The Center for Fiction Medal for Editorial Excellence recognizes an editor, publisher, or agent who over the course of his or her career has discovered, nurtured, and championed writers of fiction in the United States.

Sarah McGrath

2022 Recipient of The Center for Fiction Medal for Editorial Excellence

For the past twenty-five years, Sarah McGrath has shepherded many books to phenomenal success—including best-seller lists and recognition by the Booker Prize, National Book Awards, and Pulitzer Prize, among others—at Knopf, Scribner, and, since 2006, Riverhead Books. Her illustrious list of authors includes Brit Bennett, Hernan Diaz, Lauren Groff, Paula Hawkins, Khaled Hosseini, Chang-rae Lee, Sigrid Nunez, Helen Oyeyemi, Emma Straub, Meg Wolitzer, and Jacqueline Woodson. McGrath is also lauded by her colleagues for her collaborative nature, and her belief in nurturing authors and their work over time rather than being beholden to the performance of any given book. Through her leadership, Riverhead has developed an editorially-driven culture that cultivates some of the most exciting voices in fiction today. 

Brit Bennett

Presenting the Medal for Editorial Excellence to Sarah McGrath

Born and raised in Southern California, Brit Bennett earned her MFA in fiction at the University of Michigan. Her debut novel The Mothers was a New York Times bestseller, and her second novel The Vanishing Half was an instant #1 New York Times bestseller. Her essays have been featured in the New Yorker, the New York Times magazine, the Paris Review, and Jezebel.