Anna Deavere Smith among winners of arts academy prizes
Playwright Adrienne Kennedy, actor-playwright-educator Anna Deavere Smith and author-essayist Phillip Lopate are among this year’s recipients of career achievement prizes from the American Academy of Arts and Letters
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Actor-playwright-educator Anna Deavere Smith, playwright Adrienne Kennedy and author-essayist Phillip Lopate are among this year's recipients of career achievement prizes from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
Lopate, 78, won the $100,000 Christopher Lightfoot Walker Award for contributions to American literature. His books include the essay collections “Bachelorhood” and “Against Joie de Vivre” and the novels “Confessions of Summer” and “The Rug Merchant.” He has also edited such anthologies as “Writing New York” and “The Art of the Personal Essay.”
The academy announced Tuesday that the 90-year-old Kennedy, known for such plays as “Funnyhouse of a Negro” and “Sleep Deprivation Drama,” won its Gold Model for Drama.
Smith, 71, whose credits range from such one-person stage shows as “Fires in the Mirror” to the TV series “The West Wing” and “Nurse Jackie,” has been given the Medal for Spoken Language.
Also on Tuesday, the academy gave the Distinguished Service to the Arts award to Edwin Frank, the 61-year-old poet, essayist and founder of the publishing imprint New York Review Books, which releases everything from overlooked literature of the past to contemporary books in translation. The 52-year-old visual artist Kara Walker, whose silhouettes have been exhibited worldwide, received a Gold Medal for Graphic Art.