Tickets Now on Sale for PEN/Faulkner’s Annual Gala!

by | Sep 3, 2019 | PEN/Faulkner Award

The PEN/Faulkner Foundation’s Chair, Co-Chairs, Honorary Co-Chairs, Benefit Committee, and Board of Directors request the pleasure of your company at

THE 31ST ANNUAL PEN/FAULKNER GALA

Saturday, October 26, 2019
Katzen Arts Center, American University
4400 Massachusetts Avenue NW
Washington, DC

6:30 pm • Cocktails
7:30 pm • RISE UP! Readings and Dinner Program

Cocktail attire • Complimentary garage parking

 
WITH NEW READINGS BY
Nell Freudenberger
Matt Klam
Alice McDermott
Francine Prose
José A. Rodriguez
Rachel Louise Snyder
Nafissa Thompson-Spires
Azareen Van der Vliet Oloomi

& two award-winning DC student writers

MASTER OF CEREMONIES
Calvin Trillin, back by popular demand

Now in its 31st year, the PEN/Faulkner Foundation’s Annual Gala is a unique evening that celebrates important voices in contemporary American literature and supports arts education in our city’s schools. Those who attend will begin their evening with a cocktail hour, followed by a formal seated dinner in the Rotunda of the Katzen Arts Center. The night will feature readings of original pieces written especially for the occasion by some of the most highly acclaimed authors in the literary world. Our authors will also be joined on stage by Katrina Tracy and Queenal Ayaba, the DC students who won our Writers in Schools program’s city-wide essay contest. All who take the stage will speak in their own words on this year’s theme: “Rise Up!”
 
 

Meet Our 2019 Annual Gala Committee

GALA CHAIR: Willee Lewis

CO-CHAIRS: Lisa Brennan Barry • William Dunlap • Julie Arthur Garcia • Dale LeFebvre • Katherine Field Stephen • Annie Simonian Totah • Jayne Visser

HONORARY CO-CHAIRS: Senator Patrick Leahy • Senator Lisa Murkowski

HONORARY BENEFIT COMMITTEE: Senator Roy Blunt • Representative G.K. Butterfield • Representative Debbie Dingell • Senator Amy Klobuchar • Representative John Lewis • Senator Ed Markey • Representative Jackie Speier • Senator Christopher Van Hollen • Senator Mark Warner

BENEFIT COMMITTEE
Cynthia Howar and Susan Pillsbury, Co-Hosts

Anonymous • Shalom & Beth Baranes • Wendy Benchley & John Jeppson • Lee & Wayne Berman • Afsaneh and Michael Beschloss • BP America • Cathy Brentzel • Ludmila and Conrad Cafritz • Byron Carlock • Debbie Driesman & Frank Islam • Molly Elkin & Ivan Wasserman • Shannon Fairbanks & Thor Halvorson • Rhona & Don Friedman • James Gale • Elizabeth & Michael Galvin • Jon Garcia • Renee & Stephen Gardner • Hank & Carol Brown Goldberg • Denise Grant & Frank Raines • Beverly & Stuart Halpert • The Honorable Jane Harman • Mimi & Richard Houstoun • Kay Kendall & Jack Davies • Dale LeFebvre • Finlay Lewis • Tracy & Greg McGillivary • Virginia Newmyer & Philip F. Zeidman • The Paley Family • Michael Pillsbury • Politics & Prose • Robert & Margie Shanks • Eileen Shields-West & Robin West • Nancy & Simon Sidamon-Eristoff • Douglas & Gabriela Smith • Andrew Stephen • Elizabeth & George Stevens, Jr. • Robert A. Stewart/JBG Smith • Lucretia Dewey Tanner

THE PEN/FAULKNER FOUNDATION BOARD
H.G. Carrillo, Chair • Tracy McGillivary, President

Louis Bayard • Jackson R. Bryer • Conrad Cafritz • Susan Coll • Molly Elkin • Renée K. Gardner • Ginny Grenham • Mary Haft • Mimi Houstoun • Joanne Leedom-Ackerman • Dale LeFebvre • Tony Lewis, Jr. • Willee Lewis • Richard McCann • Dr. Malcolm O’Hagan • Frazier O’Leary • Lisa Page • Dolen Perkins-Valdez • Anas “Andy” Shallal • Katherine Field Stephen • Deborah Tannen