Sci-fi novelist Ursula K. Le Guin will received the National Book Awards 2014 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. Le Guin will be honored at the 65th National Book Awards Ceremony and Benefit Dinner in New York on November 19th. Author Neil Gaiman will present her with the award.
“Ursula Le Guin has had an extraordinary impact on several generations of readers and, particularly, writers in the United States and around the world,” stated Harold Augenbraum, Executive Director of The National Book Foundation. “She has shown how great writing will obliterate the antiquated—and never really valid—line between popular and literary art. Her influence will be felt for decades to come.”
The award was created in 1988 and Le Guin will be the twenty-seventh author receive the honor. She joins Toni Morrison, E.L. Doctorow, John Ashbery, Joan Didion, Elmore Leonard, Norman Mailer and Tom Wolfe among others.
As usual, GalleyCat will be reporting live from the awards event, check back in November for our live coverage.