Alice Walker is an American novelist, poet, essayist, short story writer, screenwriter, and civil rights advocate born on February 9, 1944, in Eatonton, who works in the English language across a wide range of literary and public roles.

Walker was educated at Spelman College, Sarah Lawrence College, and Russell Sage College, and has also served as a university teacher and educator. Spelman College later honored her with an honorary degree. Her novels include The Third Life of Grange Copeland, Meridian, The Color Purple, and The Temple of My Familiar, reflecting a sustained engagement with long-form fiction across several decades. Among her recognitions are the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, the National Book Award, the Carl Sandburg Literary Award, the Lillian Smith Book Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and the Humanist of the Year award, honors that span both literary and humanist communities.

In addition to her novels, Walker has worked as a children's writer, a film producer, and an actor, reflecting the breadth of her creative output beyond prose fiction. Her activities as a civil rights advocate have run alongside her literary career throughout her adult life. Across poetry, essays, short stories, and screenplays, Walker has produced work in English that draws on multiple genres and forms. Her body of work has been recognized by institutions ranging from the Pulitzer committee to the American Humanist Association, and the Guggenheim Foundation, making her one of the more extensively decorated American writers working across fiction, poetry, and essay forms. The recurring presence of civil rights advocacy alongside her literary production marks a consistent thread running through her adult public life.