PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award for Nonfiction

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The PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award for Nonfiction is awarded by PEN America (formerly PEN American Center) biennially "to a distinguished book of general nonfiction possessing notable literary merit and critical perspective and illuminating important contemporary issues which have been published in the United States during the previous two calendar years. It is intended that the winning book possess the qualities of intellectual rigor, perspicuity of expression, and stylistic elegance conspicuous in the writings of author and economist John Kenneth Galbraith, whose four dozen books and countless other publications continue to provide an important and incisive commentary on the American social, intellectual and political scene." [1]

Contents

The winner receives $10,000.

The award is one of many PEN awards sponsored by International PEN affiliates in over 145 PEN centres around the world. The PEN American Center awards have been characterized as being among the "major" American literary prizes. [2]

Honorees

Award winners, runner-ups, and finalists
YearAuthorTitlePublisherResultRef.
2007 James Carroll House of War: The Pentagon and the Disastrous Rise of American PowerMariner BooksWon [3]
Gene Roberts and Hank Klibanoff The Race Beat: The Press, the Civil Rights Struggle, and the Awakening of a Nation KnopfRunner-up [3]
Thomas E. Ricks Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq Penguin PressRunner-up [3]
2009 Steve Coll The Bin Ladens: An Arabian Family in the American Century Penguin Group)Won [3]
Jeffrey Meyers Samuel Johnson: The StruggleBasic BooksRunner-up [3]
Stanley Plumly Posthumous Keats: A Personal BiographyW.W. Norton & Co.Runner-up [3]
2011 Robert Perkinson Texas Tough: The Rise of America's Prison Empire PicadorWon [3] [4] [5]
John W. Dower Cultures of War: Pearl Harbor / Hiroshima / 9-11 / IraqW.W. Norton & Co.Runner-up [3]
Isabel Wilkerson The Warmth of Other Suns Random HouseRunner-up [3]
2013 Katherine Boo Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity Random HouseWon [3] [6] [7]
Donovan Hohn Moby-Duck Penguin BooksRunner-up [3]
Anne Applebaum Iron CurtainDoubledayFinalist [8] [9]
Victoria Sweet God's Hotel: A Doctor, a Hospital, and a Pilgrimage to the Heart of MedicineRiverhead BooksFinalist [8] [9]
2015 Sheri Fink Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital CrownWon [10] [11] [12]
Danielle Allen Our DeclarationLiverightFinalist [13]
Mark Fainaru-Wada and Steve Fainaru League of Denial Crown ArchetypeFinalist [13]
Jonathan M. Katz The Big Truck That Went ByPalgrave MacmillanFinalist [13]
Naomi Klein This Changes Everything Simon & SchusterFinalist [13] [14]
2017 Matthew Desmond Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City CrownWon [3] [15]
2019 Bernice Yeung In a Day's Work: The Fight to End Sexual Violence Against America’s Most Vulnerable WorkersCrownWon [16]
2021 Saidiya Hartman Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments: Intimate Histories of Riotous Black Girls, Troublesome Women, and Queer RadicalsW. W. Norton & CompanyWon [17] [18]
2022 Tiya Miles All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley's Sack, a Black Family KeepsakeRandom HouseWon [19] [20]
Andrea Elliott Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival & Hope in an American City Random HouseFinalist [21]
Reuben Jonathan Miller Halfway Home: Race, Punishment, and the Afterlife of Mass IncarcerationLittle Brown and CompanyFinalist [21]
Sarah Schulman Let the Record Show: A Political History of ACT UP New York, 1987-1993 Farrar, Straus and GirouxFinalist [21]
Clint Smith How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America Little Brown and CompanyFinalist [21]
2023 Eve Fairbanks The Inheritors: An Intimate Portrait of South Africa’s Racial ReckoningSimon & SchusterWon [22] [23]
Kelly Lytle Hernández Bad Mexicans: Race, Empire, and Revolution in the BorderlandsW. W. Norton & CompanyFinalist [24]
Imani Perry South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a NationHarperCollins PublishersFinalist [24]
Martin Sixsmith The War of Nerves: Inside the Cold War MindPegasus BooksFinalist [24]
Javier Zamora SolitoHogarth PressFinalist [24]
2024 Saket Soni The Great Escape: A True Story of Forced Labor and Immigrant Dreams in AmericaAlgonquin BooksWon [25]
Roxanna Asgarian We Were Once a Family: A Story of Love, Death, and Child Removal in America Farrar, Straus and GirouxFinalist [26]
Siddarth Kara Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our LivesSt. Martin's PressFinalist [26]
Tobias Rose-Stockwell Outrage Machine: How Tech Amplifies Discontent, Disrupts Democracy—And What We Can Do About ItLegacy LitFinalist [26]
John Vaillant Fire Weather: A True Story from a Hotter WorldAlfred A. KnopfFinalist [26]

References

  1. ↑ PEN American Center Literary Awards Archived 2012-06-14 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ↑ Alfred Bendixen (2005). "Literary Prizes and Awards". The Continuum Encyclopedia of American Literature. Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 689. Archived from the original on 2023-02-24. Retrieved 2016-10-23.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award for Nonfiction Winners". PEN America. 2016-04-29. Archived from the original on 2022-01-31. Retrieved 2022-01-31.
  4. ↑ "Awards: PEN Literary Awards". Shelf Awareness . 2011-08-11. Archived from the original on 2023-03-24. Retrieved 2024-05-26.
  5. ↑ "Jacket Copy: PEN American Center's 2011 award winners". Los Angeles Times . August 11, 2011. Archived from the original on December 10, 2011. Retrieved August 11, 2012.
  6. ↑ Carolyn Kellogg (August 14, 2013). "Jacket Copy: PEN announces winners of its 2013 awards". Los Angeles Times . Archived from the original on August 16, 2013. Retrieved August 14, 2013.
  7. ↑ "Awards: PEN Literary". Shelf Awareness . 2013-08-15. Archived from the original on 2022-11-27. Retrieved 2024-05-26.
  8. 1 2 "Shortlists Announced for the 2013 PEN Literary Awards". PEN America . 2013-07-10. Archived from the original on 2022-12-16. Retrieved 2024-05-26.
  9. 1 2 Kellogg, Carolyn (2013-07-11). "PEN announces shortlists for its 2013 awards". Los Angeles Times . Archived from the original on 2022-09-29. Retrieved 2024-05-26.
  10. ↑ Carolyn Kellogg (May 13, 2015). "PEN announces award-winners and shortlists". LA Times . Archived from the original on May 15, 2015. Retrieved May 14, 2015.
  11. ↑ "Awards: PEN Literary; New Children's Author". Shelf Awareness . 2015-05-14. Archived from the original on 2021-09-26. Retrieved 2024-05-26.
  12. ↑ "2015 PEN Literary Award Winners". PEN America . Archived from the original on May 16, 2015. Retrieved May 14, 2015.
  13. 1 2 3 4 "2015 PEN Literary Awards Shortlist". PEN America . 2015-04-10. Archived from the original on 2022-12-06. Retrieved 2024-05-26.
  14. ↑ Robertson, Becky (2015-03-19). "Naomi Klein longlisted for 2015 PEN Literary Award". Quill and Quire . Archived from the original on 2020-10-26. Retrieved 2024-05-26.
  15. ↑ "Awards: Los Angeles Times; PEN Literary". Shelf Awareness . 2017-02-23. Archived from the original on 2022-05-23. Retrieved 2024-05-26.
  16. ↑ "PEN America Literary Award Winners Honored". Shelf Awareness . 2019-02-27. Archived from the original on 2022-12-26. Retrieved 2024-05-26.
  17. ↑ "Announcing the 2021 PEN America Literary Awards Winners". PEN America . 2021-04-08. Archived from the original on 2022-01-21. Retrieved 2022-01-31.
  18. ↑ "PEN America Literary Award Winners Honored". Shelf Awareness . 2021-04-09. Archived from the original on 2022-12-25. Retrieved 2024-05-26.
  19. ↑ Alquist, Pierce (2022-03-01). "2022 PEN American Literary Award Winners". BOOK RIOT. Archived from the original on 2023-09-28. Retrieved 2024-05-26.
  20. ↑ Schaub, Michael (2022-02-28). "Winners of PEN America Literary Awards Revealed". Kirkus Reviews . Archived from the original on 2022-03-02. Retrieved 2024-05-26.
  21. 1 2 3 4 Rabinowitz, Chloe. "PEN America Announces 2022 Literary Awards Finalists". Broadway World . Archived from the original on 2022-05-16. Retrieved 2024-05-26.
  22. ↑ Schaub, Michael (2023-03-03). "PEN Award Winners Announced". Kirkus Reviews . Archived from the original on 2023-03-06. Retrieved 2023-03-06.
  23. ↑ Alquist, Pierce (2023-03-03). "2023 PEN America Literary Award Winners". BOOK RIOT. Archived from the original on 2023-06-03. Retrieved 2024-05-26.
  24. 1 2 3 4 "Announcing the 2023 PEN America Literary Awards Finalists". PEN America . 2023-02-15. Archived from the original on 2023-02-20. Retrieved 2024-05-26.
  25. ↑ "Pen/John Kenneth Galbraith Award for Nonfiction". PEN America. Retrieved September 4, 2025.
  26. 1 2 3 4 "Announcing the 2024 PEN America Literary Awards Finalists". PEN America. April 22, 2024. Retrieved September 4, 2025.
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