Julia Alvarez will receive the Center for Fiction's 2026 Lifetime of Excellence in Fiction Award, which "celebrates writers and luminaries who have significantly influenced our culture and perspective." She will be honored at the Center's Awards Benefit on December 8. The author of eight novels, three books of nonfiction, five collections of poetry, and twelve books for children and young adults, Alvarez "has inspired countless readers, writers, and artists," the center noted.
Board chair Nina von Moltke said: "With her astonishing 1991 debut, How the García Girls Lost Their Accents, Julia Alvarez announced herself as a writer who could not be ignored, giving voice to the Dominican-American experience with a clarity that commands attention. In the decades since, she has never confined herself to one shelf or one audience--moving between novels, poetry, and essays, and writing with the same care for young readers discovering her Tía Lola books as for adults finding themselves in her fiction. Few writers have spoken so fully across generations, languages, and cultures. We are honored to recognize her with this year's award."