many awards later, she writes Langston Hughes;
American Poet
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1975: Becomes contributing editor of Ms. magazine
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1976: Publishes her second novel Meridian. She and Laventhal divorce after nine years
ê
1977: Appointed Associate Professor at Yale University.
Falls in love with Robert Allen, editor of Black Scolar
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1978: Receives Guggeheim Fellowship in order to concentrate
on her work
ê
1981: Publishes another set of short stories: You Can’t
Keep A Good Woman Down
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1982: The Color Purple is published and Walker
becomes an over-night literary success
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1983: Awarded the coveted Pulitzer Prize and writes In
Search of Our Mother’s Gardens
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1984: Publishes third volume of poetry: Horses Make A
Landscape Look More Beautiful
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1985: Participates in the making of the film The Color
Purple by Steven Spielberg
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1986: Given a hero’s welcome
after The Color Purple is screened in her hometown
ê
1988: Publishes her second book
of essays: Living By The Word
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1989: Publishes: The Temple of My Familiar and Her
Blue Body Everything We Know
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1990: Breaks with Robert Allen and begins to question her
own sexuality
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1991: Co-produces the Pratibha Parmar film Warrior Marks
about female circumcision
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1992: Well-acclaimed fifth novel, Possessing the Secret
of Joy is published
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1996: Now a fervent writer she publishes The Same River
Twice: Honoring The Difficult
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1997: Writes a factual essay on political activism: Anything
We Love Can Be Saved
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1998: Publishes: By the Light of My Father’s Smile
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2000: Walker begins the new Millenium with The Way Forward Is
With A Broken Heart
ê
2001: Completes A Long Walk of Freedom
and Langston Hughes: American Poet
ê
December 2001: Publishes
her newest work, entitled, Sent by Earth: A Message from the
Grandmother Spirit After the Bombing of the World Trade Center and the
Pentagon
Compiled by Matthew Kane [2001]
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