Los Angeles Times Book Prizes to Honor Pico Iyer and Amanda Gorman
The 45th annual awards will recognize outstanding literary achievements in 13 categories, with winners to be announced on April 25
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The Los Angeles Times today announced the finalists and honorees for its 45th annual Book Prizes. Pico Iyer will receive the Robert Kirsch Award for lifetime achievement and Amanda Gorman will be honored with the Innovator’s Award. Additionally, Emily Witt will be presented with the Christopher Isherwood Prize for Autobiographical Prose.
The Book Prizes recognize 61 exceptional works in 13 categories celebrating the highest quality of writing from authors at all stages of their careers. Winners will be announced in a ceremony on Friday, April 25 at USC’s Bovard Auditorium, on the eve of the 30th annual Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, which will take place the weekend of April 26-27.
Award-winning writer Pico Iyer is this year’s honoree for the Robert Kirsch Award for lifetime achievement, which recognizes a writer with a substantial connection to the American West. Iyer is the author of more than a dozen books on subjects ranging from the Dalai Lama to globalism. His recent memoir, “Aflame: Learning from Silence,” explores the power of calm as Iyer recalls his retreats at a monastery in Big Sur, Calif., where he sought solace from changes and struggles in life, including when a family home in Santa Barbara burned down.
“Pico Iyer is a treasure,” said Times Associate Director of Events and Book Prizes Administrator Ann Binney. “While he travels the world, he always finds his way back to California. I have known Pico for many years and it is such an honor to recognize him with the Robert Kirsch award. His beautiful words sharing his own experience of loss and recovery offer us welcome comfort, especially during this time as we recover from our recent devastating wildfires.”
Some of Iyer’s acclaimed work includes “The Half Known Life,” “Video Night in Kathmandu,” “The Lady and the Monk,” “The Global Soul,” “The Open Road” and “The Art of Stillness.” He contributes regularly to countless publications, has received numerous accolades throughout his career and has given multiple TED talks that have together drawn more than 11 million viewers.
The Innovator’s Award, which spotlights efforts to bring books, publishing and storytelling into the future, will be presented to Amanda Gorman. An award-winning writer and activist, and the youngest inaugural poet in U.S. history, Gorman has used her platform to raise awareness on a host of issues from climate change and social justice to literacy. She speaks out against book bans and highlights the importance of representation and education, among other causes.
Gorman is the founder and executive director of One Pen One Page, an organization that promotes literacy through free creative writing programs for underserved youth. Her latest title, “Girls on the Rise,” is a picture book celebrating the power of girls, with illustrations by Loveis Wise. The poem highlights how girls have shaped history and why they should march boldly into the future.
“Amanda Gorman is an eloquent voice for the next generation. Her skillful use of poetry to motivate, inspire and enact social change is incredibly powerful,” said Times Executive Editor Terry Tang. “We are thrilled to be honoring Gorman with this year’s Innovator’s Award and to shine a light on the work she has done – and continues to do – in promoting literacy to empower the youth to get involved.”
Journalist Emily Witt is the winner of the Christopher Isherwood Prize for Autobiographical Prose for “Health and Safety: A Breakdown,” which chronicles her experience with psychedelics and Brooklyn’s underground party scene during the first Trump presidency. The memoir offers Witt’s life as a lens into America from 2016 to 2020. Sponsored by the Christopher Isherwood Foundation, the award honors exceptional work and encompasses fiction, travel writing, memoir and diary.
“Emily Witt exposes a country in the throes of ongoing trauma in a coming-of-age memoir — keenly observed, unapologetically told — that feels scarily emblematic of our life and times,” commented the judges of the Isherwood Prize.
The Book Prizes recognize titles in the following categories: audiobooks (presented by Audible), autobiographical prose (the Christopher Isherwood Prize), biography, current interest, fiction, first fiction (the Art Seidenbaum Award), graphic novel/comics, history, mystery/thriller, poetry, science fiction, science and technology, and young adult literature. Judging panels of writers who specialize in each genre select finalists and winners.
For more information about the Book Prizes, including the complete list of 2024 finalists and past winners; eligibility and judging information; and how to make a tax-deductible donation in support of the annual literary awards, go to latimes.com/BookPrizes. Tickets to attend the Book Prizes ceremony, as well as Festival of Books VIP packages, are on sale now.
The Los Angeles Times Festival of Books is presented in association with USC. Festival news and updates are available on the event website and Facebook, Twitter and Instagram profiles (#bookfest).
