#literary-influence

#literary-influence

Not long after I arrived, my English teacher, sensing I was having difficulty adjusting, asked how I was doing. ... I told her I didn't like the humidity and that I didn't understand why all the Black kids seemed so angry. She reached for the bookshelf and handed me a copy of To Kill a Mockingbird and said: 'Read this - it will help you understand.'

A century ago, the crime fiction industry was flourishing, with significant publications such as Agatha Christie’s The Secret of Chimneys and The Murder of Roger Ackroyd redefining the genre.

My earliest reading memory is of an illustrated Grimms' fairy tale called Jorinde and Joringel, focusing on a quest for a flower with special powers.

Toni Morrison's editing work at Random House, largely undocumented, played a crucial role in shaping important literary voices before her own fame as a novelist.