BTW News Briefs

Herman Wouk Earns Lifetime Achievement Award From Library of Congress

Librarian of Congress James H. Billington will present Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Herman Wouk with the first Library of Congress Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Writing of Fiction. The award recognizes Wouk's extraordinary contributions to American letters and his dedication to, as he has said, "the enduring power of the novel." The award will be presented on Wednesday, September 10, at 5:00 p.m. in the Thomas Jefferson Building, Coolidge Auditorium, in Washington, D.C. The event is free and open to the public; no tickets are required. The program will include readings by Wouk and other distinguished guests.

"Herman Wouk's work epitomizes the historical novel and its ability to transcend its time and place to achieve universality in character and themes," Billington said. "Herman is a longtime supporter of the Library who has honored us with his presence on many occasions, and he was among the first group of recipients, during our bicentennial in 2000, of our Living Legend Award."

Wouk has published 12 widely acclaimed novels as well as plays and nonfiction. Many do not know that he also wrote comedy, early in his career, for Fred Allen's radio show from 1936 to 1941. Little, Brown is Wouk's publisher. Wouk is donating his literary diaries, remaining manuscripts, and correspondence to the Library, where they will be made available in the Manuscript Division Reading Room, after processing. The Library already holds the manuscripts of five Wouk novels, including The Winds of War and War and Remembrance.

Finalists for the 2008 Thurber Prize for American Humor Announced

Thurber House announced the three finalists for the 2008 Thurber Prize for American Humor. The award is an annual prize and will be presented at a ceremony at New York's Algonquin Hotel, once home to Thurber, on October 6. Robert Kaplow, a judge for this year's Prize, a former finalist for his novel Me and Orson Welles, will serve as the evening's emcee.

The finalists are:

• Larry Doyle for I Love You, Beth Cooper (Harper Perennial)
• Patricia Marx for Him Her Him Again The End of Him (Scribner)
• Simon Rich for Ant Farm (Random House)

The 2008 Thurber Prize for American Humor will be conferred upon the author and publisher of the outstanding book of humor writing published in the United States between January 1, 2007 and December 31, 2007. Initiated in 1996, thirty-five years after the death of Thurber, the award recognizes the art of humor writing. The award includes a $5,000 prize and a commemorative crystal plaque.

Jonathan Galassi Named 2008 Winner of Maxwell E. Perkins Award

On August 20, the Mercantile Library Center for Fiction announced FSG President Jonathan Galassi as the winner of its 2008 Maxwell E. Perkins Award for Distinguished Achievement in the Field of Fiction. The award recognizes an editor, publisher, or agent who, over the course of his or her career, has discovered, nurtured, and championed writers of fiction in the U.S. It will be presented on December 1 at the Mercantile Library in New York City.

Galassi joined FSG as vice president and executive editor in 1986, and he was named president in 2002. Authors he has worked with include Andre Aciman, Frank Bidart, Michael Cunningham, Jeffrey Eugenides, Jonathan Franzen, Ian Frazier, Thomas L. Friedman, Louise Glck, Nadine Gordimer, David Grossman, Shirley Hazzard, and Tom Wolfe. His authors have won the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and other honors.