The National Book Foundation's
Medal for
Distinguished Contribution to American Letters
The National
Book Foundation was established in 1988 to enhance the
visibility of The National Book Awards, begun in 1950
-- and to move beyond the Awards into the fields of education
and literacy, presenting literary programs across the
country, Award-winners and Finalists talking about their
"writing life." To date, thanks to the sustained
support of the publishing industry and the public and
private sectors, the Foundation has sponsored more than
one hundred authors in thirty-eight states, in schools,
libraries, community centers, museums, settlement houses,
and Native American reservations.
Every fall,
in conjunction with the conferring of The National Book
Awards in Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, and Young People's
Literature, the Board of Directors of the Foundation also
presents a Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American
Letters, which comes with $10,000. The recipient is a
person who has enriched our literary heritage over a life
of service, or a corpus of work.
|
1988
JASON EPSTEIN
|
1989
DANIEL BOORSTIN
|
1990
SAUL BELLOW
|
1994
GWENDOLYN
BROOKS
(speech
not available)
|
|
|
Photo Credits: Arthur Miller, Inge
Morath; David McCullough, Robin Platzer/Twin Images;
Ray Bradbury, Robin Platzer/Twin Images; John Updike,
Martha Updike;
Studs Terkel, Robin Platzer; Toni Morrison, Robin
Platzer; Clifton Fadiman, Robin Platzer; Eudora
Welty, Robin Platzer; Philip Roth, Nancy Crampton;
Oprah Winfrey, Robin Platzer; Adrienne Rich,
Lilian Kemp. Joan
Didion, Brigitte Lacombe.
