TCCL News & Events

The Peggy V. Helmerich Distinguished Author Award is an annual award given by the Tulsa Library Trust. Its purpose is to give formal recognition, on behalf of the Tulsa County community, to internationally acclaimed authors who have written a distinguished body of work and made a major contribution to the field of literature and letters.

The award consists of a $40,000 cash prize and an engraved crystal book.

Past award winners are Geraldine Brooks (2009), Michael Chabon (2008), Thomas Keneally (2007), Mark Helprin (2006), John Grisham (2005), Shelby Foote (2003), Joyce Carol Oates (2002), William Kennedy (2001), William Manchester (2000), Margaret Atwood (1999), E.L. Doctorow (1998), Dr. John Hope Franklin (1997), Neil Simon (1996), David McCullough (1995), Ray Bradbury (1994), Peter Matthiessen (1993), Norman Mailer (1992), Eudora Welty (1991), John le Carré (1990), Saul Bellow (1989), Toni Morrison (1988), John Updike (1987), Larry McMurtry (1986) and Norman Cousins (1985).

Dec. 3 and 4, 2010

Award presentation at black-tie dinner: 7 p.m., Friday, Dec. 3
FREE Public Presentation: 10:30 a.m., Saturday, Dec. 4

Ian McEwan, England’s national author, is the winner of the 2010 Peggy V. Helmerich Distinguished Author Award. McEwan has written numerous novels, short stories, screenplays, children’s books and other writings. His works include the highly praised novels “Amsterdam,” “Enduring Love” and “Atonement.”

“Atonement,” which has sold more than 4 million copies worldwide, is the story of a highly imaginative British preteen whose desire to gain dramatic stature within her family results in a false accusation of rape and the destruction of a young man’s life. In 2007, the novel was made into an Oscar Award-winning movie starring Keira Knightley, James McAvoy and Vanessa Redgrave.

“Although his novels headily explore ideas, and his gift for visual detail approaches that of John Updike, his international success has a lot to do with an old-fashioned talent for creating suspense. His plots defy what he calls the ‘dead hand of modernism,’” wrote Daniel Zalewski in The New Yorker on Feb. 23, 2009. “McEwan is a connoisseur of dread, performing the literary equivalent of turning on the tub faucet and leaving the room; the flood is foreseeable, but it still shocks when the water rushes over the edge.”

His works include the novels “The Cement Garden,” “The Comfort of Strangers,” “The Child in Time,” “The Innocent,” “Black Dogs” and “Saturday,” and the historical fiction novella “On Chesil Beach.” His latest novel, “Solar,” to be released in the U.S. in April 2010, is an engrossing and satirical novel focusing on climate change. “‘Solar’ is a novel about one of the most serious threats to our world – global warming – but is also very, very funny. It shows a fresh side to Ian McEwan’s work, that he’s a comic writer of genius,” said Dan Franklin, Random House publisher.

McEwan’s works for young readers include “Rose Blanche” and “The Daydreamer.” His collections of short stories include “First Love, Last Rites,” which he wrote at age 22 for his master’s thesis; “In Between the Sheets, and Other Stories”; and “The Short Stories.” He also is the author of several screenplays, including “The Ploughman’s Lunch,” “Sour Sweet” (with Mike Newell), “The Innocent” and “The Good Son.” He regularly contributes to periodicals and literary journals.

During his prestigious writing career, he has won numerous awards and honors including the 1998 Man Booker Prize for “Amsterdam”; 2002 WH Smith Literary Award, 2003 Los Angeles Times Prize for Fiction, 2003 National Book Critics Circle Award and 2004 Santiago Prize for the European Novel, all for “Atonement”; and the 2006 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for “Saturday.” His novella “On Chesil Beach” was named Galaxy Book of the Year at the 2008 British Book Awards where McEwan also was named Reader’s Digest Author of the Year.

McEwan and his wife, Annalena McAfee, live in London.

The Tulsa Library Trust is a public foundation created by private contributions to benefit Tulsa City-County Library. Income generated by the Trust’s endowment is used to fund projects and purchase materials that the library could not afford through its operating budget.

Barrett Waller is chairman of the 2010 Distinguished Author Selection Committee.
Janie Funk is chairwoman of the 2010 Distinguished Author Award Dinner Committee, which is made up of more than 90 volunteers.
Bonnie Henke is president of the Tulsa Library Trust board.