Sometimes eyes color our view of the world.

Cleveland Heights resident Marie Vibbert is a science fiction writer, poet and computer programmer. Vibbert was inspired to write a flash fiction piece, “Blue Eyes,” after reading author Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye.”

Science fiction writer, poet, and computer programmer Marie Vibbert.“I was inspired by ‘The Bluest Eye’ and wondered how a world with cheap genetic manipulation would affect our perception of traits,” she recalls.

Vibbert will read her work at Karamu House this Wednesday, Feb. 18—on what would have been Morrison’s 95^th birthday—when Literary Cleveland hosts the sold out Cleveland kickoff event to the year-long Beloved: Ohio Celebrates Toni Morrison celebration.

The year-long project is led by Literary Cleveland, Ohio Humanities, Ohioana Library Association, and the Toni Morrison Society.

Although the Cleveland kickoff event is sold out, Literary Cleveland executive director Matt Weinkam urges people to join the livestream of the statewide kickoff celebration in Columbus.

Vibbert will join other guest readers and open mic participants at Karamu House to celebrate and honor Morrison, the Lorain native and the first Black woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Several selected guests from the Northeast Ohio literary community will read from Morrison’s works or their own original writings influenced by Morrison.

The readers include:

• Scholar and Tai Chi teacher Gaidi Nkruma.Indira Sami of Cleveland Heights is a “mom, teaching artist and multiple-disciplinary writer.” Sami will perform a poem/story inspired by Morrison’s children’s book, “The Book of Mean People.”
• Shcarra Benn is a design and marketing specialist and founder and CEO of Creative Leo Designs in Cleveland. Benn, also a storyteller, will read her original piece, “Creativity is in Every Word.”
• Educator and poet Rosary Kennedy has been part of Cleveland’s writing community for almost 30 years “as a spoken word artist and storyteller through poetry.” Kennedy will read an excerpt from Morrison’s 2012 novel “Home.”
• Born and raised in Cleveland, Gaidi Nkruma has followed a path that has taken him to New York, California and now back home. Nkruma has been a collegiate athlete, theater lighting stage technician, and a video/IT/multimedia professional. He holds a master’s degree in traditional Chinese medicine and currently teaches Tai Chi at the Murtis Taylor Senior Center. Nkruma will read an excerpt from Morrison’s novel “Jazz.”
• Silk Allen is “a Cleveland-based storyteller blending fashion, hip hop and culture.” Allen has a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism from Central State University. She is currently writing “I Write How I Talk Vol. 1,” what she describes as a “street-lit style coming of age memoir.” Allen will read her original work “Writers Need 2 Back That Thang Up 2” at the Cleveland kick-off.

Cleveland-based storyteller and author Silk Allen.Smith has written several poetry collections, including “Ariel in Black” and “The Vagina Analogues.” She will be the facilitator and discussion leader for Beloved: Ohio Celebrates Toni Morrison’s monthly discussions of Morrison’s 11 novels, “A Source of Self-Regard: A Historical Exploration of Toni Morrison’s Literature.” The discussions begin on Saturday, Feb. 21 and registration is required.

Support for the “Ohio Celebrates Toni Morrison” project aligns with America250—a celebration of the country’s 250^th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the Americans who have contributed to the country’s history.

Smith says she believes the Morrison celebrations deserve the connection.

“If you read Toni Morrison’s novels historically, not in the order they appeared, from ‘A Mercy’ to ‘God Help the Child,’ they tell the story of America,” she observes. “What a wonderful way to celebrate the 250^th anniversary of the country in a literary way. It’s also a way to hold up Ohio as a literary state.

“Some very iconic literary figures were from Ohio—Rita Dove, Mary Oliver, Langston Hughes spent time here, and of course, Toni Morrison from Lorain,” continues Smith. “Holding them up is an inspiration to people who live and write here now.”

Additionally, many of Morrison’s books are set in Ohio, including “The Bluest Eye” (Lorain) and “Beloved” (Cincinnati), which add to the statewide literary connections.
Toni Morrison’s ties to Ohio
Sometimes when describing Morrison’s relationship to the Midwest and Ohio, a popular Morrison quote often pops up: “In my work, no matter where it’s set… the imaginative process starts right here on the lip of Lake Erie.”

That line can be interpreted as Morrison’s acknowledgment of her northeast Ohio birthplace and the influence of location in her early life. It can be thought of as a grateful statement. But there’s another passage, from her novel “Song of Solomon,” that is also telling:

“…People living in the Great Lakes region are confused by their place on the country’s edge—an edge that is border but not coast. They seem to be able to live a long time believing, as coastal people do, that they are at the frontier where final exit and total escape are the only journeys left.

Author Namwali Serpell“But those five Great Lakes…are themselves landlocked …Once the people of the lake region discover this, the longing to leave becomes acute, and a break from the area, therefore, is necessarily dream-bitten, but necessary nonetheless.”

Well, maybe Morrison didn’t always think positively about remaining in this part of the country, but most Ohioans will always claim her as our own.

Discussing Morrison’s novels can spark passionate conversations that touch sensitive subjects including slavery, discrimination, sexual and physical abuse, disloyalty and betrayal. But her writing also can inspire commitment, kindness, and hope.

“I don’t like to say Morrison is hard to read—but it requires work,” says Literary Cleveland’s Smith. “She comes out of the tradition of [William] Faulkner and [James] Baldwin who were complex writers interested in what America was and is.

“Their writing is rich and deep and they don’t make it easy for you,” continues Smith. “But America is not an easy place.”

Smith argues that reading a Morrison novel can be work, “but the best kind of work.”

Morrison, who was presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012, died at the age of 88 in 2019. She is buried in Atlanta, Georgia.

February Toni Morrison events
A full list of events and classes is listed on the Ohio Celebrates Toni Morrison page, and Northeast Ohio events are listed as well.

Ohio Celebrates Toni Morrison Cleveland Kickoff at Karamu House, 2355 E. 89 St., Cleveland, is from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., with community reading and open mic from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Doors open at 5 p.m.

Reach for the Star story time and craft: A free reading of the children’s book, “Please, Louise” by Toni Morrison and Slade Morrison, followed by simple craft activity on Wednesday, Feb. 18 from 11:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Willoughby Hills Public Library, 35400 Chardon Rd., Willoughby Hills.

Educator and poet Rosary Kennedy.‘The Pieces I Am’ documentary viewing: An in-person screening of “The Pieces I Am” documentary about the Morrison’s writing, cultural impact and legacy, Thursday, Feb. 19; 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., East Cleveland Public Library, 14101 Euclid Ave., East Cleveland.

Girl Talk: Celebrating Toni Morrison: In-person discussion led by Nicole D. Miller, host of Girl Talk podcast, Friday, Feb. 20; 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Hexagon Books, 2184 Lee Road, Cleveland Heights.

Serpell talk: The City Club of Cleveland will host On Morrison: A Conversation about Toni Morrison with Namwali Serpell, author of “On Morrison,” on Friday, February 20 at 11:30 a.m., 1317 Euclid Ave., Suite 100, Cleveland.

A Source of Self-Regard: A Historical Exploration of Toni Morrison’s Literature: A monthly discussions of Toni Morrison’s work in the historical order in which the novels are set, from the 1680s to the 2000s. Participants may register for individual sessions or commit to the full year. Participants may read the books ahead of time, alongside the class, or after sessions conclude. First session is Saturday, Feb. 21, and the last session is Jan. 16, 2027 at Literary Cleveland, 1464 E. 105, Cleveland.

Book discussion: ‘Beloved:' An in-person discussion of Morrison’s “Beloved,” Tuesday, Feb. 24, Willoughby Hills Public Library, 35400 Chardon Rd., Willoughby Hills.

Book discussion: ‘Song of Solomon:’ What: discussion of “Song of Solomon,” Morrison’s third novel, Friday, Feb. 26; 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at East Cleveland Public Library, 14101 Euclid Ave., East Cleveland.