The National Medal for Literature was a literary award recognizing an individual for distinguished and continuing contributions to American letters. First presented to Thornton Wilder by Lady Bird Johnson at a White House ceremony in 1965,McDowell, Edwin. "American Book Awards are given for 22 works" New York Times May 1, 1981. the award consisted of a cash prize of $15,000 and a bronze medal."Mary McCarthy Wins Medal for Literature" New York Times April 10, 1984.
The National Medal for Literature was established by the National Book Committee, a nonprofit society; other sponsors included the National Institute of Arts and Letters (1975–77), and the New York Public Library (1978, 1984).National Medal for Literature in The Oxford Companion to American Literature The National Medal for Literature was typically presented as part of the National Book Awards, renamed the American Book Awards during the 1980s.Fehrman, Craig. "Guilty Parties" New York Times Book Review October 30, 2011.
The medal was not presented for 1974–75, nor 1982–83. After a brief hiatus, the prize was effectively replaced in 1988 with the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, awarded by the National Book Foundation.
Medalists Thornton Wilder (1965) Edmund Wilson (1966) W.H. Auden (1967) Marianne Moore (1968) Conrad Aiken (1969) Robert Penn Warren (1970) E. B. White (1971) Lewis Mumford (1972) Vladimir Nabokov (1973) Allen Tate (1976) Robert Lowell (1977) Archibald MacLeish (1978) Eudora Welty (1979) Kenneth Burke (1980) John Cheever (1981) Mary McCarthy (1984)
See also List of literary awards
References