Eight members of Cornell's Black Students United (BSU) heard author Toni Morrison's views on writing at a private luncheon Oct. 2 at the Statler Hotel's Taverna Banfi restaurant.

"Having lunch with Toni Morrison was like reading one of her books," said Nicholas Diaz '10.

"Although she narrates the experience of one community, how she writes makes it really universal," Natasha Moses '11 said.

BSU played a little-known role in Morrison's presence on campus for the Fall 2009 Creative Writing Centennial Plus Five Reading Series. Previous invitations to the author to participate in the reading series had conflicted with her busy schedule, but when Hicks, campus liaison for BSU, called Morrison last year to ask her to participate in their Black History Month events, "it floated Cornell back to the top of the pile of invitations," said Helena Viramontes, Creative Writing Program director.

Although Morrison could not attend BSU's February 2009 events, she did accept an invitation for the reading series.

The author made the students feel at ease during the luncheon. "I felt like I was with my grandma," said Sarah Ghermay '11. "Her success is overwhelming, but she's so approachable."

Morrison, M.F.A. '55, spoke to them about staying true to herself and not letting the external world influence her writing. For her, winning the Nobel Prize (in 1993) meant temporarily backing off from the book she was working on, lest the experience influence her writing, Tia Hicks '11 said.

Morrison's emphasis on writing for herself held particular resonance for the students.

"Meeting someone who's made such a tremendous career of doing something for herself makes me feel like I can do what I want to do," Ghermay said.

Diaz, an English major with dual concentrations in creative writing and minority, indigenous and third world studies, says he's been inspired to spend more time in the future just writing for himself.

Morrison's comment that she writes to answer a question made Moses want to re-examine her own work at Cornell. "We forget how much we learn from the process of writing," she said.

Elizabeth Adkins-Regan, senior associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and Laura Brown, vice provost for undergraduate education, also attended the luncheon.

Hicks said BSU particularly wanted Morrison to visit because "she's a really significant figure in African-American literature, she's a Cornell alum, and we wanted to hear her voice on the Cornell campus."

Linda Glaser is a freelance writer.