Poets Writers will honor Oprah Winfrey, Michael Chabon, and Amanda Gorman with awards at their 50th Anniversary Gala in March.
The literary nonprofit announced Friday that Winfrey, the businesswoman whose book club regularly turns books into bestsellers, will receive its Leadership Award. This is only the second time the group has given the award; it was previously awarded to Barnes Noble chairman Leonard Riggio in 2013.
Susan Isaacs, the novelist and chair of Poets Writers’ board of directors, said the organization was “thrilled” to honor Winfrey.
“Perhaps more than any other individual, Oprah has elevated the position of books in our culture, lifting up writers and helping countless readers discover great books,” Isaacs said.
The group also announced two winners of its Writers for Writers Awards: novelist Chabon and 21-year-old poet Gorman.
The organization praised Chabon for “often anonymously … [donating] the proceeds of several books to organizations that support writers and helped to raise funds to assist other authors.”
Gorman, who was the nation’s first-ever National Youth Poet Laureate, was cited for founding the One Pen One Page project “to encourage young people to share their voices and to provide free creative writing programming for underserved youth.”
Previous winners of the Writers for Writers Awards have included Margaret Atwood, Rigoberto Gonzalez, John Grisham, Francine Prose, and Judy Blume.
Michael Schaub is an Austin, Texas–based journalist and regular contributor to NPR.
