Elmore Leonard to Be Honored by National Book Foundation

September 19, 2012, 12:25 pm

By JULIE BOSMAN

Fall is awards season in the publishing industry, and on Wednesday the National Book Foundation announced the recipients of its annual lifetime achievement awards. The medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters will be presented to the novelist and screenwriter Elmore Leonard for his work in fiction. “For over five decades, Leonard's westerns, crime novels, serialized novels and stories have enthralled generations of readers,” the foundation said in a statement. Harold Augenbraum, the executive director of the foundation, said Mr. Leonard has produced “vibrant literary work with an inimitable writing style.”

The foundation also announced the 2012 Literarian Award for Outstanding Se rvice to the American Literary Community, which will be presented to Arthur Sulzberger Jr., the publisher of The New York Times and chairman of the Times Company, “for his continuing efforts through the New York Times Book Review and online book coverage to ensure an ongoing conversation about books in American culture.” For more than a century, Mr. Augenbaum said in a statement, “The New York Times has been central to America's book culture.”

Both awards will be presented at the National Book Awards ceremony and dinner on Nov. 14 at Cipriani Wall Street. Finalists for National Book Awards in fiction, nonfiction, poetry and young people's literature are expected to be announced on Oct. 10.