Our Awards
Celebrating great literary achievements has lived at the heart of our organization since its founding in 1980, when Mary Lee Settle established the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. In more than four decades since, we have expanded our effort to call the world’s attention to noteworthy literary artistry and advocacy, adding the PEN/Malamud Award for Excellence in the Short Story and the PEN/Faulkner Literary Champion to our roster of annual recognitions.
The PEN/Faulkner Award
National Prize for Fiction
The most prestigious annual peer-juried literary prize in America, honoring the best published works of fiction by American permanent residents in a calendar year.
The PEN/Malamud Award
for Excellence in the Short Story
Established by Bernard Malamud’s family, the award is presented to writers who have demonstrated exceptional achievement in the short story form.
The PEN/Faulkner Literary Champion
A commendation presented in recognition of devoted literary advocacy and a commitment to inspiring new generations of readers and writers.
Announcing the winner of the 2021 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction
We are excited to announce that Deesha Philyaw's The Secret Lives of Church Ladies (West Virginia University Press) has been selected as the winner of the 2021 PEN/Faulkner Award for...
Announcing the Finalists for the 2021 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction
Judges have selected the five finalists for the 2021 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, America's most prestigious peer-juried literary prize. The finalists are The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by...
LeVar Burton Is Our Inaugural PEN/Faulkner Literary Champion
We are excited to announce that LeVar Burton, award-winning actor and longtime host of Reading Rainbow, has been named the inaugural PEN/Faulkner Literary Champion. Launched in...
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