Stephen King received the National Medal of Arts in 2014. The award recognized his contributions as an author and honored the breadth of his work in horror, suspense, science fiction, fantasy, and crime fiction.
The National Medal of Arts is the highest honor given by the United States government to artists and arts patrons. Although the medal is identified with the 2014 recipient year, King received it at a White House ceremony on September 10, 2015, when President Barack Obama presented the awards.
King’s medal was part of a larger group of 2014 honorees that included artists such as Sally Field, Meredith Monk, George Shirley, and Tobias Wolff. Readers sometimes confuse this honor with King’s 2003 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters from the National Book Foundation, a different award. His 2014 National Medal of Arts specifically recognized his lasting contribution to American literature and popular culture.