2025 PEN/Faulkner Award Celebration
Thursday, May 15, 2025
6 pm arrivals, 7 pm ceremony, 8 pm dinner and dessert
Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library
Cocktail Attire
An Event to Remember for Contemporary Fiction Lovers
Our 45th Annual PEN/Faulkner Award Celebration on May 15, 2025 honored this year’s distinguished books and authors. This exquisite literary evening featured presentations by our judges; meaningful commentary by our winner and four finalists; and a celebration of Dr. Carla Hayden, our 2025 PEN/Faulkner Literary Champion.
HONOREES
PEN/Faulkner Award Finalists
‘Pemi Aguda
Susan Muaddi Darraj
Percival Everett
Garth Greenwell
Danzy Senna
PEN/Faulkner Literary Champion
Dr. Carla Hayden
SPECIAL GUESTS
2025 Judges
Bruce Holsinger
Deesha Philyaw
Luis Alberto Urrea
Master of Ceremonies
Ron Charles
Featured Speaker
Jason Reynolds
CELEBRATION CO-CHAIRS
Renée & Stephen Gardner
Laura & Jonathan Kravis
Sophia McCrocklin & William Isaacson
CELEBRATION TEAM
Anonymous (2)
Anne Aaron
Elliot Ackerman & Lea Carpenter
Wendy Benchley & John Jeppson
Aldridge Borden
Marie Arana & Jonathan Yardley
Deborah Taylor Ashford
Katherine Boone & Joshua Geltzer
The Honorable Ann Brown
Melinda & John Buntin
Leslie & Andrew Cockburn
Susan Coll & Paul Goldberg
Jonathan Coopersmith & Lisa Halperin
Susan M. Crawford
DC Writers Room
Anthony & Jacqueline Dobranski
East City Bookshop
Molly Elkin & Ivan Wasserman
Field Recordings Wine
Tope Folarin
Lauren Francis-Sharma & Anand Sharma
Elizabeth & Paul L. Friedman
The Garcia Family Spotlight Foundation
Renée & Stephen Gardner
Susan Ginsburg & Mario Velasquez
Emily & David Glendinning
Xochitl Gonzalez
Hachette Book Group
Mary & Robert Haft
Shelby Settles Harper
Linette S. Hwu
Ingram Content Group
Laura & Jonathan Kravis
Margaret Rood Lenzner
Willee & Finlay Lewis
Loyalty Bookstores
Sophia McCrocklin & William Isaacson
Tracy & Gregory McGillivary
W. W. Norton
Malcolm & Virginia O’Hagan
Lisa & Clarence Page
John & Bethanne Kelly Patrick
The Paz Fund
Penguin Random House
Nicole Petrosky & De Margo “Kali” Hopson
Politics and Prose
Wendy Ponvert & Harold Rosen
Jane Evans Ramsay
Susan S. Rappaport
Relegation Books
Shreve Williams Public Relations
Joan H. Simmons
James K. Smith & Michael Singer
Rose Solari & James J. Patterson
Emilie & Jacob Sommer
Deborah Tannen & Michael Macovski
Lucretia Dewey Tanner
Ericka Taylor
Martha Anne Toll & Daniel Becker
The Warner Foundation
Stephanie Wimmer
Jung Yun & Joel Anderson
This list is current as of May 2, 2025
2025 Winner
2025 Finalists
OUR 2025 PEN/FAULKNER LITERARY CHAMPION
Dr. Carla Hayden
Dr. Carla Hayden was sworn in as the 14th Librarian of Congress on September 14, 2016. Dr. Hayden, the first woman and the first African American to lead the national library, was nominated to the position by President Barack Obama on February 24, 2016, and her nomination was confirmed by the U.S. Senate later that year on July 13.
Her vision for America’s national library, connecting all Americans to the Library of Congress, has redefined and modernized the Library’s mission: to engage, inspire and inform Congress and the American people with a universal and enduring source of knowledge and creativity.
Prior to this role, Dr. Hayden held leadership positions at the Enoch Pratt Free Library, the Chicago Public Library, the University of Pittsburgh Library, the Museum of Science and Industry, and the Chicago Public Library.
MASTER OF CEREMONIES
Ron Charles
Ron Charles writes about books and publishing for The Washington Post. For a dozen years, he enjoyed teaching American literature and critical theory in the Midwest. Before moving to the District, he edited the books section of the Christian Science Monitor in Boston. His wife is an English teacher and the cinematographer of their satirical series, “The Totally Hip Video Book Review.” His awards include the Louis Shores Award for reviewing from the American Library Association, the Nona Balakian Citation for Excellence in Reviewing from the National Book Critics Circle, and First Place for Arts & Entertainment Commentary from the Society for Features Journalism in 2011. He was one of three jurors for the 2014 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction.
Your Support Matters
Your support makes our programs possible. Please consider a contribution. Thank you.
GIVE ONLINE
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GIVE by Mail
PEN/Faulkner Foundation
6218 Georgia Avenue NW
Unit #1062
Washington, DC 20011
GIVE by phone
(202) 898-9063
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Text
PENFAULKNER
to 44321