Skip to Main Content

John Grisham, Library of Congress Creative Achievement Award for Fiction Winner

On September 26, 2009, Librarian of Congress James H. Billington announced John Grisham as the recipient of the 2009 Library of Congress Creative Achievement Award for Fiction. Learn more about Grisham through this guide.

Introduction

John Grisham, 2009 Library of Congress Creative Achievement Award for Fiction Winner. Photo credit: Michael Lionstar.

On September 26, 2009, the Library of Congress announced the awarding of the Creative Achievement Award for Fiction to John Grisham. Librarian of Congress James H. Billington offered the following remarks on Grisham’s award, which was conferred at the 2009 National Book Festival:

We are recognizing in a special way someone who is, in many respects, an American original as well as a great and much-loved writer. We are opening the festivities by presenting for the first time ever the National Book Festival Creative Achievement Award to an outstanding and prolific writer, John Grisham, for [his] extraordinary contributions to American letters.

John Grisham received the 2009 Creative Achievement Award for Fiction from the Librarian of Congress during the 2009 Library of Congress National Book Festival on September 26, 2009. [View recording of award announcement.]

About the Prize

Since 2008, the Library of Congress has awarded a prize to distinguished writers of fiction. The Library of Congress Lifetime Achievement Award for the Writing of Fiction was created to honor a career dedicated to the literary arts. This award was first presented to Herman Wouk on Sept. 10, 2008. This inaugural award has inspired subsequent Library of Congress fiction awards, given in connection with the Library’s annual National Book Festival.

From 2009 to 2012, the Library of Congress Creative Achievement Award for fiction was presented to John Grisham, Isabel Allende, Toni Morrison and Philip Roth. Beginning in 2013, the Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction has been presented to an author for a body of extraordinary work. Recipients have included Philip Roth, Don DeLillo, E.L. Doctorow, Louise Erdrich, Marilynne Robinson, Denis Johnson, E. Annie Proulx, Richard Ford and Colson Whitehead.

The annual Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction is meant to honor an American literary writer whose body of work is distinguished not only for its mastery of the art but also for its originality of thought and imagination. The award seeks to commend strong, unique, enduring voices that, throughout long, consistently accomplished careers, have told us something about the American experience.

Contact Information for John Grisham

If you would like to contact John Grisham please direct your inquiries as suggested below:

  • Reference/Programmatic Questions: Contact the Library's Ask a Librarian service (reference questions) or Literary Initiatives office, Library of Congress, [email protected] (programmatic questions).
  • Permissions Requests: Contact the publisher directly regarding work written by Grisham.