George Saunders to Receive 2025 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters

George Saunders is being honored for his contribution to the literary community.

On Sept. 5, the National Book Foundation announced that the acclaimed author will be awarded the 2025 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters.

Over his three-decade career, Saunders has published 13 books across genres, including the novel Lincoln in the Bardo, the writing craft book A Swim in a Pond in the Rain and the short story Fox 8. His latest novel, Vigil, is due out in early 2026.

Saunders, a professor of creative writing at Syracuse University, is also the recipient of prestigious honors like the Booker Prize, the Folio Prize and the Story Prize. He was also named one of TIME Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in 2013, and is a MacArthur and Guggenheim Fellow.

“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, chair of the board of directors of the National Book Foundation, in a statement shared with PEOPLE. 

“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.”

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Saunders is the 38th recipient of the prestigious honor, first established in 1988 to honor authors’ lifetime literary achievements. Previous honorees include authors such as Toni Morrison, Isabel Allende, Edmund White, Ursula K. Le Guin and Barbara Kingsolver.

Deborah Treisman, fiction editor at The New Yorker, will award Saunders the medal at the 76th National Book Awards ceremony on Nov. 19 in New York City.

“Through immersive world-building, deeply human characters and compassionate curiosity towards the most pressing sociopolitical issues of our time, George Saunders’ writing exemplifies the power of fiction to unite us despite — and perhaps because of — our fractured and complex world,” said Ruth Dickey, executive director of the National Book Foundation.

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“Saunders’ craft book A Swim in a Pond in the Rain and Substack Story Club show his genuine enthusiasm for making the process of writing — and reading — accessible and exciting,” Dickey added. “We are thrilled to recognize his extraordinary contribution to literature through the presentation of the DCAL Medal at the 76th National Book Awards.”