Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Saunders Wins Inaugural Folio Prize; American Academy Winners; and More

Publishers Lunch

George Saunders has won the first Folio Prize for TENTH OF DECEMBER, just a week after winning the Story Prize. (The collection also garnering a National Book Award nomination last fall.) Folio Prize chair Lavinia Greenlaw said in the announcement: "Saunders's stories are both artful and profound. Darkly playful, they take us to the edge of some of the most difficult questions of our time and force us to consider what lies behind and beyond them. Unflinching, delightful, adventurous, compassionate, he is a true original whose work is absolutely of the moment."

In other awards news, the American Academy of Arts & Letters announced its 2014 slate of Literature Award winners. Among the 8 Arts & Letters Awards in Literature recipients are translator Don Bartlett; biographer Brenda Wineapple; and Eric Puchner. The Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction was awarded to Manuel Gonzales, while Laura van den Berg won the Rosenthal Family Foundation Award. Other notable winners include Yiyun Li; Sarah Hall; Sherman Alexie; and Daniel Mendelsohn.
Canada's Charles Taylor Prize was awarded to Thomas King for THE INCONVENIENT INDIAN.

In still more awards events, the Books For a Better Life awards were presented Monday night. Special honors included literary agent Richard Pine at Inkwell being inducted into the organization's Hall of Fame, by his client Arianna Huffington.

In advance of the tonight's presentation of Poets & Writers' Editor's Award to Kate Medina at Random House, group president and publisher Gina Centrello shares testimonials from E.L. Doctorow, Jon Meacham, Katherine Boo and Anna Quindlen in an in-house memo. Centrello adds: "Let me simply say that because Kate is our colleague I am a better publisher, and all of us in our group are more embracing and unwavering in our commitment to do the very best for every book we publish thanks to the standards Kate sets." The Writers for Writers awards will also be presented at the P&W gala.


Then, next up on the awards' circuit is the presentation of the National Book Critics' Circle awards on Thursday night, with a reading from the finalists at the New School in New York on Wednesday night.

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