Jennifer Egan, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Larry Kramer & James Patterson Among Those to be Inducted into NYS Write

GUILDERLAND, NY (02/13/2019) (readMedia)-- Noted writers Jennifer Egan, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Larry Kramer, and James Patterson are among the seven members of the 2019 Class of Inductees for the NYS Writers Hall of Fame. The four are expected to attend the induction on Tuesday, June 4, 2019, at the Princeton Club of New York. Rocco Staino, who serves as the Director of the Empire State Center for the Book, made the announcement on February 7 during a Facebook Live event on the center's Facebook page. The Center for the Book is the organization that oversees the Hall of Fame. In addition, three deceased writers: William Cullen Bryant, Richard Peck, and Ntozake Shange will be inducted.

"This year is the tenth anniversary of the New York State Writers Hall of Fame" said Rocco Staino, Director for the Center of the Book. "Our anniversary class shows the diversity in literary heritage of New York State."

The full list of the 2019 inductees is as follows:

• William Cullen Bryant - romantic poet, journalist, and long-time editor of the New York Evening Post.
• Jennifer Egan – Pulitzer Prize winning novelist and short story writer.
• Doris Kearns Goodwin – Pulitzer Prize winning author and historian.
• Larry Kramer – Playwright, author and public health advocate.
• James Patterson – Author and reading advocate.
• Richard Peck – Newbery Award winning author of novels for young people.
• Ntozake Shange – Black feminist, playwright and poet.

This year's NYS Writers Hall of Fame inductees were chosen by a selection committee:

Barbara Genco, retired librarian from Brooklyn Public Library and Editor of Collection Management at Media Source; Paul Grondahl, Director of the New York State Writers Institute; Brian Kenney, Director of the White Plains Public Library; Stefanie Peters, Editor, Library of America; Lisa Lucas, Executive Director, National Book Foundation; Kathleen Masterson, Director of the Literature and Theatre Programs, New York State Council on the Arts; Ira B. Matetsky Esq., Partner, Ganfer, Shore, Leeds & Zauderer; Christine McDonald, retired director, Crandall Library in Glens Falls; Andrew Medlar, Director, Brooklyn & New York Public Libraries BookOps; Bertha Rogers, Creator, New York State Literary website and map; Will Schwalbe, Author and Journalist; Cynthia Shor, Executive Director of the Walt Whitman Birthplace Association; and Rocco Staino, Director of the Empire State Center for the Book.

The Empire State Center for the Book is the New York State affiliate of the Library of Congress Center for the Book and is housed at the New York Library Association.