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An affiliate of the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress

  
 

ILLINOIS LITERARY HERITAGE AWARD

The Illinois Literary Heritage Award was established by the Illinois Center for the Book in 1995. The purpose of the award is to acknowledge extraordinary contributions to the literary heritage of Illinois over a significant period of time. In order to be considered for the Illinois Literary Heritage Award, all recipients must meet the following criteria:

  1. The recipient must have an Illinois connection.
  2. The recipient may be a publisher, author, library or other entity.
  3. The recipient shall meet one or more of the following criteria:
    • Made a significant contribution to the literary culture of Illinois by publishing a body of work, or enhancing literary culture through a unique venture, or by collecting and storing a literary body of work related to Illinois and its history and heritage.
    • Made a significant contribution to promote books, book arts, libraries, reading and/or the literary heritage of Illinois
    • Made a significant contribution to support the projects of the Illinois Center for the Book

No more than one award will be made per calendar year and the award need not be presented annually. The award is a commemorative plaque. For questions or additional information about the Illinois Literary Heritage Award, please contact the Coordinator of the Illinois Center for the Book (bmatheis at ilsos.net).

Recipients

2006 Louis "Studs" Terkel, Illinois author, historian, radio and television broadcast personality.
2000 Diana Haskell, Lloyd Lewis Curator of the Midwest Manuscripts at the Newberry Library in Chicago.
1999 Carus Publishing Company, Peru, Illinois for publishing numerous exceptional magazines for children.
1998 Cyrus Colter, Illinois author and educator.
1997 University of Illinois Press, Champaign, Illinois for the Prairie State Book Project.
1996 Angela Jackson, Illinois author, poet and playwright
1995 John Knoepfle, Illinois poet and essayist.

If you would like additional information about any of the activities of the Illinois Center for the Book, please contact Bonnie Matheis, the Coordinator for the Illinois Center for the Book at 217-558-2065.