National Book Foundation's Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters

The Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters has been awarded by the National Book Foundation since 1988 as an honorary award for a lifetime achievement.

Award winners

• 1988: Jason Epstein (* 1928)
• 1989: Daniel J. Boorstin (1914-2004)
• 1990: Saul Bellow (1915-2005)
• 1991: Eudora Welty (1909-2001)
• 1992: James Laughlin (1914–1997)
• 1993: Clifton Fadiman (1904-1999)
• 1994: Gwendolyn Brooks (1917-2000)
• 1995: David McCullough (* 1933)
• 1996: Toni Morrison (1931-2019)
• 1997: Studs Terkel (1912-2008)
• 1998: John Updike (1932-2009)
• 1999: Oprah Winfrey (* 1954)
• 2000: Ray Bradbury (1920–2012)
• 2001: Arthur Miller (1915-2005)
• 2002: Philip Roth (1933-2018)
• 2003: Stephen King (* 1947)
• 2004: Judy Blume (* 1938)
• 2005: Norman Mailer (1923-2007)
• 2006: Adrienne Rich (1929–2012)
• 2007: Joan Didion (* 1934)
• 2008: Maxine Hong Kingston (* 1940)
• 2009: Gore Vidal (1925–2012)
• 2010: Tom Wolfe (1930-2018)
• 2011: John Ashbery (1927-2017)
• 2012: Elmore Leonard (1925-2013)
• 2013: EL Doctorow (1931-2015)
• 2014: Ursula K. Le Guin (1929-2018)
• 2015: Don DeLillo (* 1936)
• 2016: Robert A. Caro (* 1935)
• 2017: Annie Proulx (* 1935)
• 2018: Isabel Allende (* 1942)

Web links

• Official website (English)