Authors Annie Dillard, Rebecca Newberger Goldstein, Jhumpa Lahiri, and Larry McMurtry are among the ten recipients who will receive National Humanities Medals from President Barack Obama on Thursday, according to a press release from the White House.

The award, managed by the National Endowment for the Humanities, has been given each year to individuals or groups “whose work has deepened the nation’s understanding of the humanities and broadened our citizens’ engagement with history, literature, languages, philosophy, and other humanities subjects.”

In addition to the aforementioned recipients, other winners include the chef and writer Alice Waters; architect and preservationist Everett L. Fly; and scholars Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, Fedwa Malti-Douglas, and Vicki Lynn Ruiz.

President Obama will also honor the Clemente Course in the Humanities, an educational program for low-income adults founded by author and social critic Earl Shorris, who died in 2012.

The prestigious National Medal of the Arts, which is sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts, will go to Stephen King and Tobias Wolff, among others.

The citation for King from the White House press release reads: “One of the most popular and prolific writers of our time, Mr. King combines his remarkable storytelling with his sharp analysis of human nature. For decades, his works of horror, suspense, science fiction, and fantasy have terrified and delighted audiences around the world.”

And for Wolff: “His raw works of fiction examine themes of American identity and individual morality. With wit and compassion, Mr. Wolff’s work reflects the truths of our human experience.”

Stephen King photo credit: Shane Leonard
Jhumpa Lahiri photo credit: Liana Miuccio, 2013