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On October 26, 2016 the Chicago Public Library Foundation and Chicago Public Library will honor best selling authors Erik Larson  and Scott Turow  with Carl Sandburg Literary Awards.

Novelist Erik Larson (“Devil in the White City”, ”In the Garden of the Beasts”, “Dead Wake”) will receive the Carl Sandburg Literary Award for non-fiction and Scott Turow (”Presumed Innocent,” ”The Burden of Proof”, “Identical”) receives the award for fiction.

The 21st Century Award, presented to a Chicago-based emerging author, will be awarded to short story writer Amina Gautier (“At Risk,” “The Loss of All Lost Things”).

Guest authors with ties to Chicago will be seated at every table enjoying lively conversation with guests. Larson and Turow will participate in an insight-filled onstage conversation moderated by National Public Radio host and author Scott Simon.

We generously thank the Presenting Sponsor of the Sandburg Literary Awards Dinner, BMO Harris Bank.

Past winners of the Carl Sandburg Literary Award are Stephen Sondheim, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Mavis Staples, Larry McMurtry, Michael Lewis, Isabel Allende, Don DeLillo, Walter Isaacson, Roger Ebert, Toni Morrison, David McCullough, Robert Caro, Joyce Carol Oates, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Kurt Vonnegut, John Updike, David Mamet, Nikki Giovanni, Tom Wolfe and Salman Rushdie.

The Carl Sandburg Literary Award is presented annually to an acclaimed author in recognition of outstanding contributions to the literary world and honors a significant work or body of work that has enhanced the public's awareness of the written word.

The 21st Century Award honors significant recent achievement in writing by a Chicago-based author. In presenting this award, the Foundation's Directors hope to encourage the creation of new works and increase public awareness of the writer's talents.