PEN/Faulkner Award

The 2019 PEN/Faulkner Gala will be held on Saturday, October 26th at the Katzen Arts Center at American University! Don't miss out on this evening of incredible literature!

Though James Hannaham is an award winning author, he is also a performer and visual artist. His novel Delicious Foods was the winner of the 2016 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction as well as the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award. Hannaham’s novel follows three unforgettable...

ZZ Packer was recognized as a talented writer at the early age of 19 for her first significant publication “Sometimes You Get Lucky” in Seventeen magazine. Another of Packer’s short stories, featured  in the Debut Fiction issue of The New Yorker, became a title story...

David Bradley’s novel The Chaneysville Incident won the 1982 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction and the Academy Award from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. The novel was inspired by the discovery of the graves of runaway slaves on a farm near...

Sarah Shun-Lien Bynum's second novel Ms. Hempel Chronicles, a 2009 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction Finalist, follows the life of a seventh grade teacher as she grapples with being new to teaching, being new to the school and being newly engaged. Her first novel...

Tickets and Sponsorships Now Available! We cordially invite you to attend the PEN/Faulkner Gala on Monday, September 24, 2018. This year marks the 30th anniversary of this special event, a unique evening in Washington, DC, that celebrates important voices in...

Announcing the 2018 Award for Fiction finalists: Hernan Diaz for In the Distance (Coffee House Press) Samantha Hunt for The Dark Dark (FSG Originals) Achy Obejas for The Tower of the Antilles (Akashic Books) Joan Silber for Improvement (Counterpoint) Jesmyn...

BELONGING: The 29th Annual PEN/Faulkner Celebration Monday, October 16th, 2017  |  6:00 PM NEW LOCATION: The Showroom | 1099 14th Street, NW On Monday, October 16th, 2017, PEN/Faulkner will hold its 29th Annual PEN/Faulkner Celebration at THE SHOWROOM in downtown...

The 37th Annual PEN/Faulkner Award Ceremony & Dinner Saturday, May 6th, 2017 at 7:00 PM Folger Shakespeare Library Celebrating the winner as "first among equals," the 37th Annual PEN/Faulkner Award Ceremony & Dinner will take place at the Folger Shakespeare...

  RISK: The 28th Annual PEN/Faulkner Celebration Monday, September 26th, 2016  |  6:30 PM On Monday, Sept. 26th, 2016, PEN/Faulkner will hold its 28th Annual PEN/Faulkner Celebration at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC. This annual event supports...

The 36th Annual PEN/Faulkner Award Ceremony & Dinner May 14th, 2016 at 7:00 PM Folger Shakespeare Library Celebrating the winner as "first among equals," the 36th Annual PEN/Faulkner Award Ceremony & Dinner will take place at the Folger Shakespeare Library in...

PEN/Faulkner Presents: The 2016 PEN/Faulkner Award Judges Abby Frucht, Molly McCloskey, & Sergio Troncoso Thursday, May 12th, 2016  |  7:00 PM Free and open to the public Register Here Hill Center at the Old Naval Hospital 921 Pennsylvania Ave. SE Washington, DC...

Judges Abby Frucht, Molly McCloskey, and Sergio Troncoso have announced their list of finalists for the 2016 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. The winner will be announced on April 5th, and the 36th Annual PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction Ceremony & Dinner will be...

  Spark: The 27th Annual PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction Celebration Monday, October 5th, 2015  |  6:30 PM On Monday, Oct. 5th, 2015, PEN/Faulkner will hold its 27th Annual PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction Celebration at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington,...

Celebrating the winner as “first among equals,” the 35th Annual PEN/Faulkner Award Ceremony & Dinner will take place at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, May 2, 2015 at 7:00 p.m.

  On May 2, 2015, we will honor the to-be-announced winner of the 2015 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction and the four finalists for the prize. Each author will read from their work and be recognized on stage by this year's judges, Alexander Chee, Marc Fitten, and...

  On Monday, Oct. 6th 2014, PEN/Faulkner will hold its 26th Annual Gala fundraiser at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC. This annual event supports the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction and our Writers in Schools programming and features some of...

On May 10, 2014 we honored the winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, Karen Joy Fowler, and the four finalists for the prize, Daniel Alarcón, Percival Everett, Joan Silber, and Valerie Trueblood. Each author read from their work and was recognized on stage by...

About the Winner BENJAMIN ALIRE SÁENZ Everything Begins & Ends at the Kentucky Club (Cinco Puntos Press) Benjamin Alire Sáenz's Everything Begins and Ends at the Kentucky Club presents seven stories set on the south Texas border of El Paso and Juárez, examining...

Join Us in CelebratingThe 2013 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction Honorees At the 33rd Annual PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction Ceremony & Dinner 33rd PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction Ceremony & DinnerHonoring Authors:Amelia Gray  |  Laird Hunt  |  T. Geronimo Johnson...

The PEN/Faulkner Foundation is pleased to announce that author Benjamin Alire Sáenz has been selected as the winner of the 2013 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction for his collection of short fiction Everything Begins and Ends at the Kentucky Club, which was published...

2013 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction Judges Walter Kirn, Nelly Rosario, and A.J. Verdelle have announced their list of five finalists for the this year's PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. The winner will be announced on March 19th, and the 33rd Annual PEN/Faulkner Award...

                                             We are pleased to announce that The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka has been selected as the winner of the 2012 PEN/ Faulkner Award for Fiction. It is a precise, poetic novel that tells the story of Japanese picture...

About the Winner JULIE OTSUKAThe Buddha in the Attic(Knopf) Julie Otsuka’s The Buddha in the Attic is a precise, poetic novel that tells the story of Japanese picture brides brought to California from Japan in the early twentieth century. In a series of eight slim,...