Our Mission

PEN/Faulkner’s mission is to champion the breadth and power of fiction in America.

Our Values

PEN/Faulkner is 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.

Our Team

Our Board Members

Directors Emeriti

Mary Lee Settle, Founder *

Jackson Bryer
Conrad Cafritz
Thomas Caplan
H.G. Carrillo *
Molly Elkin

Stephen Goodwin
Patricia Griffith
Mary Haft
Nick Kotz *
Willee Lewis
Joanne Leedom-Ackerman
Beverly Lowry

Tracy McGillivary
E. Ethelbert Miller
Azar Nafisi
Frazier O’Leary
Lisa Page
George Pelecanos
Diane Rehm
Susan Shreve

Susan Stamberg
Katherine Field Stephen
Lou Stovall *
Deborah Tannen
Mary Kay Zuravleff

* deceased

Mary Lee Settle, Founder

Conrad Cafritz
Thomas Caplan
H.G. Carrillo
Stephen Goodwin
Nick Kotz
Beverly Lowry
Tracy McGillivary
E. Ethelbert Miller
Azar Nafisi
Frazier O’Leary
George Pelecanos
Diane Rehm
Susan Shreve
Susan Stamberg
Lou Stovall
Mary Kay Zuravleff

2023 Black Lives Matter Week of Action

Lakita Wilson sits on a chair in the front of the classroom, surrounded by a dozen third graders at her feet. The children are transfixed by her, listening as she explains the history of the Black...

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Revisiting the Literary State of the Union

At our Literary State of the Union event, we had the good fortune of hearing from several DC-area writers in response to the following prompt: "What Does Being a Writer Teach Me about the State of...

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