PEN American Center is pleased to announce the shortlists for its Literary Awards in categories spanning fiction, non-fiction, poetry, translation and more.
Ron Childress won the biannual PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction for his unpublished novel “And West Is West.” The PEN/Bellwether Prize, founded and entirely funded by novelist Barbara Kingsolver, celebrates an emerging voice whose work addresses issues of social justice. As part of the prize, Childress will receive $25,000 and a publishing contract with Algonquin Books.
Winners of the awards will be announced on July 30 and honored at the PEN Literary Awards Ceremony on Sept. 29 at The New School in New York City. Here is a list of writers and the awards for which they were nominated.
PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize ($25,000): To an author whose debut work — a first novel or collection of short stories published in 2013 — represents distinguished literary achievement and suggests great promise. “A Constellation of Vital Phenomena,” Anthony Marra; “Brief Encounters With the Enemy,” Said Sayrafiezadeh; “Everybody’s Irish,” Ian Stansel; “Godforsaken Idaho,” Shawn Vestal; “The People in the Trees,” Hanya Yanagihara.
PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay ($10,000): For a book of essays published in 2013 that exemplifies the dignity and esteem that the essay form imparts to literature. “Forty-One False Starts,” Janet Malcolm; “Let’s Explore Diabetes With Owls,” David Sedaris; “The Faraway Nearby,” Rebecca Solnit; “Critical Mass,” James Wolcott.
PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award ($10,000): For a book of literary nonfiction on the subject of the physical or biological sciences published in 2013. “The End of Night,” Paul Bogard; “Five Days at Memorial,” Sheri Fink; “High Price,” Carl Hart; “Surfaces and Essences,” Douglas Hofstadter & Emmanuel Sander; “Wild Ones,” Jon Mooallem.
PEN Open Book Award ($5,000): For an exceptional book-length work of literature by an author of color published in 2013. “Duppy Conqueror,” Kwame Dawes; “Leaving Tulsa,” Jennifer Elise Foerster; “domina Un/blued,” Ruth Ellen Kocher; “Cowboys and East Indians,” Nina McConigley; “Ghana Must Go,” Taiye Selasi.
PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for Biography ($5,000): For a distinguished biography published in 2013. “Lawrence in Arabia,” Scott Anderson; “Holding On Upside Down: The Life and Work of Marianne Moore,” Linda Leavell; “Margaret Fuller,” Megan Marshall; “American Mirror: The Life and Art of Norman Rockwell,” Deborah Solomon; “A Life of Barbara Stanwyck,” Victoria Wilson.
PEN/ESPN Award for Literary Sports Writing ($5,000): To honor a nonfiction book on the subject of sports published in 2013. “Collision Low Crossers,” Nicholas Dawidoff; “The Sports Gene,” David Epstein; “League of Denial,” Mark Fainaru-Wada & Steve Fainaru; “The Emerald Mile,” Kevin Fedarko; “Their Life’s Work,” Gary M. Pomerantz.
PEN/Steven Kroll Award for Picture Book Writing ($5,000): To a writer for an exceptional story illustrated in a picture book published in 2013. “Train,” Elisha Cooper; “Tea Party Rules,” Ame Dyckman; “The King of Little Things,” Bil Lepp; “Crabtree,” Jon & Tucker Nichols.
PEN Award for Poetry in Translation ($3,000): For a book-length translation of poetry into English published in 2013. “Even Now: Poems by Hugo Claus,” David Colmer; “Diaries of Exile,” by Yannis Ritsos, Karen Emmerich & Edmund Keeley; “Collected Haiku of Yosa Buson,” by Yosa Buson, Takako Lento & W.S. Merwin; “Paul Klee’s Boat,” by Anzhelina Polonskaya, Andrew Wachtel; “Cut These Words Into My Stone: Ancient Greek Epitaphs,” Michael Wolfe.
PEN Translation Prize ($3,000): For a book-length translation of prose into English published in 2013. “An Armenian Sketchbook,” by Vasily Grossman, Elizabeth & Robert Chandler; “Transit,” by Anna Seghers, Margot Bettauer Dembo; “The African Shore,” by Rodrigo Rey Rosa, Jeffrey Gray; “The Emperor’s Tomb,” by Joseph Roth, Michael Hofmann; “Autobiography of a Corpse,” by Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky, Joanne Turnbull & Nikolai Formozov.
The following PEN Awards do not have shortlists but are listed to recognize the participation of those authors who are judging the awards. The winners will be announced later this summer along with the winners for the above book awards.
PEN/Saul Bellow Award for Achievement in American Fiction ($25,000): To a distinguished living American author of fiction. Judges: Edwidge Danticat, E.L. Doctorow and Zadie Smith.
PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction, Founded by Barbara Kingsolver($25,000): To an author of an unpublished novel that addresses issues of social justice. The prize also includes a publishing contract with Algonquin Books. Judges: Terry McMillan, Nancy Pearl, Kathy Pories.
PEN/Voelcker Award for Poetry ($5,000): To a poet whose distinguished and growing body of work to date represents a notable and accomplished presence in American literature. Judges: Peg Boyers, Toi Derricotte and Rowan Ricardo Phillips.
PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater Awards ($7,500 and $2,500): Three awards which honor a Master American Dramatist, American Playwright in Mid-Career, and Emerging American Playwright. This is the inaugural year of the Award for an Emerging American Playwright. Judges: John Lithgow, Elizabeth Streb and Maria Tucci.
PEN/Phyllis Naylor Working Writer Fellowship ($5,000): To an author of children’s or young-adult fiction, who has published at least two books, to complete a book-length work-in-progress. Judges: Kathi Appelt, Johanna Hurwitz and Padma Venkatraman.
PEN/ESPN Lifetime Achievement Award for Literary Sports Writing ($5,000): To a writer whose body of work represents an exceptional contribution to the field. Judges: Kostya Kennedy, David Rosenthal and John Schulian.