E.L. Doctorow and Maya Angelou to be Honored by National Book Foundation

Posted on September 7, 2013

E.L. Doctorow and Maya Angelou will be honored by the National Book Foundation. The foundation presents the National Book Awards. The foundation will present the 2013 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters to E. L. Doctorow. The foundation will present its 2013 Literarian Award for Outstanding Service to the American Literary Community to Dr. Maya Angelou. The presentations will be made at the 64th National Book Awards Ceremony and Benefit Dinner on November 20th at Cipriani in New York City.

E.L. Doctorow's award is made in recognition of his achievements in fiction writing over the last half a century. The foundation said in a release that Doctorow's work "has been critically celebrated for its vivid depictions of nineteenth- and twentieth-century life, trenchant social criticism, and dazzling prose."

Dr. Angelou is being honored for her writing and for her humanitarian work. Dr. Angelou's best known work is her autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, but she is also an educator, a lecturer and a poet.

National Book Foundation Executive Director Harold Augenbraum had this to say about the honorees: "We are privileged this year to recognize two outstanding figures in the world of literature in honoring E.L. Doctorow and Dr. Maya Angelou. Doctorow is a master of historical fiction who has brought the events of the past to people all over the world in an extraordinary fashion. It is also a special opportunity to give tribute to a native New Yorker in his hometown." In addition, he noted, "Dr. Angelou's body of work transcends the words on the page. She has been on the front lines of history and the fight for social justice and decade after decade remains a symbol of the redemptive power of literature in the contemporary world.

The nominations for the honors are made by former National Book Award winners, finalists, and judges, as well as other writers and professionals in the field. The Board of Directors of the foundation selects the final honorees.