PEN is excited to introduce the 2016 Literary Awards judges—a distinguished group of writers, translators, and editors from across the country. Click hereto learn more about each judge, and mark your calendar for announcements about which writers they choose to honor:
Longlists announced: December 7
Shortlists announced: February 2
Winners announced: March 1
PEN Literary Awards Ceremony: April 11
2016 PEN Literary Awards & Judges
PEN/Saul Bellow Award for Achievement in American Fiction ($25,000) For a distinguished living American author of fiction
Louise Erdrich
Dinaw Mengestu
Francine Prose
PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize ($25,000) For an outstanding work of debut fiction
Helon Habila
Elizabeth McCracken
Edie Meidav
Jess Row
PEN/Bellwether Award for Socially Engaged Fiction($25,000) For a writer of fiction that addresses issues of social justice
Laila Lalami
Kathy Pories
Brando Skyhorse
PEN/Fusion Emerging Writers Prize ($10,000) For a promising young writer of an unpublished work of nonfiction that addresses a global and/or multi-cultural issue
Marie Arana
Manuel Gonzales
Johnny Temple
PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay ($10,000) For a distinguished book of essays
Verlyn Klinkenborg
Meghan O’Rourke
Luc Sante
PEN/E. O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award($10,000) For a book of literary nonfiction on the subject of the physical or biological sciences
Joshua Foer
Virginia Hughes
Sonia Shah
PEN Open Book Award($5,000) For an exceptional work of literature by an author of color
Rachel Eliza Griffiths
Celeste Ng
Héctor Tobar
PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award ($5,000) For excellence in the art of biography
Nell Irvin Painter
Deborah Solomon
Simon Winchester
PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater Awards($7,500 and $2,500) Three awards which honor a Grand Master of American Theater, playwright in mid-career and emerging playwright
Annie Baker
Kirsten Greenidge
Tracy Letts
PEN/Voelcker Award for Poetry($5,000) For a poet whose distinguished and growing body of work to date represents a notable accomplishment in American literature
Catherine Barnett
Jericho Brown
Tina Chang
PEN/ESPN Lifetime Achievement Award for Literary Sports Writing ($5,000)For a writer for their long-time contributions to the field of literary sports writing
Senator Bill Bradley
Sally Jenkins
Dave Kindred
PEN/ESPN Award for Literary Sports Writing ($5,000)
For an author of a nonfiction book about sports
David Epstein
Ann Killion
Dave Zirin
PEN/Phyllis Naylor Working Writer Fellowship ($5,000) For an author of an unpublished work of children’s or young-adult fiction
Emily Arnold McCully
Katherine Paterson
Jason Reynolds
PEN Translation Prize ($3,000) For a distinguished book-length prose translation
Elisabeth Jaquette
Aviya Kushner
Ronald Meyer
Sara Nović
Jeffrey Zuckerman
PEN Award for Poetry in Translation ($3,000) For a book-length translation of poetry into English
Urayoán Noel
PEN/Edward and Lily Tuck Award for Paraguayan Literature ($3,000) For a living author of a major work of Paraguayan literature
Ezra E. Fitz
Amalia Gladhart
Mark Weiss
PEN/Heim Translation Fund Grants ($2,000-$4,000) To promote world literature translated into English
The PEN/Heim Translation Fund Advisory Board
