Jane Smiley is the author of numerous novels, including A Thousand Acres, which was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, as well of works of nonfiction and books for young adults. A member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, she has also received the PEN Center USA Lifetime Achievement Award for Literature as well as the Robert Kirch Award for Lifetime Achievement. In 2001 she was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
