Towards an Understanding of Toni Morrison’s A Mercy: November 2021

Tuesdays, Nov. 23, 30;  7:00-8:45 pm
Sessions available online via Zoom
Facilitated by UCE member Barbara Mesle 

Whether you’re new to Toni Morrison or an experienced reader of her novels, it’s always better to have friends to discuss with.  A MERCY is s h o r t  (for Toni)–only 167 pages. We’ll tackle the novel in two halves to make it easier yet.  This novel is set in pre-colonial America. Ms. Morrison always addresses issues from multiple points of view and with multiple narrators.  Her self-proclaimed project to write the stories for African-American girls and women back into the mainframe of American history.  I love the complex characters and plot of A Mercy.  I hope you will too.  Please come and bring your experience and voice to the conversation about the Nobel prize winning author who wrote ten novels about why Black Lives Matter. 

Who is Barbara Hiles Mesle?  

As a college professor of literature, (MA University of Chicago, Ph.D the University of Kansas), I taught a seminar in the novels of Toni Morrison for more than a decade.  Ms. Morrison, in my opinion, may be considered the Shakespeare of the 21st century.  I have a lot of experience making her novels more accessible and seeing connections within her impressive body of work.  I think of Toni as a friend of my heart and mind (though I never met her in person).   

I loved my job as an English teacher for more 40 years, most of them at a small university.  But I was often reluctant to tell strangers that I was a professor of literature and writing.  Why?  Because sometimes this pall would come over their face, as if I was silently correcting their grammar, undangling their participles, and looking for “hidden meaning.”  I promise you that is not me!  After a lifetime of discussing literary texts, I have developed great respect for the insights of readers.  You have things to teach me too!  Let’s work together to begin to unpack this lovely novel.