Since 2008, the Library of Congress has awarded a prize to
distinguished writers of fiction. The Library of Congress Lifetime Achievement
Award for the Writing of Fiction was created to honor a career dedicated
to the literary arts. This award was first presented to Herman Wouk on Sept.
10, 2008. This inaugural award has inspired subsequent Library of Congress
fiction awards, given in connection with the Library’s annual National Book
Festival.
From 2009 to 2012, the Library of Congress Creative Achievement
Award for fiction was presented to John Grisham, Isabel Allende, Toni
Morrison and Philip Roth. Beginning in 2013, the Library of Congress Prize
for American Fiction has been presented to an author for a body of extraordinary
work. Recipients have included Don DeLillo and E.L. Doctorow.
The
annual Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction is meant to honor
an American literary writer whose body of work is distinguished not only
for its mastery of the art but also for its originality of thought and imagination.
The award seeks to commend strong, unique, enduring voices that, throughout
long, consistently accomplished careers, have told us something about the
American experience.
2024 Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction
James McBride is the author of the bestselling novel “Deacon King Kong”; “The Good Lord Bird,” winner of the 2013 National Book Award for Fiction; “The Color of Water”; “Song Yet Sung”; the story collection “Five-Carat Soul”; the James Brown biography “Kill ’Em and Leave”; and “The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store.”
2023 Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction
George Saunders is the bestselling author of 12 books, including “A Swim in a Pond in the Rain;” “Lincoln in the Bardo,” which won the Man Booker Prize; “Congratulations, by the Way;” “Tenth of December,” a National Book Award finalist and winner of the inaugural Folio Award; “The Braindead Megaphone;” and the story collections “CivilWarLand in Bad Decline,” “Pastoralia,” and “In Persuasion Nation.”
2022 Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction
Jesmyn Ward is the acclaimed author of the novels “Where the Line Bleeds,” “Salvage the Bones,” winner of the 2011 National Book Award, and “Sing, Unburied, Sing,” winner of the 2017 National Book Award. Her nonfiction work includes the memoir “Men We Reaped,” a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the 2020 work “Navigate Your Stars.”
2021 Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction
Joy Williams is the acclaimed author of four short story collections, two works of nonfiction and five novels, including “Harrow” (2021). Her many honors include the Rea Award for the Short Story and the Strauss Living Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
2020 Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction
Colson Whitehead was born in New York City in 1969. He is a graduate of Harvard University and has taught at Princeton and New York universities. The author of seven novels, Whitehead is a two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
2019 Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction
Richard Ford’s seven novels include “The Sportswriter,” the first of the Bascombe Trilogy, and “Canada,” winner of the Prix Femina étranger. He has also published three short story collections, a novella collection and a memoir.
2018 Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction
E. Annie Proulx is the author of eight books, including “The Shipping News,” which received the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award and the Irish Times International Fiction Prize; and “Postcards,” winner of the PEN/Faulkner award—Proulx was the first woman to win the award.
2017 Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction
Denis Johnson is the author of the critically acclaimed collection of short stories “Jesus’ Son” and the novel “Tree of Smoke,” which won the National Book Award and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.
2016 Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction
Marilynne Robinson is the author of five novels, including “Lila” (2014), winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award; “Home” (2008), winner of the Orange Prize (UK) and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize; and “Gilead” (2004), winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award.
2015 Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction
Louise Erdrich is author of the critically acclaimed novels “Love Medicine,” “The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse,” “The Plague of Doves” and “The Round House.” She has received the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award.
2014 Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction
E.L. Doctorow is the author of such critically acclaimed novels as “Ragtime” (National Book Critics Circle Award), “World’s Fair” (National Book Award), “Billy Bathgate” (PEN/Faulkner Award), “The March” (National Book Critics Circle Award, PEN/Faulkner Award) and “Andrew’s Brain.”
2013 Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction
Don DeLillo is one of America’s most celebrated writers. He has received the National Book Award (“White Noise,” 1985), a PEN/Faulkner Award (“Mao II,” 1992) and the PEN/Saul Bellow Award for Achievement in American Fiction (2010), among many other accolades.
2012 Library of Congress Creative Achievement Award for Fiction
Philip Roth won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1997 for his novel “American Pastoral.” In 1998 he received the National Medal of Arts at the White House, and in 2002 the Gold Medal in Fiction from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
2011 Library of Congress Creative Achievement Award for Fiction
The work of Toni Morrison has gained worldwide acclaim. The 1993 Nobel Prize in literature was awarded to Morrison, “who in novels characterized by visionary force and poetic import, gives life to an essential aspect of American reality.” Her novel “Beloved” won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1988.
2009 Library of Congress Creative Achievement Award for Fiction
John Grisham is America’s most popular writer of legal thrillers. Since first publishing “A Time to Kill in 1988,” he has written one novel a year, and all of them have become international bestsellers.
2008 Lifetime Achievement Award for the Writing of Fiction
Herman Wouk’s first publication was the short play “The Man in the Trench Coat” (1941), followed by “Aurora Dawn” (1947). He won the Pulitzer Prize for one of his most popular works, “The Caine Mutiny” (1951), which draws on Wouk’s experiences in the Navy during World War II.
