Books

Joan Didion Among National Humanities Award Winners

by Kelsey Thomas

The White House is about to be filled with literary and artistic masterminds, and we weren't invited. Whomp whomp. On Tuesday, President Obama will present the National Arts and Humanities Awards.

Medal recipients include the Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Marilynne Robinson, former United States Poet Laureate Kay Ryan, actress and playwright Anna Deavere Smith, and essayist, novelist, and screenwriter Joan Didion, reports the New York Times. Well, that's quite the list.

Of Didion, the National Endowment for the Humanities heaped on the praise, saying, "Exploring the culture around us and exposing the depths of sorrow, Ms. Didion has produced works of startling honesty and fierce intellect, rendered personal stories individual, and illuminated the seemingly peripheral details that are central to our lives."

The award annually recognizes up to 12 individuals, groups, or institutions for their work that has “deepened the nation's understanding of the humanities, broadened our citizens’ engagement with the humanities, or helped preserve and expand Americans’ access to important resources in the humanities."

Your takeaway: Joan Didion, Marilynne Robinson, Kay Ryan, and President Obama are all hanging out. No big.