Poets & Writers to Honor Margaret Atwood, Cheryl Boyce-Taylor, Christopher Castellani, and Barbara Epler

New York, NY -- March 3, 2015 -- Poets & Writers, Inc. has announced that Margaret Atwood, Cheryl Boyce-Taylor, and Christopher Castellani will receive the 2015 Barnes & Noble Writers for Writers Awards, and Barbara Epler will receive this year's Editor's Award. The awards will be presented at Poets & Writers' annual benefit dinner, In Celebration of Writers.

The celebration will take place on Monday evening, March 23, 2015, at Pier Sixty in New York City. The chair of this year's event is Markus Dohle, CEO of Penguin Random House. Author Malcolm Gladwell will serve as the Master of Ceremonies. Susan Isaacs, novelist and chair of the Poets & Writers Board of Directors, will present the awards to the honorees on behalf of the Board. 

Continuing a Poets & Writers tradition, an author will be seated at each table. Among the more than forty writers participating this year are Robert Caro, Christina Baker Kline, Willie Perdomo, Vijay Seshadri, Emma Straub, and Natasha Trethewey.  

The Writers for Writers Award was established by Poets & Writers in 1996 to recognize authors who have given generously to other writers or to the broader literary community. It is named for Barnes & Noble in appreciation of the company's sponsorship of Poets & Writers. Winners are selected by a committee comprised of current and former members of the Poets & Writers Board of Directors.

Renowned Canadian author Margaret Atwood will be honored for cofounding the Writers' Trust of Canada, which provides more financial support to Canadian writers than any other non-governmental organization or foundation in the country. Poet Cheryl Boyce-Taylor will be recognized for founding Calypso Muse and her other efforts to strengthen the community of Caribbean-American poets in New York City. Novelist Christopher Castellani will be honored for his service to Boston's GrubStreet, one of the nation's leading creative writing centers, where he is currently Artistic Director. 

The 2015 Editor's Award will go to Barbara Epler, president and publisher of New Directions. Ms. Epler has worked with several acclaimed international authors, including W. G. Sebald, Roberto Bolaño, Yoel Hoffmann, and Yoko Tawada, among others. The Editor's Award has been given each year since 2009 to a book editor who has made an outstanding contribution to the publication of poetry or literary prose over a sustained period of time. Ms. Epler joins a prestigious list of past honorees that includes Chuck Adams, Kathryn Court, Jonathan Galassi, Daniel Halpern, Kate Medina, and Patricia Strachan. 

Tickets to the dinner begin at $500 per person. The evening is expected to generate over $450,000, with proceeds to support Poets & Writers' programs for creative writers. More information and honorees' biographies can be found here.

 About Poets & Writers

Poets & Writers believes in contemporary literature's indispensable value to our national culture. We focus on literature's source: creative writers.

Our mission is to foster the professional development of poets and writers, to promote communication throughout the literary community, and to help create an environment in which literature can be appreciated by the widest possible public.

Founded in 1970, we pursue our mission by publishing Poets & Writers Magazine, an award-winning bi-monthly journal; producing a website that provides trustworthy advice, information, and a lively online community for writers; administering the Readings & Workshops Program, which pays writers fees for giving readings and leading workshops throughout New York and California, as well as in eight cities outside these states; and sponsoring awards for writers including the $50,000 Jackson Poetry Prize, the Maureen Egen Writers Exchange Award, and the Amy Award. Learn more at pw.org.