In celebration of the 30th anniversary of Toni Morrison’s  M.A. ‘55 Nobel Prize in Literature, Cornell’s Toni Morrison Collective is partnering with Calvary Baptist Church to give away free copies of two of Morrison’s books and hold book talks in various locations during the month of December.

Through a $2,500 Community Celebrations grant to Calvary Baptist from the Tompkins County Tourism program, the project “Ithaca Reads Toni Morrison” will celebrate Morrison’s 1993 Nobel Prize by giving away 100 copies of the author’s posthumously published short story “Recitatif” and 100 copies of the illustrated children’s book “Who’s Got Game: The Ant or the Grasshopper,” co-authored by Morrison and her son Slade.

“The fact that Toni Morrison, during her first year as a master’s student, lodged at a house just a couple of doors up the street from historic Calvary Baptist Church created a perfect context for a collaboration,” said Anne V. Adams, professor emerita of Africana studies and comparative literature and chair of the Toni Morrison Collective. “The project makes Ithacans aware that this Nobel writer lived in Ithaca for two years and also introduces many readers to the children’s books that Morrison co-authored. And, since we’ve chosen to give copies of her short story “Recitatif” — augmented to book form through an Introduction by Zadie Smith — the project presents this work to many who might know her novels, but not this posthumous publication.”

Read the full story on the College of Arts & Sciences website.