A packed house and a standing ovation at the UGA Chapel onWednesday welcomed Alice Walker, Pulitzer Prize-winning author.

Walker gave a speech highlighting the journey that inspired her books. She says it was her desire to connect with people that led her to countries like Ukraine, Russia, Uganda, Kenya, Cuba, and China because she wanted to experience the world.

Snippets of her speech are in the video below:

Walker is the first African-American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize in fiction for her 1982 novel, “The Color Purple,” which also earned a National Book Award. She has also written six other novels, four children’s books, four collections of short stories and volumes of poetry and essays.