A distinguished group of composers and writers have been named as recipients of honors - backed with substantial money prizes - in the annual awards of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
Sebastian Currier, James Primosch and Edward Smaldome each receive a $12,500 fellowship, given in recognition of "young composers of extraordinary gifts," from a total of $150,000 in awards and scholarships for composers.Stephen Hartke, Stephen Jaffe, Christopher Rouse and David Sheinfeld each get an Academy Award in Music of $7,500, for lifetime achievement in the profession.
Twenty writers share $200,000 in literature awards. Among them are John Casey and Joy Williams, who each get a Mildred and Harold Strauss Living, an annual stipend of $50,000 for five years to free the recipient to write.
The British poet Sean O'Brien wins the E.M. Forster Award of $12,500, given to a young English writer for a stay in the United States.
Eight Academy Awards of $7,500 go to Tina Howe for drama; Rolf Fjelde for translation; and Ellen Akins, Richard Bausch, Vance Bourjaily, Deborah Eisenberg, Denis Johnson and A.G. Mojtabai for fiction.
Playwright David Mamet will receive the Award of Merit Medal, with a $5,000 award.