The main conference room of the West African Research Center (WARC) was packed full on this afternoon of Wednesday, August 21^st and this aptly befitted the occasion. A tribute was to be paid to the great lady of African American letters Toni Morrison so beautifully described by Oprah Winfrey as the Emperess of African American Literature.

After the screening of the BBC documentary titled Tony Morisson Remembers (2015), the floor was opened by the director of WARC and professor of American Literature at UCAD, who commented the film and concluded that, beyond Toni Morrison’s life and experience, it was a foray into the African American history and heritage, a definite odyssey of the African American community in the USA.

The Cultural Affairs Officer of the US Embassy, Mrs Rose Custis, also read an important paper on Morrison’s legacy and the universal reach of her literary production.

Those contributions were followed by a seminal presentation on the literay work of Toni Morrison offered by a Morrison specialist in the Department of English, University Cheikh Anta Diop (UCAD), Professor Mariame Wane-Ly.

Another americanist, professor Louis Mendy from the same Department of English at UCAD, also made his contribution insisting on the pride of place and paramount importance of the theme of love in Morrison’s oeuvre.

Thereafter, seminal questions and insightful contributions were raised and made by the audience while several interviews were given to reporters by the panelists.

The event was attended by 73 people eager to learn more about the departed star of African American letters.