The PEN/Faulkner Foundation is proud to announce that it has assumed the responsibility for administering the PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel.
Since 1976, the PEN/Hemingway Award has honored a debut novel of exceptional merit by an author who has not previously published a full-length work of fiction. The purpose of the award is to champion new voices of promise entering the literary landscape. Winners receive a cash prize of $10,000; winners and finalists also receive a residency from the Ucross Foundation in support of the development of new work.
“We are honored to have been entrusted with the stewardship of the PEN/Hemingway Award,” said PEN/Faulkner Executive Director Gwydion Suilebhan. “It represents a profound addition to PEN/Faulkner’s existing literary commendations, which have collectively shined a light on unforgettable achievements in American fiction for decades.”
To support the administration of the Award, PEN/Faulkner has established a new partnership with the Hemingway Foundation and Society, which has funded the Award since its inception.
“I can’t imagine a more fitting way to celebrate the PEN/Hemingway Award’s fiftieth anniversary,” said Carl Eby, President of the Hemingway Foundation and Society. “Our new partnership with the PEN/Faulkner Foundation is ideal for us, and it inaugurates a new era for the award. I look forward to building on our long, mutual tradition of honoring and supporting remarkable American authors.”
Recent winners of the PEN/Hemingway Award have included Countries of Origin by Javier Fuentes, Calling for a Blanket Dance by Oscar Hokeah, Detransition, Baby: A Novel by Torrey Peters, Sharks in the Time of Saviors: A Novel by Kawai Strong Washburn, A Prayer for Travelers by Ruchika Tomar, and There There by Tommy Orange. Each year’s winners are honored at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, which hosts an annual Award Ceremony with support from the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, the Hemingway Family, and the Friends of the Ernest Hemingway Collection.
“We are honored to celebrate the PEN/Hemingway Award,” said John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum Director Alan Price. “Our Ernest Hemingway Collection spans Hemingway’s entire career and contains ninety percent of Hemingway’s known papers, making the Kennedy Library the world’s principal center for research on his life and world. We are so pleased to continue that legacy.”
Each year’s PEN/Hemingway Award winners and finalists are also granted a two-week residency at Ucross Foundation, which includes a private studio space, living accommodations, meals prepared by a professional chef, and staff support on Ucross’s 20,000-acre ranch in northern Wyoming.
“We are thrilled to continue supporting the creative process of emerging authors through uninterrupted time and space among the majestic High Plains,” said Ucross Foundation President and Executive Director Caitlin Addlesperger. “We look forward to this next chapter with the PEN/Hemingway Award.”
PEN/Faulkner’s administrative responsibilities begin with the 2026 PEN/Hemingway Award. Our judges for the 2026 award are Rachel Beanland, Dionne Irving, and Taymour Soomro. The Award’s longlist, finalists, and winner will be announced in early 2026.
ABOUT OUR 2026 JUDGES
Rachel Beanland is the author of two novels, The House Is On Fire and Florence Adler Swims Forever. The House Is On Fire was selected as an Indie Next pick by the American Booksellers Association, a ‘GMA Buzz Pick’ by Good Morning America, a “most anticipated” book by the Washington Post, and one of the best books of 2023 by NPR and The New Yorker. Beanland’s debut novel, Florence Adler Swims Forever, was selected as a book club pick by Barnes & Noble, a featured debut by Amazon, an Indie Next pick by the ABA, and one of the best books of 2020 by USA Today. It was also named a New York Times Editors’ Choice and was recognized with the 2020 National Jewish Book Award for Debut Fiction.
Beanland’s essays have appeared in Lit Hub, Business Insider, Creative Nonfiction, and Broad Street, among other places. She has benefitted from a fellowship at the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference and residencies at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Key West Literary Seminar, Hambidge Center, and Eastern Frontier Educational Foundation. Beanland attended the University of South Carolina and earned her MFA in creative writing from Virginia Commonwealth University. She has taught at the College of William & Mary, Virginia Commonwealth University, and the University of Richmond, where she was the 2023-24 Writer-in-Residence. Beanland lives in Richmond, Virginia with her family.
Dionne Irving is originally from Mississauga, Ontario. She is the author of the novel Quint and the short story collection The Islands. Her work has appeared in Electric Lit, Story, Boulevard, and LitHub, among other journals and magazines. The Islands was a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award, the Giller Prize, the New American Voices Award, and the Clara Johnson Award, and it was also named one of the best books of 2022 by NPR. Irving teaches in the MFA Program and serves as the director of the Initiative on Race and Resilience at the University of Notre Dame.
Taymour Soomro is the author of the novel Other Names for Love (2022) and the co-editor of the essay collection Letters to a Writer of Color (2023). His writing has appeared in The New Yorker and the New York Times. He has received fellowships from the Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing, the Sozopol Fiction Seminars, and the Bread Loaf Writers Conference.
ABOUT THE PEN/FAULKNER FOUNDATION
The PEN/Faulkner Foundation champions the breadth and power of fiction in America. We achieve that mission by administering the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction and the PEN/Bernard and Ann Malamud Award for Excellence in the Short Story to help call the world’s attention toward literary achievements, as well as by naming an annual PEN/Faulkner Literary Champion; by bringing free books and authors into under-resourced DC schools to inspire the next generation of readers and writers; and by curating public literary programs to amplify the work of accomplished authors.
ABOUT THE HEMINGWAY FOUNDATION AND SOCIETY
The Hemingway Foundation was established in 1965 by Mary Hemingway, Ernest’s widow, “for the purposes of awakening, sustaining an interest in, promoting, fostering, stimulating, supporting, improving, and developing literature.” The Hemingway Foundation and Society is proud to promote Hemingway scholarship and new voices in American fiction.
ABOUT THE UCROSS FOUNDATION
Located in northern Wyoming in the foothills of the Bighorn Mountains, Ucross fosters the creative spirit of working artists by providing uninterrupted time, studio space, living accommodations, and the experience of the majestic High Plains, while serving as a responsible steward of its 20,000-acre ranch. Since it was founded as a 501(c)(3)nonprofit organization in 1983, Ucross has provided nearly 3,000 residencies to writers, visual artists, composers, and choreographers. Learn more at ucross.org.
ABOUT THE JOHN F. KENNEDY PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum is one of 15 presidential libraries administered by the National Archives and Records Administration and supported, in part, by the Kennedy Library Foundation, a non-profit organization.