Harper Lee

Author
2010 National Medal of Arts Recipient
Monroeville, Alabama

Bio

Harper Lee is recognized for her contribution to American literature with her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel To Kill a Mockingbird. A powerful statement of the Civil Rights movement, the novel continues to speak to new generations about tolerance and justice. To Kill a Mockingbird was published in 1960 to highly favorable reviews and quickly climbed the bestseller lists, where it remained for 88 weeks. Since being published, To Kill a Mockingbird has sold more than 30 million copies in 18 languages. In 2007, President George W. Bush bestowed upon Lee the Presidential Medal of Freedom.