The American Academy of Arts and Letters recently inducted poet Frank Bidart and fiction writers Paul Auster and Lorrie Moore into the 250-member organization. The three writers were among twelve artists, playwrights, and composers to enter the Academy, which was founded in 1898 to "foster, assist, and sustain an interest in literature, music, and the fine arts."
The organization also recently awarded the $20,000 Katherine Anne Porter Award to fiction writer Arturo Vivante. Endowed by the trustees of the Porter estate, the biennial award of $20,000 honors a prose writer “whose achievements and dedication to the literary profession have been demonstrated.” Vivante’s most recent book is Solitude and Other Stories ( University of Notre Dame Press, 2004).
