The Carl Sandburg Literary Award honors an author whose significant body of work has enhanced the public’s awareness of the written word. The 21st Century Award honors a significant recent achievement in writing by a Chicago-area writer and is given to increase the public’s awareness of the writer and to encourage the creation of new works.
These awards are presented by the Chicago Public Library Foundation. Proceeds from the annual Carl Sandburg Literary Awards Dinner support innovative and life-enriching programs at the Chicago Public Library.
| Year | Carl Sandburg Literary Award | 21st Century Award |
| 2013 | Isabel Allende (Fiction) Michael Lewis (Nonfiction) |
Christine Sneed |
| 2012 | Don DeLillo (Fiction) Walter Isaacson (Nonfiction) |
Nami Mun |
| 2011 | Roger Ebert | Rebecca Skloot |
| 2010 | Toni Morrison | Eula Biss |
| 2009 | Salman Rushdie | Patrick Somerville |
| 2008 | Tom Wolfe | Theresa Schwegel |
| 2007 | Nikki Giovanni | Sara Gruen |
| 2006 | David Mamet | Blue Balliett |
| 2005 | John Updike | Tracy Letts |
| 2004 | Henry Louis Gates, Jr. | Audrey Niffenegger |
| 2003 | Robert A. Caro | Elizabeth Crane |
| 2002 | Joyce Carol Oates | Richard Cohen |
| 2001 | Kurt Vonnegut | Jeffery Renard Allen |
| 2000 | David McCullough | Aleksandar Hemon |