When African-American author Toni Morrison died on August 6, 2019, her obituary stated that Jane Austen was one of her favorite authors growing up as a child. Discovery of this delightful fact about Ms. Morrison inspired the question of whether or not Jane Austen influenced the writings of this celebrated author.

This presentation will answer that question by examining the early novels of Toni Morrison and comparing and contrasting them with Jane Austen’s fiction.

Carl Johnson is a licensed social worker with over 30 years of experience in the social work and training and development field. He has worked in child welfare, city and Federal government, an EAP and academia. Carl is a member of the National Association of Social Workers, Toastmasters International, and the Association for Talent Development.

Carl currently works as a Training Specialist at Jesse Brown VA Medical Center where he coordinates various learning programs. Carl will be a presenter at the 2021 Multistate NASW Conference in October.