Academy of American Poets Awards

Fellowship of the Academy of American Poets

Awarded annually to recognize the distinguished achievement by an American poet.

David Ferry

The Lamont Poetry Selection

Established in 1952 to reward and encourage promising writers by supporting the publication of an American poet's second book.

Brigit Pegeen Kelly
Song

Peter I. B. Lavan Younger Poets Award

Established in 1983 to annually recognize three accomplished American poets under the age of forty.

Peter Grizzi (selected by John Ashbery)

Li-Young Lee (selected by David Wagoner)

Cynthia Zarin (selected by Richard Wilbur)

Walt Whitman Award

Secures the publication of the first book of a living American poet.

Jan Richman
Because the Brain Can Be Talked Into Anything

American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters Awards

Academy Awards in Literature

Given annually to encourage creative achievement in literature.

Jon Robin Baitz, Marvin Bell, Stuart Dybek, Adrienne Kennedy, Tony Kushner, Mary Lee Settle, Chase Twichell, Geoffrey Wolff

Witter Bynner Foundation Prize for Poetry

Established in 1979 and awarded annually to recognize an outstanding younger poet.

Rosanna Warren

Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction

Awarded annually to the author of the best first fiction published during the preceding year.

Emile Capouya
In the Sparrow Hills

Richard and Hilda Rosenthal Foundation Award

Awards given annually for accomplishments in art and literature. The literature award recognizes a work of fiction published in the preceding year which, while not a "commercial success," is considered a literary achievement.

Janet Peery
Alligator Dance

James Tait Black Memorial Book Prize

Sponsored by the University of Edinburgh and awarded annually for the best work of fiction published during the previous year.

Caryl Phillips
Crossing the River

Booker Prize for Fiction

Britain's major literary prize awarded annually in recognition of a full-length novel.

James Kelman
How Late It Was, How Late
(see entry below)

Georg Büchner Prize

Awarded annually and considered Germany's most prestigious literary award.

Adolf Muschg

Commonwealth Writers Prize

Awarded annually to promote new Commonwealth fiction of merit outside the author's country of origin.

Vikram Seth
A Suitable Boy

Goncourt Prize

Awarded annually in France by the Academie Goncourt to recognize a prose work published during the preceding year.

Didier van Cauwelaert
Un aller simple

Governor General's Literary Awards

Honors writing that achieves literary excellence without sacrificing popular appeal. Officially known as the Canadian Authors Association (CAA) Literary Awards, these awards are given annually for works written in both English and French in the categories of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama.

Robert Lalonde
Le Petit aigle à tête blanche
(fiction)

Fulvio Caccia
Aknos
(poetry)

Michel Ouellette
French Town
(drama)

Rudy Wiebe
A Discovery of Strangers
(fiction)

Robert Hilles
Cantos from a Small Room
(poetry)

Morris Panych
The Ends of the Earth
(drama)

Guggenheim Fellowships

Awarded annually to recognize unusually distinguished literary achievement in the past and exceptional promise for future accomplishment.

Mark Doty, Eamon Grennan, Brenda Hillman, Karl Kirchway, Elizabeth Macklin, James McManus

Hugo Awards

Established in 1953 to recognize notable science fiction works in several categories.

Kim Stanley Robinson
Green Mars
(novel)

Harry Turtledove
Down in the Bottomlands
(novella)

Charles Sheffield
Georgia on My Mind
(novelette)

Connie Willis
"Death on the Nile"
(short story)

Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize

Awarded annually to an outstanding American poet.

Donald Hall

Los Angeles Times Book Awards

Honors technique and vision in various categories

Carolyn Forché
The Angel of History
(poetry)
(see entry below; see also CLC, Volume 83)

David Malouf
Remembering Babylon
(fiction)
(see entry below)

Martin M. Simecka
The Year of the Frog
(Art Seidenbaum Award for first fiction)

Lenore Marshall/Nation Poetry Prize

Established in 1974 to honor the author of the year's outstanding collection of poems published in the United States.

W. S. Merwin
Travels

National Book Awards

Established in 1950 to honor and promote American books of literary distinction in various categories.

William Gaddis
A Frolic of His Own
(fiction)
(see entry below)

James Tate
Worshipful Company
(poetry)

Sherwin B. Nuland
How We Die: Reflecting on Life's Final Chapters
(nonfiction)

Gwendolyn Brooks
(distinguished contribution to American letters)

National Book Critics Circle Awards

Founded in 1974 to recognize superior literary quality in American literature in several categories.

Ernest J. Gaines
A Lesson before Dying
(see entry below)

Mark Rudman
Rider

Nebula Awards

Established in 1965 to honor significant works in several categories of science fiction published in the United States.

Kim Stanley Robinson
Green Mars
(novel)

Jack Cady
The Night We Buried Road Dog
(novella)

Charles Sheffield
Georgia on My Mind
(novelette)

Joe Haldeman
"Graves"
(short story)

Neustadt International Prize for Literature

Awarded every two years by the University of Oklahoma for outstanding achievement in literature.

Edward Kamau Brathwaite

New York Drama Critics Circle Award

Presented annually in several categories to encourage excellence in playwriting.

Edward Albee
Three Tall Women
(see entry below)

Nobel Prize in Literature

Awarded annually to recognize the most distinguished body of literary work of an idealistic nature.

Kenzaburo Ōe
(see entry below)

Obie Awards

Given annually to recognize excellence in off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway theater productions in various categories.

Anna Deavere Smith
Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992
(best play)
(see entry below)

Eric Bogosian
Pounding Nails in the Floor with My Forehead
(playwriting)

Edward Albee
(sustained achievement)
(see entry below)

PEN American Center Awards

Faulkner Award for Fiction

Annually recognizes the most distinguished book-length work of fiction by an American writer published during the calendar year.

Philip Roth
Operation Shylock: A Confession
(see entry below)

Edgar Allan Poe Award

Presented annually for outstanding achievement in mystery writing.

Minette Walters
The Sculptress
(novel)

Laurie King
A Grave Talent
(first novel by an American)

Lawrence Block
"Keller's Therapy"
(short story)

Lawrence Block
(Grand Master)

Pulitzer Prizes

Awarded in recognition of outstanding accomplishments by American authors in various categories within the fields of journalism, literature, music, and drama. Literary awards usually recognize excellence in works that concern American life.

E. Annie Proulx
The Shipping News
(fiction)
(see CLC, Volume 81)

Yusef Komunyakaa
Neon Vernacular: New and Selected Poems
(poetry)
(see entry below)

Edward Albee
Three Tall Women
(drama)
(see entry below)

Rea Award

Presented annually to recognize outstanding achievement in the short story genre.

Tillie Olsen

Tanning Prize

Established in 1994, the Tanning Prize is the largest prize for poetry in the United States.

W. S. Merwin

Tony Awards

Officially titled the American Theatre Wing's Antoinette Perry Awards, prizes are presented in recognition of outstanding achievement on Broadway.

Tony Kushner
Perestroika
(see CLC, Volume 81)

United States Poet Laureate

Created in 1986 by an act of Congress to honor the career achievement of an American poet.

Rita Dove
(see CLC, Volume 81)

Whitbread Literary Awards

Awarded annually in several categories to encourage and promote English literature.

Joan Brady
Theory of War
(novel)
(see entry below)

Carol Ann Duffy
Mean Time
(poetry)

Rachel Cusk
Saving Agnes
(first novel)