NEW YORK, MARCH 6, 2025 – The American Academy of Arts and Letters announces the seventeen recipients of its 2025 Awards in Literature to honor both established and emerging writers. The 300 members of Arts and Letters nominate candidates for awards, and a rotating committee of writers selects the winners. This year, the literature awards committee members were Mona Simpson (chair), Henri Cole, Caryl Phillips, and Yiyun Li. Amy Hempel and Joy Williams adjudicated the Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction and the Rosenthal Family Foundation Award. Louise Erdrich and Ann Patchett judged the E. B. White Award.
The Award of Merit Medal for the Short Story, accompanied by $25,000, is awarded this year to Charles D’Ambrosio for outstanding achievement in the genre.
Each year, the awards committee selects eight writers in any genre to receive Arts and Letters Awards of $10,000 each to honor and encourage creative work. The 2025 recipients are: Marie Howe, Jenny McPhee, Nell Painter, Ed Park, Rowan Ricardo Phillips, Robert Sullivan, Emily Wilson, and Paul Yoon.
The John Updike Award of $20,000, for a writer whose contributions to American literature have demonstrated consistent excellence, goes to Spencer Reece. The Harold D. Vursell Memorial Award of $20,000 for exceptional prose style goes to Jamel Brinkley.
The E. B. White Award of $10,000 for achievement in children’s literature will go to Ruta Sepetys.
Arts and Letters will also recognize five young writers for outstanding achievements. The Benjamin H. Danks Award of $20,000 for an exceptional young playwright will go to Sylvia Khoury. The E. M. Forster Award of $20,000, given to writers from the United Kingdom or Ireland, will go to Johny Pitts. The Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction of $5,000 goes to Nora Lange for Us Fools. The Addison M. Metcalf Award of $10,000 for a young writer of great promise goes to Rita Bullwinkel. The Rosenthal Family Foundation Award of $10,000 for an exceptional novel published in the preceding year goes to Kaveh Akbar for Martyr!.
The literature awards will be presented alongside the architecture, art, and music awards at Arts and Letters’s annual Ceremonial in May.
A list of the 2025 literature award recipients follows.
American Academy of Arts and Letters
The American Academy of Arts and Letters is an honor society of artists, architects, composers, and writers who foster and sustain interest in the arts. Its 300 members distribute over 70 awards annually; fund concerts and new works of musical theater; purchase and commission contemporary art for donation to museums across the country; and present exhibitions, talks, and events for the public at our historic buildings in the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York City.
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2025 Literature Award Recipients List
Award of Merit Medal for the Short Story
Charles D’Ambrosio
Arts and Letters Awards
Marie Howe
Jenny McPhee
Nell Painter
Ed Park
Rowan Ricardo Phillips
Robert Sullivan
Emily Wilson
Paul Yoon
Benjamin H. Danks Award
Sylvia Khoury
E. M. Forster Award
Johny Pitts
Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction
Nora Lange for Us Fools
Addison M. Metcalf Award
Rita Bullwinkel
Rosenthal Family Foundation Award for Literature
Kaveh Akbar for Martyr!
John Updike Award
Spencer Reece
Harold D. Vursell Memorial Award
Jamel Brinkley
E. B. White Award
Ruta Sepetys
For prior news announcements please write to info@artsandletters.org.