Editing Alice Walker (section)

==Writing career==
[[File:Alice Walker signing autographs at the Zora Neale Hurston Festival of the Arts and Humanities- Eatonville, Florida.jpg|thumb| Walker signing autographs in [[Florida]] in 1990]]
Walker wrote the poems that would culminate in her first book of poetry, entitled ''Once'', while she was a student in [[East Africa]] and during her senior year at Sarah Lawrence College.<ref>{{cite web|title=Once (1968)|url=http://alicewalkersgarden.com/2010/09/book-poetry-once-1968/|website=Alice Walker The Official Website for the American Novelist & Poet|date=September 28, 2010 |access-date=March 12, 2017}}</ref> Walker would slip her poetry under the office door of her professor and mentor, [[Muriel Rukeyser]], when she was a student at Sarah Lawrence. Rukeyser then showed the poems to her [[literary agent]]. ''Once'' was published four years later by [[Harcourt (publisher)|Harcourt Brace Jovanovich]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/entertainment/books/2001/09/16/muriel-rukeyser-was-21-when-he/ec05fd62-733c-4827-9260-6c60996ec212/|title=Muriel Rukeyser was 21 when he ...|date=September 16, 2001|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=March 26, 2018|language=en-US|issn=0190-8286}}</ref><ref name="Apr 20094"/>

Following graduation, Walker briefly worked for the New York City [[Department of Welfare of Differently Abled Persons (Tamil Nadu)|Department of Welfare]], before returning to the South. She took a job working for the Legal Defense Fund of the [[NAACP|National Association for the Advancement of Colored People]] in [[Jackson, Mississippi]].<ref name=":06"/> Walker also worked as a consultant in Black history to the Friends of the Children of Mississippi Head Start program. She later returned to writing as [[Artist-in-residence|writer-in-residence]] at [[Jackson State University]] (1968–69) and [[Tougaloo College]] (1970–71). In addition to her work at Tougaloo College, Walker published her first novel, ''[[The Third Life of Grange Copeland]],'' in 1970. The novel explores the life of Grange Copeland, an abusive, irresponsible sharecropper, husband and father.

In 1973, before becoming editor of ''[[Ms. (magazine)|Ms.]]'' magazine, Walker and literary scholar Charlotte D. Hunt discovered an unmarked grave they believed to be that of [[Zora Neale Hurston]] in [[Ft. Pierce, Florida]]. Walker had it marked with a gray marker stating ZORA NEALE HURSTON / ''A GENIUS OF THE SOUTH'' / NOVELIST FOLKLORIST / ANTHROPOLOGIST / 1901–1960.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.urchinmovement.com/2013/02/05/a-headstone-for-an-aunt-how-alice-walker-found-zora-neale-hurston/|title=A Headstone for an Aunt: How Alice Walker Found Zora Neale Hurston – The Urchin Movement|website=www.urchinmovement.com}}</ref><ref name="Plant2007">{{cite book|first=Deborah G. |last=Plant|title=Zora Neale Hurston: A Biography of the Spirit|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aZfcDixewEYC&pg=PA57|year=2007|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-275-98751-0|pages=57–}}</ref> The line "a genius of the south" is from [[Jean Toomer]]'s poem ''Georgia Dusk'', which appears in his book ''[[Cane (novel)|Cane]]''.<ref name="Plant2007"/> Hurston was actually born in 1891, not 1901.<ref>{{cite book |last=Boyd |first=Valerie | author-link = Valerie Boyd |title=Wrapped in Rainbows: The Life of Zora Neale Hurston |year=2003 |publisher=Scribner |location=New York |isbn=978-0-684-84230-1 |page=[https://archive.org/details/wrappedinrainbow00boyd/page/17 17] |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/wrappedinrainbow00boyd/page/17 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Hurston |first=Lucy Anne |title=Speak, So You Can Speak Again: The Life of Zora Neale Hurston |year=2004 |publisher=Doubleday |location=New York |isbn=978-0-385-49375-8 |page=5 }}</ref>

Walker's 1975 article "[https://www.allisonbolah.com/site_resources/reading_list/Walker_In_Search_of_Zora.pdf In Search of Zora Neale Hurston]", published in ''Ms.'' magazine and later retitled "Looking for Zora", helped revive interest in the work of this Afro-American writer and anthropologist.<ref name="monica-miller">{{cite web|last1=Miller|first1=Monica|title=Archaeology of a Classic|url=http://barnard.edu/news/archaeology-classic-celebrating-zora-neale-hurston-28|website=News & Events|publisher=Barnard College|access-date=June 14, 2014|date=December 17, 2012|archive-date=July 15, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140715001314/http://barnard.edu/news/archaeology-classic-celebrating-zora-neale-hurston-28|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/639490/zora-neale-hurston-author-facts|title=9 Fascinating Facts About Zora Neale Hurston|first=Sohel|last=Sarkar|date=January 7, 2021|website=Mental Floss}}</ref>
In 1976, Walker's second novel, ''[[Meridian (novel)|Meridian]],'' was published. ''Meridian'' is a novel about activist workers in the South, during the [[civil rights movement]], with events that closely parallel some of Walker's own experiences. In 1982, she published what has become her best-known work, ''[[The Color Purple]]''. The novel follows a young, troubled Black woman who is not just fighting her way through a [[Racism|racist]] white culture, she is also fighting her way through a [[Patriarchy|patriarchal]] Black culture. The book became a bestseller, and it was subsequently adapted into a critically acclaimed [[The Color Purple (1985 film)|1985 movie]] which was directed by [[Steven Spielberg]], starring [[Oprah Winfrey]] and [[Whoopi Goldberg]], as well as a 2005 [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] [[The Color Purple (musical)|musical]] totaling 910 performances.

Walker has written several other novels, including ''[[The Temple of My Familiar]]'' (1989) and ''[[Possessing the Secret of Joy]]'' (1992) (which featured several characters and descendants of characters from ''The Color Purple''). She has published a number of collections of short stories, poetry, and other writings. Her work is focused on the struggles of [[Black people]], particularly women, and their lives in a racist, [[sexism|sexist]], and violent society.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.celebritytalent.net/sampletalent/187/alice-walker/|title=Alice Walker Booking Agent for Corporate Functions, Events, Keynote Speaking, or Celebrity Appearances|work=celebritytalent.net|access-date=October 23, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://blackhistory.com/content/61723/alice-walker|title=Alice Walker|work=blackhistory.com|access-date=October 23, 2015|archive-date=September 10, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150910011201/http://blackhistory.com/content/61723/alice-walker|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.biblio.com/alice-walker~125189~author|title=Alice Walker|work=biblio.com|access-date=October 23, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.litlovers.com/reading-guides/13-fiction/211-color-purple-walker?start=1|title=The Color Purple – Alice Walker – Author Biography – LitLovers|first=Molly |last=Lundquist|work=litlovers.com|access-date=October 23, 2015}}</ref><ref>[http://marylandpublicschools.org/NR/rdonlyres/F68E8866-61CB-4AF5-8AE6-F9275A9CEE9C/35632/Everday_Use_04042013_.pdf "Analyzing Characterization and Point of View in Alice Walker's Short Fiction"], marylandpublicschools.org. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130514143531/http://marylandpublicschools.org/NR/rdonlyres/F68E8866-61CB-4AF5-8AE6-F9275A9CEE9C/35632/Everday_Use_04042013_.pdf |date=May 14, 2013 }}</ref>

In 1993, Alice Walker coauthored a novel, ''[[Warrior Marks]],'' alongside feminist activist, Pratibha Parmar. The novel was based on the topic of ''[[Female genital mutilation|Female Genital Mutilation]]'' (FGM) and the Sexual Blinding of Women. The novel takes place in Africa, where the two of them collectively interview several survivors of FGM. The novel seeks to unearth the sociocultural rationale behind the practice by providing a platform to activists who stand in opposition to this issue.

In 2000, Walker released a collection of short fiction, based on her own life, called ''The Way Forward Is With a Broken Heart,'' exploring love and race relations. In this book, Walker details her [[Miscegenation|interracial]] relationship with [[Melvyn R. Leventhal|Melvyn Rosenman Leventhal]], a civil rights attorney who was also working in [[Mississippi]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2001/feb/25/fiction.features1|title=Interview: Alice Walker|last=Campbell|first=Duncan|author-link=Duncan Campbell (journalist, born 1944)|date=February 25, 2001|newspaper=[[The Observer]]|language=en|access-date=March 26, 2018}}</ref> The couple married on March 17, 1967, in New York City, since interracial marriage was then illegal in the South, and divorced in 1976.<ref name="Apr 20094"/> They had a daughter, Rebecca, together in 1969.<ref name=":06"/> [[Rebecca Walker]], Alice Walker's only child, is an American novelist, editor, artist, and activist. The [[Third Wave Foundation]], an activist fund, was co-founded by Rebecca and [[Shannon Liss-Riordan]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/18/fashion/18walker.html|title=Alice Walker – Rebecca Walker – Feminist – Feminist Movement – Children|last=Rosenbloom|first=Stephanie|date=March 18, 2007|work=The New York Times|access-date=March 26, 2018|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.centerfornonprofitexcellence.org/grantmakers-directory/third-wave-foundation|title=Third Wave Foundation|last=test|date=January 5, 2011|website=Center for Nonprofit Excellence in Central New Mexico|language=en|access-date=March 26, 2018|archive-date=April 5, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180405090539/https://www.centerfornonprofitexcellence.org/grantmakers-directory/third-wave-foundation|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://thirdwavefund.org/history--past-initiatives.html|title=Third Wave History|website=Third Wave Fund|language=en|access-date=August 2, 2019|archive-date=July 21, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190721221832/https://www.thirdwavefund.org/history--past-initiatives.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Her godmother is Alice Walker's mentor and co-founder of ''Ms.'' magazine, [[Gloria Steinem]].<ref name=":2" />

In 2007, Walker donated her papers, consisting of 122 boxes of manuscripts and archive material, to [[Emory University]]'s Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library.<ref>{{cite press release |last=Justice|first=Elaine |url= http://www.emory.edu/news/Releases/alice_walker_archive_1197997696.html |title=Alice Walker Places Her Archive at Emory |publisher=Emory University |date=December 18, 2007}}</ref> In addition to drafts of novels such as ''The Color Purple'', unpublished poems and manuscripts, and correspondence with editors, the collection includes extensive correspondence with family members, friends and colleagues, early treatment of the film script for ''[[The Color Purple (1985 film)|The Color Purple]]'', syllabi from courses she taught, and fan mail. The collection also contains a scrapbook of poetry compiled when Walker was 15, entitled "Poems of a Childhood Poetess".

In 2013, Alice Walker published two new books, one of them entitled ''The Cushion in the Road: Meditation and Wandering as the Whole World Awakens to Being in Harm's Way''. The other was a book of poems entitled ''The World Will Follow Joy: Turning Madness into Flowers (New Poems)''.