Bard College Faculty Member Francine Prose Awarded Washington University International Humanities Medal

ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y.—Acclaimed writer and Bard College faculty member Francine Prose has been awarded the Washington University International Humanities Medal. The $25,000 prize is among the largest literary awards in the United States. Prose, who is distinguished writer in residence at Bard College, will receive the award on Tuesday, November 30, at Washington University in St. Louis. At the ceremony, she will give the address “Ten Things Art Can Do.” Awarded biennially, the medal honors the lifetime work of a noted scholar, writer, or artist who has made a significant and sustained contribution to the world of letters or the arts. Generously supported by David and Phyllis Wilson Grossman, the award’s past winners are Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk in 2006 and journalist Michael Pollan in 2008.

Francine Prose is most recently the author of Anne Frank: The Book, The Life, The Afterlife (2009). The recipient of many awards, Prose has published more than 20 books, including the novel Blue Angel (2000), a National Book Award nominee. Other fiction includes the novels A Changed Man (2005), Hunters and Gatherers (1995), Primitive People (1992), and Bigfoot Dreams (1986), as well as the story collection Guided Tours of Hell (1997). Along with Anne Frank and Caravaggio (2005), Prose’s nonfiction includes The New York Times bestseller Reading Like a Writer (2006), Sicilian Odyssey (2003), and Gluttony: The Seven Deadly Sins (2003). Her stories and essays have appeared in Atlantic Monthly, Best American Short Stories, The New Yorker, and The New York Times among many others. She is a contributing editor at Harper’s, a member of both the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a fellow of the New York Institute for the Humanities. Prose is currently distinguished writer in residence at Bard College.

HIGH-RES PHOTO AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD AT www.bard.edu/news/press.

This event was last updated on 11-23-2010

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