The PEN/Voelcker Award for Poetry is given biennially to an American poet whose distinguished and growing body of work to date represents a notable and accomplished presence in American literature. [1]
The award is one of many PEN awards sponsored by International PEN affiliates in over 145 PEN centers around the world. The PEN America awards have been characterized as being among the "major" American literary prizes. [2]
| Year | Recipient | Judges | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Jane Kenyon | ||
| 1996 | Franz Wright | ||
| 1998 | C. K. Williams | ||
| 2000 | Heather McHugh | ||
| 2002 | Frederick Seidel | ||
| 2004 | Robert Pinsky | ||
| 2006 | Linda Gregg | Michael Hofmann, Timothy Liu, and Vijay Seshadri | |
| 2008 | Kimiko Hahn | Kwame Dawes, Mark Doty, and Marie Howe | |
| 2010 | Marilyn Hacker | Christopher Ricks, Marie Ponsot, and David Ferry | |
| 2012 | Toi Derricotte | Dan Chiasson, Aracelis Girmay, and A. Van Jordan | |
| 2014 | Frank Bidart | Peg Boyers, Toi Derricotte, and Rowan Ricardo Phillips | [4] [5] [6] |
| 2016 | Ed Roberson | Catherine Barnett, Jericho Brown, and Tina Chang | [7] [8] |
| 2018 | Kamau Brathwaite | Ed Roberson, Natalie Scenters-Zapico, and Ocean Vuong | [9] |
| 2020 | Rigoberto González | Cornelius Eady, Linda Gregerson, Deborah Paredez, and Monica Youn | |
| 2021 | Victoria Chang | [10] | |
| 2022 | Diane Seuss | Lillian-Yvonne Bertram, Lia Purpura, and Safiya Sinclair | [11] |
The Hawthornden Prize is a British literary award that was established in 1919 by Alice Warrender, who was born at Hawthornden Castle. Authors under the age of 41 are awarded on the quality of their "imaginative literature", which can be written in either poetry or prose. The Hawthornden Committee awards the Prize annually for a work published in the previous twelve months. There have been several gap years without a recipient.
The PEN Translation Prize is an annual award given by PEN America to outstanding translations into the English language. It has been presented annually by PEN America and the Book of the Month Club since 1963. It was the first award in the United States expressly for literary translators. A 1999 New York Times article called it "the Academy Award of Translation" and that the award is thus usually not given to younger translators.
The PEN/Ralph Manheim Medal for Translation, named in honor of U.S. translator Ralph Manheim, is a literary award given every three years by PEN America to a translator "whose career has demonstrated a commitment to excellence through the body of his or her work". The Medal is awarded in recognition of a lifetime's achievements in the field of literary translation.
PEN/Open Book is a program intended to foster racial and ethnic diversity within the literary and publishing communities, and works to establish access for diverse literary groups to the publishing industry. Created in 1991 by the PEN American Center, the PEN/Open Book program ensures custodians of language and literature are representative of the American people.
The PEN Award for Poetry in Translation is given by PEN America to honor a poetry translation published in the preceding year. The award should not be confused with the PEN Translation Prize. The award is one of many PEN awards sponsored by International PEN in over 145 PEN centers around the world. The PEN American Center awards have been characterized as being among the "major" American literary prizes. The award was called one of "the most prominent translation awards."
The PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction, formerly known as the Bellwether Prize for Fiction is a biennial award given by the PEN America and Barbara Kingsolver to a U.S. citizen for a previously unpublished work of fiction that address issues of social justice. The prize was established by noted author Barbara Kingsolver, and is funded by her. Winning authors receive a $25,000 award and a publishing contract, from which they receive royalties.
The PEN/Saul Bellow Award for Achievement in American Fiction is awarded by PEN America "to a distinguished living American author of fiction whose body of work in English possesses qualities of excellence, ambition, and scale of achievement over a sustained career which place him or her in the highest rank of American literature." Initially carrying a stipend of US$40,000, the award was created with the cooperation of the Saul Bellow estate and through a grant from Evelyn Stefansson Nef. Announcing the first recipient of the award, PEN president Ron Chernow said the award honors "one of America’s greatest writers...whose work over a forty-year career exemplified the capacity of fiction to encompass the totality of human experience. We are confident that this Award will help to recognize and perpetuate the qualities so evident in Saul Bellow’s writings."
Victoria Chang is an American poet, writer, editor, and critic.
The PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Short Story Collection is awarded by the PEN America "to exceptionally talented fiction writers whose debut work — a first novel or collection of short stories ... represent distinguished literary achievement and suggests great promise." The winner is selected by a panel of PEN Members made up of three writers or editors. The PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize was originally named the PEN/Robert Bingham Fellowship for Writers. The prize awards the debut writer a cash award of US$25,000.
The PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay is awarded by the PEN America to an author for a book of original collected essays. The award was founded by PEN Member and author Barbaralee Diamonstein and Carl Spielvogel, former New York Times columnist, "to preserve the dignity and esteem that the essay form imparts to literature." The winner receives a cash award of $10,000.
The PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award is awarded by the PEN America for writing that exemplifies literary excellence on the subject of physical and biological sciences. The award includes a cash prize of $10,000.
The PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award is awarded by the PEN America to honor a "distinguished biography possessing notable literary merit which has been published in the United States during the previous calendar year." The award carries a $5,000 prize.
The PEN/Joyce Osterweil Award for Poetry was awarded by PEN America in odd-numbered years in recognition of a book of poetry with "high literary character" by a new and emerging American poet of any age with "the promise of further literary achievement."
The PEN/Nora Magid Award for Magazine Editing given by the PEN America is awarded biennially to "a magazine editor whose high literary standards and taste have, throughout his or her career, contributed significantly to the excellence of the publication he or she edits." It was established in 1993.
The PEN/Phyllis Naylor Working Writer Fellowship is awarded by the PEN America annually to a writer of children's or young-adult fiction of high literary caliber "at a crucial moment in his or her career to complete a book-length work-in-progress." The author receives $5,000 and was made possible by PEN member Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, the Newbery Medal winner of such books as Sang Spell and Shiloh.
The PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater Award, commonly referred to as the PEN/Laura Pels Theater Award, is awarded by the PEN America. It annually recognizes two American playwrights. A medal is given to a designated "grand master" American dramatist, in recognition of their work, and a stipend of $7,500 is presented to a "new voice", an American playwright whose literary and artistic merit is evident in their plays.
The PEN/ESPN Award for Literary Sports Writing was awarded by the PEN America to honor "a nonfiction book about sports." The award was established in 2010 and is awarded to a title that is "biographical, investigative, historical, or analytical" in nature. Judges have included Robert Lipsyte, Tim O'Brien, and Susan Orlean. In June 2019 ESPN announced it would no longer partner with PEN. The awards have not been rebooted by PEN as of April 2021.
The PEN/Edward and Lily Tuck Award for Paraguayan Literature is awarded by the PEN America to honor an author of a major work of Paraguayan literature and the English translator. The award was established by author Lily Tuck to assist with the translation of Paraguayan literature from Spanish or Guarani into English. Tuck won a National Book Award in 2004 for The News from Paraguay, which was set in 19th century Paraguay. Michael Orthofer of complete review called it "my new favorite American literary award," for its coverage of an overlooked area of world literature.
PEN/Jean Stein Book Award is awarded by the PEN America to honor a "a book-length work of any genre for its originality, merit, and impact". With an award of $75,000 it is one of the richest prizes given by the PEN American Center. It was first awarded in 2017.
Awards presented by the PEN American Center that are no longer active.