The Carnegie Medal and Us

Perhaps this is a boast, but two thirds of the finalists for the newly established Andrew Carnegie Medal of the American Library Association recently visited the New York State Writers Institute.

Anne Enright, who visited on April 18 has received the first-ever Andrew Carnegie Medal for Fiction.

Both of the remaining two finalists for the medal were also recent Institute guests:  Karen Russell, who came in February 2011, and Russell Banks, who visits often.

Robert K. Massie (who, oddly, has never been here though he lives in Irvington, NY) received the Carnegie Medal for Nonfiction.

Among the remaining two nonfiction contenders was James Gleick, who came in March 2011. The reamining finalist was the late Manning Marable.

For more on the award, visit American Libraries, the magazine of the American Library Association.