it gives me great pleasure to introduce victor navasky.ya angelou's cloud. i love that, what i just heard. and let me say when i was asked to introduce my good friend e.l. doctorow this evening i was honored to be asked and said yes because i have such admiration for his books, his plays and his other writings, his short stories but on reflection it has occurred to me that edgar has won more awards than our good for him. [laughter] among them the national book award, the saul bellow award for achievement and american fiction, a national humanities medal bestowed by president clinton in 1988 and the gold medal bestowed by the american academy of arts and letters. i thought that he should we home instead of spending his time going to evenings like this. he should be home writing his novels and short stories. better than be out accepting at another award this evening that would divert him from his more important work. so that was my second thought after the first thought of being honored to introduce him. then i remembered that nothing divert

mark doty, nikky finney, annette gordon-reed, marianne hoberman, jane kramer, philip levine, victor navaskychael cunningham, alan taylor and lawrence wright, macarthur fellow george saunders, winner of the national book critics award, and leeann. and, of course, the recipient of the presidential medal of freedom, toni morrison and maya angelou. please recognize these great writers with me. [applause] >> i'd like to thank our financial supporters. again, please hold applause and let me get to the list. premier sponsors barnes & noble, inc. when random house and the ford foundation, leadership sponsors david drummond, and sponsors amazon, the bar foundation, google, lavender, macmillan, thank you for your support. couldn't do it without you. [applause] >> like to acknowledge in the audience something special. the winners of our fifth annual innovations in reading prize. our organization is about recognizing great writing and encouraging the great books producer or decisions that helped make i it happen. if you are reading is the way up. little free library based in wisconsin has established e