Deep Dives
Deep Dives is a series of virtual hour-long, in-depth discussions about this year’s PEN/Faulkner Award Finalist books. Each small group is facilitated by a member of the PEN/Faulkner community, and everyone gets to join in the conversation. Our next discussion is January 7—register now to participate!
2025 PEN/Faulkner Literary Champion
We are thrilled to announce that Librarian of Congress Dr. Carla Hayden has been selected as the 2025 PEN/Faulkner Literary Champion! This annual commendation recognizes a lifetime of devoted literary advocacy and a commitment to inspiring new generations of readers and writers.
PEN/Faulkner Malamud Award
Ted Chiang, 2024 winner of the PEN/Bernard and Ann Malamud Award for Excellence in the Short Story, was honored at American University, on Friday, December 6, 2024. Guests enjoyed a reading by Chiang followed by a discussion with Jung Yun and a book signing.
Our Awards
The PEN/Faulkner Foundation celebrates literature by giving out three major literary awards: the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, the PEN/Malamud Award for Excellence in the Short Story, and the PEN/Faulkner Literary Champion. Our goal in doing so is to honor major literary achievements and help readers discover the breadth and diversity of contemporary fiction.
Literary Programs
PEN/Faulkner brings highly acclaimed established and emerging authors together into a shared space, inviting them to discuss urgent contemporary issues through the lens of their varied perspectives. By curating a variety of public literary programs, we turn the private, individual experience of reading into an enriching, inspiring experience for a larger community, one that engages in vital civil discourse.
Literary Conversations
PEN/Faulkner brings highly acclaimed established and emerging authors together into a shared space, inviting them to discuss urgent contemporary issues through the lens of their varied perspectives. By curating Literary Conversations, we turn the private, individual experience of reading into an enriching, inspiring experience for a larger community, one that engages in vital civil discourse.
Education Programs
PEN/Faulkner provides young people with dynamic literary experiences that combine culturally relevant book donations, writing instruction, and rich discussions with authors. Our education programs work in tandem to create spaces in which students in grades 3-12 from all across DC can engage with a diverse variety of perspectives.
We currently offer: Writers in Schools, Writing Workshops, Writers in Residence, and our Nuestras Voces initiative.
An honor I am infinitely grateful to carry.
“Winning the PEN/Faulkner Award at such a delicate and trying juncture in our nation’s troubled history is an honor I am infinitely grateful to carry. It is, for me, a reminder from our mysterious universe that honest writing can allow us to speak humbly with one another, an intimation to love and to listen deeply each time I set pen to paper.”
Azareen Van der Vliet Oloomi, author of Call Me Zebra
They are visible and their voice counts
“You know, they say if children don’t read about people who look like them or sound like them, they feel invisible. So I feel that this is an opportunity for them to see that they’re visible and that their voice does count. Not just me telling them, because I am their teacher, but somebody else telling them. Someone else showing them it’s true.”
Ms. Santiago, educator
My heart [was] brimming with joy
“I have to thank you and keep thanking you for what I want to think was a very successful and amazingly well-planned event. I left this morning with my heart brimming with joy.”
André Aciman, author of Call Me by Your Name
Your Support Matters
Your support makes our programs possible. Please consider a contribution. Thank you.
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PEN/Faulkner Foundation
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Unit #1062
Washington, DC 20011
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(202) 898-9063
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