Springsteen Archives Talks with Nora Guthrie about the 2021 Woody Guthrie Prize Recipient Bruce Springsteen

The Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music at Monmouth University will release a conversation with Nora Guthrie, daughter of the legendary folk singer Woody Guthrie, in which she discusses her father, the Woody Guthrie Prize, and Bruce Springsteen, this year’s prize recipient, with music journalist Bob Santelli.

The Archives virtual program will launch on Tuesday, May 11 at 10 a.m., and can be accessed on the Bruce Springsteen Archives & Center for American Music website or via the Springsteen Archives’ Facebook page.

The Woody Guthrie Prize, awarded by the Woody Guthrie Center in Tulsa, OK, recognizes artists across media who have used their talents to speak for those without a platform. Past recipients of the award include Joan Baez, Chuck D, John Mellencamp, Norman Lear, Kris Kristofferson, Mavis Staples and Pete Seeger.

Ms. Guthrie, speaking on behalf of her family, described their delight at Springsteen’s acceptance of the award, saying, “I’ve been hoping and waiting for this day when Bruce will join our family as the recipient of the Woody Guthrie Prize. Our tribe is one of visionaries and changers, fighters and hopers, believers and speaker-uppers, and lovers who inhabit the world of the arts.  Each with their own voice, style, content, or method, they all have one thing in common. They care about what’s going on around them. They forcefully or gently stretch our ability to, at first, know about others. Then, they inspire us to care for others. Finally, they show us what we can do to help others. Welcome, brother!”

“For an American songwriter, I can’t think of a better honor than to receive the Woody Guthrie Prize,” said Santelli.  “Clearly, Bruce Springsteen is from the same songwriting lineage that begins with Woody, runs through Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, and Phil Ochs, and includes just about every other writer that saw a song as an inspiration for change in America.”