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Jon
Yaged, CEO of Macmillan Publishers, will receive the "Business
Visionary Award."
Parker has been involved in numerous literary projects, whether
as founder of her own publishing imprint or serving as executive
producer of the anti-book banning documentary “The Librarians,”
which premiered last month at the Sundance Film Festival.
The PEN/Audible Literary Service Award had previously been given
to an “important writer” who has attracted a wide audience and
“helped us understand the human condition,” with previous
winners including Stephen Sondheim and Toni Morrison. The
criteria is now “a writer or advocate who has served the
literary community through their words or work.”
“We are now at a crisis point with books by underrepresented
writers being pulled from school libraries and classrooms," PEN
co-CEO Clarisse Rosaz Shariyf said in a statement released
Friday. “Sarah Jessica Parker is pushing back against these bans
as an indispensable defender of the freedom to read and by
shining a light on exceptional new voices of American
contemporary literature through her publishing imprint SJP Lit.”
As head of Macmillan, Yaged publishes authors ranging from Sally
Rooney and Kristin Hannah to S.A. Cosby and Michael Wolff. The
business visionary award is given for “outstanding leadership”
that “embraces the power of literature to shape democratic and
humane values.”
PEN co-CEO Summer Lopez praised Yaged for his “eloquence and
force” in opposing book bans and other restrictions.
"For decades, Jon has been a stalwart defender of the right to
read and a champion of ensuring publishing represents diverse
voices and perspectives, understanding the fundamental role of
these values in a democratic society," Lopez said in a
statement. "We are honored to give him the spotlight as a
‘visionary’ for his big-hearted, expansive, and principled
approach to literary publishing.”
A former Macmillan CEO, John Sargent, is among the previous
winners of the business award, along with former publishing
executives Markus Dohle of Penguin Random House, Michael Pietsch
of Hachette Book Group and Caroline Reidy of Simon and Schuster.
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