Rudolfo Anaya, author of “Bless Me, Ultima” and the dean of contemporary Chicano literature, will receive the National Humanities Medal from President Obama at a White House ceremony next week.
Anaya received the National Medal of Arts, granted by the National Endowment of the Arts, from President George W. Bush in 2001. The author was raised in Santa Rosa and Albuquerque.
A White House news release said Anaya will be honored with the Humanities Medal “for his pioneering stories of the American southwest. His works of fiction and poetry celebrate the Chicano experience and reveal universal truths about the human condition—and as an educator, he has spread a love of literature to new generations.”
The National Humanities Medal is awarded annually along with the National Medal of Arts. The ceremony is scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 22. Others slated to be recognized by the president that day are comedian Mel Brooks, actor Morgan Freeman, composer Phillip Glass, Motown founder Berry Gordy and others.
Here’s the entire White House press release:
WASHINGTON, DC – On Thursday morning, September 22, 2016, President Obama will award the 2015 National Medal of Arts and the National Humanities Medal to distinguished recipients in the East Room.
The First Lady will also attend.The National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities were established by Congress in 1965 as independent agencies of the federal government.
