Toni Morrison, Alice Walker and Audre Lorde were some of the most influential writers of the 20th century. But aside from being pioneers of literature, they also have another big commonality: they were a part of a sisterhood.

In the 1970s, all three women, along with many others, were part of a collective of Black women writers who shaped each other's writing, political views, and perspectives. Courtney Thorsson, an English professor in the College of Arts and Sciences, wrote about this influential literary historical moment in her book The Sisterhood: How a Network of Black Women Writers Changed American Culture (paperback publish date planned for 2025), for which she recently received an honorable mention from the prestigious Modern Language Association.

Thorsson was named an honorable mention for the 2024 MLA’s William Sanders Scarborough Prize. The prize was awarded in December for “outstanding scholarly study of Black American literature or culture.” The prize is awarded annually to one winner and two honorable mentions. Thorsson, who’s been studying English and African American Studies since she was an undergraduate, has paid special attention to this award since its creation in 2001.

“The honorable mention is meaningful, but also the reason this matters to me is every year I see what those three books are, and I read them,” Thorsson said. “I've been doing that for 20 years because those are books that my peers in Black Literary Studies think are the important books in the field.”

The Sisterhood tells the story of a group of writers who met regularly in their Brooklyn and Manhattan homes. Discussing topics from writing to their personal lives and everything in between, Thorsson’s book reveals how this collection of women influenced each other's careers. Columbia University press submitted her work for the William Sanders Scarborough Prize, amongst other awards. The award is determined by a panel of judges, most of whom are Thorsson’s peers in her field.

In 2004, when Thorsson first saw a photo of the Sisterhood, that inspired her to think about writing The Sisterhood. Though the book changed shapes over time, she worked “low and slow” on it. Being named an honorable mention for the Scarborough prize, Thorsson hopes her book will continue to captivate readers interested literature and race, and literary history and Black feminism.

“I have been really lucky in the fact that my book has had a warm reception from both general and academic audiences,” Thorsson said. “I don't write work that's meant to just be useful in the year it comes out. I write durational work, and this award is more about longer term impact.”

— By Grace Connolly, College of Arts and Sciences