Awards
The Washington Irving Medal for Literary Excellence
Established in 1985, this medal is awarded to a writer who epitomizes the standards of excellence set by the Society’s founders.
The Washington Irving Medal for Literary excellence has been awarded to the following distinguished writers:
1985 Louis Auchincloss
1986 Tom Wolfe
1988 William Manchester
1989 Peter Mathiessen
1990 Simon Schama
1991 Letitia Baldridge
1992 James B. Stewart
1993 David McCullough
1994 A. R. Gurney
1995 David Hackett Fischer
1996 Robert D. Richardson
1999 Richard Brookhiser
2000 Edwin G. Burrows & Mike Wallace
2001 Edward Ladd Widmer
2002 William Zinsser
2003 Christopher Buckley
2004 Charles Gehring & Russell Shorto
2005 Ron Chernow
2007 Billy Collins
2009 Ira Stoll
2010 Brian Jay Jones
2011 Edward Rutherfurd
2012 Sally Bedell Smith
2013 Barnet Schecter
2015 Missy Wolfe
2016 Joe Queenan
2017 John Guare
2018 Nathaniel Philbrick
2019 Steven Ujifusa
2021 Colin Powell
2022 Julian Fellowes
