The National Book Foundation’s Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters (DCAL) and Literarian Award for Outstanding Service to the American Literary Community are honors that recognize a lifetime of achievement in writing and serving readers, respectively. Both awards are presented by the Foundation’s Board of Directors, and come with a prize of $10,000.
Distinguished Contribution to American Letters
The DCAL is presented each year to a person who has enriched our literary heritage over a life of service, or a corpus of work. Since it was first presented in 1988 to Jason Epstein, a number of beloved literary icons have been DCAL medalists, including Toni Morrison, Oprah Winfrey, Ray Bradbury, Stephen King, Judy Blume, and Maxine Hong Kingston.
Recent DCAL Medalists
- Edmund White
- Isabel Allende
- Annie Proulx
- Robert Caro
- Don DeLillo
- Ursula K. Le Guin
Literarian Award
The annual Literarian Award is traditionally presented to an individual for a lifetime of achievement in expanding the audience for books and reading. The recipients of the Literarian Award represent a veritable pantheon of literary activists, helping to increase access to and diversity in literature.
Recent Literarians:
- Oren Teicher
- Dick Robinson
- Cave Canem
- James Patterson
- Kyle Zimmer
- Dr. Maya Angelou