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THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF ARTS AND LETTERS ANNOUNCES
2012 LITERATURE AWARD WINNERS


New York, March 14, 2012 – The American Academy of Arts and Letters announced today the names of 18 writers who will receive its 2012 awards in literature. The awards will be presented in New York in May at the Academy’s annual Ceremonial. The literature prizes, totaling $160,000, honor both established and emerging writers of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. The Academy’s 250 members nominate candidates, and a rotating committee of writers selects winners. This year’s committee members were Paul Auster, Louis Begley, Robert Brustein, Louise Glück, Philip Levine, Alison Lurie, and Joy Williams.

Arts and Letters Awards in Literature
Eight Arts and Letters Awards in Literature honor exceptional accomplishment in any genre. This year, the awards of $7500 each will be presented to

ANDRE DUBUS III • ADAM HOCHSCHILD • DAVID LINDSAY–ABAIRE
CHRISTOPHER MIDDLETON • JULIE OTSUKA • MICHAEL PALMER
FREDERICK SEIDEL • TIMOTHY SNYDER

Michael Braude Award for Light Verse
of $5000 for work, in English, from any country.		 ROGER ANGELL
E.M. Forster Award
$20,000 to a young writer from the United Kingdom or Ireland for a stay in the
United States. Award jury: Margaret Drabble, Paul Theroux		 DAVID MITCHELL
Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction
$5000 for the best work of first fiction (novel or short stories) published in 2011.		 ISMET PRCIC
for Shards
Katherine Anne Porter Award
$20,000 given biennially to a prose writer whose achievements and dedication
to the literary profession have been demonstrated.		 MAUREEN HOWARD
Rome Fellowships in Literature
A one-year residency (2012–2013) at the American Academy in Rome.		 LUCY CORIN
JESSICA FISHER
Rosenthal Family Foundation Award
$10,000 to a young writer of considerable literary talent for a work published in 2011.		 TEJU COLE
for Open City
Harold D. Vursell Memorial Award
$10,000 to a writer whose work merits recognition for the quality of its prose style.		 PETER CAREY
Thornton Wilder Prize for Translation
$20,000 to a practitioner, scholar, or patron who has made a significant contribution
to the art of literary translation.		 MICHAEL HOFMANN
The Morton Dauwen Zabel Award
$10,000 to a critic with progressive, original, and experimental tendencies.		 ANDREW SARRIS

Press Contact: Jane Bolster, academy AT artsandletters.org, (212) 368-5900.