Sept. 15, 2022 For the past three decades, New York Times bestselling author and Pulitzer Prize winner Elizabeth Strout has captivated readers with her distinctively New England stories and wondrous talent to transform the ordinary into the extraordinary.
“I think my biggest trait that has helped with my success is that I have tremendous tenacity. I never gave up, even when no one was interested for years in my work. I just understood somehow that if I kept going I would get better, and this is what happened,” said Strout about her many accolades including her 2022 induction into the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
Strout has written nine novels. Titles include: Amy and Isabelle, winner of the 1999 Los Angeles Times Art Seidenbaum Award for first fiction; Olive Kitteridge, winner of the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for fiction; My Name Is Lucy Barton, longlisted for the 2016 Man Booker Prize; Oh William!, shortlisted for the 2022 Booker Prize; The Burgess Boys; and Lucy by the Sea, released in September 2022.
For her distinguished body of work and major contribution to the field of literature and letters, Strout will receive the 37th annual Peggy V. Helmerich Distinguished Author Award. Given by the Tulsa City-County Library and the Tulsa Library Trust, the Helmerich Award consists of a $40,000 cash prize and an engraved crystal book. Strout will accept the award at a black-tie gala on Friday, Dec. 2 and will give a free public address on Saturday, Dec. 3 at 10:30 a.m. Both events will take place at Central Library, Fifth Street and Denver Avenue. Copies of her works will be for sale at the public presentation.
To complement Strout’s visit to Tulsa, the Friends of the Tulsa City-County Libraries will offer “An Elizabeth Strout Sampler” as a part of its popular Books Sandwiched In series on Monday, Nov. 28 at 12:10 p.m. at Central Library in Aaronson Auditorium. Rebecca Howard, a regional manager for the Tulsa City-County Library and member of the Helmerich Award author selection committee, will offer a retrospect of Strout’s work, highlighting its significance and impact on the literary world.
For more information about the Helmerich Award or Strout’s visit to Tulsa, go to www.tulsalibrary.org/helmerichaward or call 918-549-7323.
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