Honoring Amy Tan 2026 Preston Award for Distinguished Service to the Literary Community Recipient Share on Twitter (opens in a new tab) on Facebook (opens in a new tab) on Linkedin (opens in a new tab) via email Born in the U.S. to immigrant parents from China, Amy Tan rejected her mother’s expectations that she become a doctor and concert pianist. She chose to write fiction instead. Her novels are The Joy Luck Club, The Kitchen God’s Wife, The Hundred Secret Senses, The Bonesetter’s Daughter, Saving Fish from Drowning, and The Valley of Amazement—all New York Times bestsellers. Her other works include a memoir, The Opposite of Fate, and a book about writing titled Where the Past Begins: A Writer’s Memoir. She is also the author of two children’s books, The Moon Lady and Sagwa, The Chinese Siamese Cat, along with numerous articles for magazines including The New Yorker, Harper’s Bazaar, and National Geographic, as well as a short story, “Rules for Virgins,” published as an audiobook. Her work has been translated into 35 languages, from Spanish, French, and Finnish to Chinese, Arabic, and Hebrew. In keeping with her love of science in the wild and her childhood love of doodling, Tan began nature journal sketching, leading to her book The Backyard Bird Chronicles, which debuted at #1 on both The New York Times and Indie bestseller lists and has remained on the lists since publication. In his foreword, David Allen Sibley wrote, “The drawings and essays in this book do a lot more than just describe the birds. They carry a sense of discovery…, suggest the layers of patterns in the natural world, and emphasize a deep personal connection between the watcher and the watched.” Internationally popular, The Backyard Bird Chronicles has also been published in the UK, France, Korea, Japan, China, and Poland. Amy Tan served as co-producer and co-screenwriter with Ron Bass for the film adaptation of The Joy Luck Club, for which they received WGA and BAFTA nominations. In 2020, the film was added to the National Film Registry, an archive of motion pictures chosen for their “cultural, historic, or aesthetic” importance to the nation’s understanding of cinema. She was the creative consultant for Sagwa, the Emmy-winning PBS television series for children, which has aired worldwide, including in the UK, Latin America, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, and Singapore. Her story in The New Yorker, “Immortal Heart,” was performed on stages throughout the U.S. and in France. Her essays and stories are found in hundreds of anthologies and textbooks, and they are assigned as required reading in many high schools and universities. She was profiled in The Boomer List, a PBS American Masters documentary featuring icons of the Baby Boom Generation. She appeared as herself in the animated series The Simpsons and performed as narrator with the San Francisco Symphony, playing an original score for Sagwa by composer Nathan Wang. Amy Tan has been nominated for the National Book Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the International Orange Prize. She is also the recipient of the Commonwealth Gold Award, the 2005 Common Wealth Award of Distinguished Service, the 2021 Carl Sandburg Literary Award, and other honors. In March 2022, she was voted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters. She was also awarded the 2021 National Humanities Medal by President Biden in a ceremony at the White House. She was named a 2024 Library Lion by the New York Public Library, and in 2025, she was elected into the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Amy Tan has lectured internationally at universities including Stanford, Oxford, Jagiellonian, Beijing, and Georgetown (both in Washington, D.C. and Doha, Qatar). She is an instructor with MasterClass, the streaming platform. She has delivered a TED Talk and spoken at the White House, appeared on NPR’s Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me, as well as on Sesame Street on public television. The National Endowment for the Arts chose The Joy Luck Club for its 2007 Big Read program. She serves on the boards of the American Bird Conservancy, The National Poetry Series, and The Community of Writers. Amy Tan wrote the libretto for The Bonesetter’s Daughter, which had its world premiere with the San Francisco Opera in September 2008. There are also a book, Fate! Luck! Chance! Amy Tan, Stewart Wallace, and the Making of The Bonesetter’s Daughter by Ken Smith, and a documentary, Journey of the Bonesetter’s Daughter, about the genesis of the opera. Since 1992, she has served as lead rhythm “dominatrix,” backup singer, and second tambourine with the literary garage band the Rock Bottom Remainders, whose members have included Stephen King, Dave Barry, and Scott Turow. Their shows have raised over a million dollars for literacy programs. A documentary about her life and career titled Amy Tan: Unintended Memoir, directed by James Redford, is available on PBS. Amy Tan appeared as a guest during season 11 of Finding Your Roots.
