Toni Morrison, the first African American woman to receive the Nobel Prize in literature, died late Monday. She was 88.

As news of her death was announced Tuesday, tributes began to flood social media:

Stacey Abrams, former Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate:
Toni Morrison was a towering intellect, a brilliant scribe of our nation’s complex stories, a heartbreaking journalist of our deepest desires, and a groundbreaking author who destroyed precepts, walls and those who dared underestimate her capacity. Rest well and in peace.

Angie Thomas, bestselling author:
I’m writing in her honor today. All day if I can. Rest in Power to a true queen.

On Tuesday Morrison’s family said in a statement published in The Guardian, “Although her passing represents a tremendous loss, we are grateful she had a long, well lived life. While we would like to thank everyone who knew and loved her, personally or through her work, for their support at this difficult time, we ask for privacy as we mourn this loss to our family.”

Read the complete Guardian article by Richard Lea and Sian Cain here.