Another Award for Oprah

This year’s PEN/Faulkner Literary Champion is Oprah Winfrey. Board Vice President Mary Haft speaks of Winfrey in glowing words:

“Oprah Winfrey is a literary force field. She has been like a lighthouse standing sentry and shining a beacon of light onto literature and into the lives of writers and readers.”

The PEN/Faulkner Foundation is an independent non-profit arts organization dedicated to promoting writing. It supports writers and students with its Writers in Schools program. In addition, the foundation gives three annual awards: Literary Champion, Prize for Fiction and Award for Excellence in the Short Story. The organization and award bear William Faulkner’s name because he used the funds from his Nobel Prize (1949) to assist young writers.

As to Winfrey’s contributions to reading, most people know that she started a book club in 1996. During her TV show, she discussed a book every month. There are currently 95 books in her book club. What she did for book publishing and reading in general is phenomenal, including encouraging children to read.