We are thrilled to announce the longlist of books for the 2026 PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel:
- Trip by Amie Barrodale (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
- We Pretty Pieces of Flesh by Colwill Brown (Henry Holt)
- The Correspondent by Virginia Evans (Crown)
- The Devil Three Times by Rickey Fayne (Little, Brown)
- Awake in the Floating City by Susanna Kwan (Pantheon)
- North Sun by Ethan Rutherford (Deep Vellum)
- Blob by Maggie Su (Harper)
- Maggie; Or, a Man and a Woman Walk Into a Bar by Katie Yee (Summit Books)
“This year’s extraordinary list captures all the excitement of discovering new talents, from frenzied voyages and forlorn figures to chasmic yearnings, age-old regrets, and youthful transgressions, each story a reflection of the absolute thrill of American fiction,” said PEN/Faulkner Awards Committee Chair Lauren Francis-Sharma.
In selecting the longlist, this year’s judges—Rachel Beanland, Dionne Irving, and Taymour Soomro—considered 146 eligible novels by American authors published in the US during the 2025 calendar year. Submissions came from 59 publishing houses, including small and academic presses.
From this longlist, the judges will select three finalists for the 2026 PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel. Those finalists will be announced in February. The winning book will be announced in March. The authors of the three finalist books will be honored at the 50th Annual PEN/Hemingway Award Celebration, which will be held at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum on April 26. 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.
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 are dedicated to the idea that fiction creates empathy within and among communities and advances civil discourse. American culture thrives when stories from diverse perspectives enrich our lives. To further these ideals, we cultivate a vibrant landscape for writers and readers of fiction both locally and nationally.
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.
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