George Saunders to Receive NBF’s Lifetime Achievement Award

George Saunders will receive the 2025 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters from the National Book Foundation at the 76th National Book Awards on November 19. The award will be presented by New Yorker fiction editor Deborah Treisman.

“George Saunders is the author of more than a dozen books—from short story and essay collections to novels and a children’s book—that offer an incisive, comedic, and urgent perspective on our world,” said David Steinberger, National Book Foundation board chair, in a statement. “Throughout his career, Saunders has captured the imagination of readers and mentored countless writers in and outside of the classroom. It is our honor to celebrate his oeuvre and creative generosity with the 2025 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters.”

Saunders has previously been honored by the Booker Prize, the Folio Prize, the PEN/Bernard and Ann Malamud Award for Excellence in the Short Story, and the Story Prize. His body of work includes the novel Lincoln in the Bardo; the children’s book The Very Persistent Gappers of Frip; the essay collection The Braindead Megaphone; and the short story collections CivilWarLand in Bad Decline, Pastoralia, In Persuasion Nation, Liberation Day, and the National Book Award finalist Tenth of December.