NEW YORK (AP) β Ursula K. Le Guin, the science fiction and fantasy writer widely hailed as a visionary and compelling storyteller, is receiving an honorary National Book Award.
The National Book Foundation, which presents the awards, announced Tuesday that Le Guin was receiving the 2014 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. Previous winners include Toni Morrison, Norman Mailer and Elmore Leonard.
Le Guin, 84, is known for such novels as “The Left Hand of Darkness” and “The Farthest Shore,” which in 1973 won the National Book Award for young people’s literature.
Neil Gaiman, who has long cited Le Guin as among his favorite writers, will present the medal to her at the Nov. 19 ceremony in Manhattan.
