Alice M. Walker was born in 1944 in Georgia to sharecropping parents who struggled with racial hardships. She was shot in the eye at age eight, causing isolation that led her to find solace in reading and writing. Walker's literary style was greatly influenced by her experiences growing up seeing the struggles of African Americans during and after slavery. While her style varies across genres, she consistently focuses on African American heritage and hardships. Walker was the first African American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction for her acclaimed novel The Color Purple.