Karen Tei Yamashita to receive honorary National Book Award

Karen Tei Yamashita, author of The I Hotel and Tropic of Orange has been chosen to receive the National Book Foundation’s 2017 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters.

Karen Tei Yamashita, a prolific Japanese-American writer who focuses on issues such as postcolonialism (the study that examines how countries in Asia or Africa were colonized by European nations), gender politics (focused upon social practices rooted within perceived differences between genders) , identity formation(formation based upon prior experiences,) sexuality and race relations will be awarded an honorary prize at this year’s ceremony during its 50th anniversary gala held in November at Cipriani Wall Street. Karen was born into a migrant farm worker family

The National Book Foundation announced that Karen Tei Yamashita will receive the 2018 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. The foundation’s president, Lisa Lucas, said in a statement: “Karen has written an astonishing array of novels and stories about America’s history and immigrant experience with wit and empathy.”

The National Book Award is given out each year by the US’ leading organization promoting books since 1950. This award goes to authors who have made outstanding contributions over their lifetime or within this past decade; it also provides financial support worth $10-$20 thousand dollars for winners depending on how well they do at fundraisers organized around them after winning such as book tours across country through schools libraries etc