New York, March 10, 2014 – The American Academy of Arts and Letters announced today the names of 20 writers who will receive its 2014 awards in literature. The awards will be presented in New York in May at the Academy’s annual Ceremonial. The literature prizes, totaling $230,000, 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 Louis Begley, Louise Glück, Alison Lurie, Francine Prose, Mark Strand and Charles Wright.
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
DON BARTLETT • EMILY FRAGOS • GEORGE GREEN
RAJIV JOSEPH • JAMES LONGENBACH • ERIC PUCHNER
JEAN VALENTINE • BRENDA WINEAPPLE
Benjamin H. Danks Award of $20,000 given every three years to an exceptional young writer. YIYUN LI
Blake Dodd Prize of $25,000 given triennially to a nonfiction writer. ALEXANDER STILLE
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: Anita Desai, Paul Theroux. SARAH HALL
Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction $5000 for the best work of first fiction (novel or short stories) published in 2013. MANUEL GONZALES for The Miniature Wife
Katherine Anne Porter Award of $20,000 to be given biennially to a prose writer. SHERMAN ALEXIE
Arthur Rense Poetry Prize of $20,000 to be given triennially to an exceptional poet. ELLEN BRYANT VOIGT
Rome Fellowships in Literature A one-year residency (2014–2015) at the American Academy in Rome. KRYS LEE, LIZ MOORE
Rosenthal Family Foundation Award $10,000 to a young writer of considerable literary talent for a work published in 2013. LAURA VAN DEN BERG, The Isle of Youth
Harold D. Vursell Memorial Award $20,000 to a writer whose work merits recognition for the 
quality of its prose style. DANIEL MENDELSOHN
Thornton Wilder Prize for Translation of $20,000 to a practitioner, scholar, or patron who has made a significant contribution to the art of literary translation. DAVID HINTON
Morton Dauwen Zabel Award of $10,000 to a poet with progressive, original, and experimental tendencies. CLAUDIA RANKINE
Congratulations to all the winners!
Source: ACA Press Release