The PEN/Malamud Award for Excellence in the Short Story: Joy Williams
Friday, December 2nd, 2016 | 7:30 PM
Purchase a single ticket for $25.
Folger Reading Room – Old Reading Room
201 East Capitol Street, SE
Washington, DC 20003 (map)
Given since 1988 in Honor of the late Bernard Malamud, this award recognizes a body of work demonstrating excellence in the art of short fiction. This year we will honor Joy Williams, a writer known for her crisp prose, grim wit, and unsparing explorations of the dark side of hope.
Joy Williams is the author of four novels, two collections of nonfiction, and five short story collections including The Visiting Privilege: New and Collected Stories (2015), and 99 Stories of God (2016).
Her first novel, State of Grace (1973), was a finalist for the National Book Award and her most recent novel The Quick and the Dead was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Her collection of nonfiction Ill Nature was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and she was the 1999 recipient of the Rea Award for the Short Story.
“In Williams’s world, we are all wandering interlopers— adrift, trapped, groundless—looking for visitors’ privileges.” – James Wood, The New Yorker
About the Award
The PEN/Malamud Award for Excellence in the Short Story was established by Bernard Malamud’s family to honor excellence in the art of short fiction. The basis of the award fund was a gift from the Malamud family. The fund continues to grow through the generosity of friends, supporters, and Reading Series subscribers. The readings and the fund are administered by the PEN/Faulkner Foundation. A panel of PEN/Faulkner directors forms the selection committee for the awards.