New York – Oscar-nominated producer Jason Blum is now getting some recognition from the literary world. PEN AMERICA will honor him with the Business Visionary Award at its fundraising gala next spring. PEN, the century-old free speech organization, will also present the PEN/Audible Literary Service Award to author-bookseller Ann Patchett.
The ceremony is scheduled for May 14, and, as in previous years, will be held at the American Museum of Natural History.
Blum, the founder and CEO of Blumhouse Productions, has helped oversee films ranging from “BlacKkKlansman” and “Whiplash” to “Get Out” and horror franchises like “Paranormal Activity” and “Halloween.” Announcing the awards Tuesday, PEN praised the creator for “his bold and diverse films that have transformed the horror genre from a niche genre to a driving force of contemporary culture, often with social issues at its center.”
Blum, 56, said in a statement that “horror is bigger and broader than people think” and that he is “very proud to have played a role in bringing it to an even wider audience.” He then cited an issue at the core of PEN’s mission, book banning, which he called the only thing “scarier than our movies.”
“A report from PEN America earlier this year found that Stephen King is the most banned author in American schools,” he said. “The freedom to tell horror stories is vital to what we do every day at Blumhouse, so I’m grateful to PEN America for recognizing this, and grateful for this honor.”
Previous recipients of the Visionary Award, given for “transformative contributions to the world of literature and storytelling,” include Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger, Dow Jones CEO Almaray Latour, and Macmillan Publishers CEO John Yggd.
Patchett, who turned 62 on Tuesday, is known for acclaimed and popular novels such as “Bel Canto,” “Commonwealth” and “The Dutch House.” The PEN Literary Service Award recognizes “a writer or advocate who has served the literary community through his or her words or work” and has a legacy of both.
Patchett is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award for “Bel Canto.” In addition to her own writing, Patchett has received praise for advocating for fellow authors through Parnassus Books, the Nashville-based store she co-founded in 2011, around the same time that two local booksellers closed.
“I always thought of myself as someone who should be alone in a room and write books,” Patchett told The Associated Press. “But the bookstore really challenged that and changed me from a person with titles on the inside to a person with titles on the outside.”
“Selling books gets me out of the house,” he said, laughing.
PEN’s interim co-CEO Clarice Rosas Sharif said in a statement that Patchett’s fiction “captures the essence of the human condition with humor and heart” and that Parnassus “has evolved into a haven for readers and writers.”
Other literary service honorees include Toni Morrison, Lorne Michaels and Bob Woodward.
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