Dr. Henry Kissinger to Receive Inaugural "Edmund Burke Award"

NEW YORK, April 26, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Dr. Henry A. Kissinger, former U.S. Secretary of State and National Security Advisor, will receive the inaugural "Edmund Burke Award for Service to Culture and Society" at The New Criterion's 30th Anniversary celebration in New York City at an intimate dinner gathering on Thursday, April 26. The award marks the 30th anniversary of The New Criterion, an influential monthly review of the arts and intellectual life, and gives homage to the inspiration provided by Edmund Burke, the eighteenth-century political philosopher.

Dr. Kissinger will be the guest of honor and will be delivering remarks on "The Limits of Universalism: Conservatism and Neo-conservatism in American Foreign Policy."

"Henry Kissinger is an intellectual giant, a genuine statesmen and scholar in an era sadly lacking in both," remarked Roger Kimball, editor and publisher of The New Criterion. "His service to his adopted country has distinguished him in the annals of American politics and his work as a diplomatic historian has earned him the well-deserved plaudits of knowledgeable observers across the globe.  Like Edmund Burke before him, Dr. Kissinger understands the fragile nature of civilization, so difficult of achievement, so easily lost, and, once lost, nearly impossible to retrieve.  It is a great honor as well as a great pleasure for all of us at The New Criterion to bestow upon him our first Edmund Burke Award for Service to Culture and Society."

"The New Criterion has done more than any other magazine to preserve what Matthew Arnold called 'the best which has been thought and said.'" stated Dr. Kissinger. "It is my great pleasure to receive its first Edmund Burke Award, named for the great eighteenth-century Irish statesman and philosopher, who has been a notable model for my own work as a diplomat and historian."

About The New Criterion

The New Criterion (www.newcriterion.com) is a New York-based monthly literary magazine and journal of artistic and cultural criticism, edited by Roger Kimball. It was founded in 1982 by Hilton Kramer, former art critic for The New York Times who passed away in March, and Samuel Lipman, a pianist and music critic; the name is a reference to The Criterion, a British literary magazine edited by T. S. Eliot from 1922 to 1939. For three decades, it has featured criticism of poetry, theatre, art, music, the media, and books from America's leading commentators.

Since its inception, the magazine has been the home to many of the smartest minds in cultural journalism including Dr. Kissinger, Mark Steyn, Andrew Roberts, Theodore Dalrymple, Joseph Epstein, Denis Donoghue, William F. Buckley Jr., Andrew C. McCarthy and Charles Murray. Now edited by Mr. Kimball, the magazine is also staffed by the critics David Yezzi (Executive Editor) and James Panero (Managing Editor).

The Times Literary Supplement has said "The New Criterion is probably more consistently worth reading than any other magazine in English." The Wall Street Journal has said "it operates as a refuge for a civilizing element in short supply in contemporary America: honest criticism" and calls The New Criterion "the best art magazine and provocative force in other cultural areas."

For more information, please contact Alexandra Preate at (212) 588-9148.

SOURCE The New Criterion