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 and a residency in support of the development of new work from the Ucross Foundation. The Award is presented at an annual ceremony held at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston.
Our 2025 Judges
Rachel Beanland
Dionne Irving
Taymour Soomro
Submission Guidelines
Publishers and literary agents may submit debut novels for consideration for the PEN/Hemingway Award. Authors may not submit their own work.
Eligibility
- Books must be published between January 1, 2025 and December 31, 2025.
- Authors must be living U.S. citizens or permanent residents. U.S. citizens living abroad are eligible.
- Books must be published by commercial, university, or independent presses in the U.S. Books that are self-published, or published by presses that charge for production or editorial services, are not eligible.
- Authors may not have previously published a novel with a commercial, university, or independent press. Neither a prior self-published novel nor a traditionally published collection of short stories will make an author ineligible.
- Translation: a translation from another language into English by the author is eligible; a translation by someone other than the author is not.
- Books published by current members of the PEN/Faulkner Foundation board and the Hemingway Foundation and Society board are not eligible.
- Reprints are not eligible.
- Books CAN be submitted for consideration for both the PEN/Hemingway Award and the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction
Submission Process
- Our submission period opens July 1, 2025 and closes September 30, 2025. We encourage you to submit titles as early as possible. The judges’ reading process begins upon receipt.
- We accept virtual submissions via our online submission platform only. Please submit an easy-to-read PDF (no watermarks over the body of the text) of the title.
- Each submission requires an $85 entry fee and must be submitted via our online submission platform. We no longer accept email submissions. Any books determined to be ineligible will still be subject to the $85 fee.
- If you have questions about eligibility, and want to ensure you’re not charged for an ineligible entry, please contact Shady Rose (shady@penfaulkner.org).
2026 SUBMISSIONS ARE NOT YET OPEN
2024 Winner
2024 Finalists
Past Winners
2023 Calling For a Blanket Dance by Oscar Hokeah
2022 Detransition, Baby: A Novel by Torrey Peters
2021 Sharks in the Time of Saviors: A Novel by Kawai Strong Washburn
2020 A Prayer for Travelers by Ruchika Tomar
2019 There There by Tommy Orange
2018 Chemistry by Weike Wang
2017 Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
2016 Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh
2015 Elegy on Kinderklavier by Arna Bontemps Hemenway
2014 We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo
2013 The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers
2012 Open City by Teju Cole
2011 The Madonnas of Echo Park by Brando Skyhorse
2010 A Long Long Time Ago and Essentially True by Brigid Pasulka
2009 A Gentleman’s Guide to Graceful Living by Michael Dahlie
2008 Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris
2007 Brief Encounters with Che Guevara by Ben Fountain
2006 A Thousand Years of Good Prayers by Yiyun Li
2005 Graceland by Chris Abani
2004 Mrs. Kimble by Jennifer Haigh
2003 The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Apt. 3W by George Brownstein
2002 Mary and O’Neil by Justin Cronin
2001 An Obedient Father by Akhil Sharma
2000 Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
1999 Homestead by Rosina Lipini
1998 A Private State by Charlotte Bacon
1997 Ocean of Words by Ha Jin
1996 Native Speaker by Chang-rae Lee
1995 The Grass Dancer by Susan Power
1994 The Magic of Blood by Dagobert Gilb
1993 Lost in the City by Edward P. Jones
1992 Wartime Lies by Louis Begley
1991 Maps to Anywhere by Bernard Cooper
1990 The Ice at the Bottom of the World by Mark Richard
1989 The Book of Ruth by Jane Hamilton
1988 Imagining Argentina by Lawrence Thornton
1987 Tongues of Flame by Mary Ward Brown
1986 Lady’s Time by Alan V. Hewat
1985 Dreams of Sleep by Josephine Humphreys
1984 During the Reign of the Queen of Persia by Joan Chase
1983 Shiloh and Other Stories by Bobbie Ann Mason
1982 Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson
1981 Household Words by Joan Silber
1980 Mom Kills Kids and Self by Alan Saperstein
1979 Hasen by Reuben Bercovitch
1978 A Way of Life, Like Any Other by Darcy O’Brien
1977 Speedboat by Renata Adler
1976 Parthian Shot by Loyd Little
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