City: New York

The National Arts Club had such members as W. H. Auden, Hamlin Garland, Vachel Lindsay, Edgar Lee Masters, Thomas Nast, Booth Tarkington, and Mark Twain.

National Book Foundation has sponsored the National Book Awards since 1950, the nation’s preeminent literary prizes. The Awards are given to recognize achievements in four genres: Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, and Young People’s Literature. The Winners, selected by five-member, independent judging panels for each genre, receive a $10,000 cash award and a crystal sculpture.

The New School is known for its literary connections.

The Players Club was founded in 1888. Its members have included Gelett Burgess, Richard Harding Davis, Paul Green, Mark Twain, and Hendrik Willem Van Loon.

Washington Irving’s birthplace was at 131 William Street, New York, New York.

The Plaza Hotel, 5th Avenue and 59th Street, has a plaque stating that it is the Home of Eloise (see Kay Thompson). Writers who have stayed there include F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, Sherwood Anderson, John Dos Passos, and J. P. Marquand.

Irving Place, East 17th Street, was named after Washington Irving.

Central Park Conservatory Garden, 5th Avenue and 105th Street, is home to a fountain group given to the children of the city in the name of Frances Hodgson Burnett (author of The Secret Garden).