PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel

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The PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel is awarded annually to a full-length novel or book of short stories by an American author who has not previously published a full-length book of fiction. The award is named after Ernest Hemingway and funded by the Hemingway family and the Ernest Hemingway Foundation/Society. It is administered by PEN America. Mary Welsh Hemingway, a member of PEN, founded the award in 1976 both to honor the memory of her husband and to recognize distinguished first books of fiction.

Contents

The winner is selected by a panel of three distinguished fiction writers and receives a cash prize of US$25,000. [1] Along with the winner, two finalists and two runners-up receive a Ucross Residency Fellowship at the Ucross Foundation, a retreat for artists and writers on a 22,000 acre (89 km²) ranch on the high plains in Ucross, Wyoming. The award ceremony is held at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston, Massachusetts.

The award presentation is sponsored in part by the JFK Presidential Library. [2]

The award is one of many PEN awards sponsored by PEN International affiliates in over 145 PEN centres around the world.

Winners

20th-century

Award winners, 1976 to 1999 [3]
YearAuthorTitleRef.
1976 Loyd Little Parthian Shot
1977 Renata Adler Speedboat
1978 Darcy O'Brien A Way of Life, Like Any Other
1979 Reuben Bercovitch Hasen
1980 Alan Saperstein Mom Kills Kids and Self
1981 Joan Silber Household Words
1982 Marilynne Robinson Housekeeping
1983 Bobbie Ann Mason Shiloh and Other Stories
1984 Joan Chase During the Reign of the Queen of Persia
1985 Josephine Humphreys Dreams of Sleep
1986 Alan V. Hewat Lady's Time
1987 Mary Ward Brown Tongues of Flame
1988 Lawrence Thornton Imagining Argentina
1989 Jane Hamilton The Book of Ruth
1990 Mark Richard The Ice at the Bottom of the World
1991 Bernard Cooper Maps to Anywhere
1992 Louis Begley Wartime Lies
1993 Edward P. Jones Lost in the City
1994 Dagoberto Gilb The Magic of Blood
1995 Susan Power The Grass Dancer
1996 Chang-Rae Lee Native Speaker
1997 Ha Jin Ocean of Words
1998 Charlotte Bacon A Private State
1999 Rosina Lippi Homestead

21st-century

Award winners, 2000 to present [3]
YearAuthorTitleResultRef.
2000 Jhumpa Lahiri Interpreter of Maladies Winner [4]
2001 Akhil Sharma An Obedient Father Winner
Mohsin Hamid Moth Smoke Finalist
Tom PaineScar Vegas and other StoriesFinalist
Myla Goldberg Bee Season Runner-Up
Elissa Schappell Use MeRunner-Up
2002 Justin Cronin Mary and O’NeilWinner
Peter Orner Esther StoriesFinalist
Manil Suri The Death of Vishnu Finalist
Carolyn Cooke The BostonsRunner-Up
Micheline Aharonian Marcom Three Apples Fell From HeavenRunner-Up
2003 George Brownstein The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Apt. WWinner
Christie Hodgen A Jeweler’s Eye for FlawFinalist
Gabe Hudson Dear Mr. PresidentFinalist
Jonathan Tel Arafat’s ElephantRunner-Up
Julia Whitty A Tortoise for the Queen of TongaRunner-Up
2004 Jennifer Haigh Mrs. Kimble Winner
Murad Kalam Night JourneyFinalist
Z. Z. Packer Drinking Coffee Elsewhere Finalist
Suki Kim The InterpretersRunner-Up
Ellen Ullman The BugRunner-Up
2005 Chris Abani GraceLand Winner
Samina Ali Madras on Rainy Days Finalist
Laurie Lynn Drummond Anything You Say Can and Will be Used Against YouFinalist
Jerome Richard The Kiss of the Prison DancerRunner-Up
Hannah Tinti Animal CrackersRunner-Up
2006 Yiyun Li A Thousand Years of Good Prayers Winner
Daniel Alarcon War by CandlelightFinalist
Douglas Trevor The Thin Year in the Fabric of SpaceFinalist
Karen Olsson WaterlooRunner-Up
Jess Row The Train to Lo Wu Runner-Up
2007 Ben Fountain Brief Encounters With Che GuevaraWinner
Yvette Christianse UnconfessedFinalist
Rebecca Johns IcebergsFinalist
Janna Levin A Madman Dreams of Turnning MachinesRunner-Up
Marisha Pessl The Special Topics in Calamity PhysicsRunner-Up
2008 Joshua Ferris Then We Came to the End Winner
Rebecca Curtis Twenty GrandFinalist
Ravi Howard Like Trees WalkingFinalist
Gary Schanbacher Migration PatternsRunner-Up
Margot Singer The Pale of SettlementRunner-Up
2009 Michael Dahlie A Gentleman's Guide to Graceful Living Winner
Sana Krasikov One More YearFinalist
Ed Park Personal DaysFinalist
Doug Dorst Alive in NecropolisRunner-Up
Matthew Quick The Silver Linings Playbook Runner-Up
2010 Brigid Pasulka A Long Long Time Ago and Essentially TrueWinner [5]
C. E. Morgan All the Living Finalist
Abraham Verghese Cutting for Stone Finalist
Mary Beth Keane The Walking PeopleRunner-Up
Lydia Peelle Reasons for and Advantages of BreathingRunner-Up
2011 Brando Skyhorse The Madonnas of Echo ParkWinner
Patricia Engel VidaFinalist
Suzanne Rivecca Death Is Not An OptionFinalist
Danielle Evans Before You Suffocate Your Own Fool SelfHonorable mention
Helen Simonson Major Pettigrew’s Last StandHonorable mention
2012 Teju Cole Open City Winner [6]
Amy Waldman The SubmissionFinalist
Stephanie Powell Watts We Are Taking Only What We NeedFinalist
Chad Harbach The Art of Fielding Honorable mention
Marjorie Hudson Accidental Birds of the CarolinasHonorable mention
2013 Kevin Powers The Yellow Birds Winner [7]
Jennifer duBois A Partial History of Lost CausesFinalist
Vaddey Ratner In the Shadow of the Banyan TreeFinalist
Catherine Chung Forgotten Country Honorable mention
Peter M. Wheelwright As It Is On EarthHonorable mention
2014 NoViolet Bulawayo We Need New Names Winner [8] [9]
Mitchell S. Jackson The Residue YearsFinalist
Anthony WallaceThe Old PriestFinalist
Jasmine Beach-FerraraDamn LoveHonorable mention
Kristopher Jansma The Unchangeable Spots of LeopardsHonorable mention
Ethan Rutherford The Peripatetic CoffinHonorable mention
2015 Arna Bontemps Hemenway Elegy on KinderklavierWinner [10]
Kim Fu For Today I Am a Boy Finalist
Atticus Lish Preparation for the Next Life Finalist
Mark Chiusano Marine ParkHonorable mention
Diane Cook Man V. NatureHonorable mention
2016 Ottessa Moshfegh Eileen Winner [11]
S. M. Hulse Black RiverFinalist
Margaret Malone People Like YouFinalist
Karim Dimechkie Lifted by the Great NothingHonorable mention
Chigozie Obioma The FishermanHonorable mention
2017 Yaa Gyasi Homegoing Winner [12]
Bill Beverly DodgersFinalist
Leopoldine Core When WatchedFinalist
Callan Wink Dog Run MoonHonorable mention
Melissa Yancy Dog YearsHonorable mention
2018 Weike Wang Chemistry Winner [13]
Lisa Ko The Leavers Finalist
Adelia Saunders IndelibleFinalist
Ian Bassingthwaighte Live from CairoHonorable mention
Curtis Dawkins The Graybar Hotel Honorable mention
2019 Tommy Orange There There Winner [14] [15]
Akwaeke Emezi Freshwater Finalist
Ling Ma Severance Finalist
Meghan Kenny The Driest SeasonHonorable mention
Nico Walker Cherry Honorable mention
2020 Ruchika Tomar A Prayer for Travelers Winner [16]
Madeline ffitch Stay and FightRunner-Up
Regina Porter The TravelersRunner-Up
2021 Kawai Strong Washburn Sharks in a Time of SaviorsWinner [17] [18]
Maisy Card The Ghosts are FamilyFinalist
Raven Leilani Luster Finalist
Douglas Stuart Shuggie Bain Finalist
C. Pam Zhang How Much of These Hills Is Gold Finalist
2022 Torrey Peters Detransition, Baby Winner [19]
Avni Doshi Burnt SugarFinalist [20]
Carolyn Ferrell Dear Miss MetropolitanFinalist [20]
Honorée Fanonne Jeffers The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois Finalist [20]
Kirstin Valdez Quade The Five Wounds Finalist [20]
2023 Oscar Hokeah Calling for a Blanket DanceWinner [21] [22]
Lisa Hsiao Chen Activities of Daily Living Finalist [23]
Ramona Emerson ShutterFinalist [23]
Alissa Songsiridej Little RabbitFinalist [23]
Ryan Lee Wong Which Side Are You OnFinalist [23]
2024 Fuentes Javier Countries of OriginWinner [24]
Jinwoo Chong FluxFinalist [25]
Miah Jeffra American GospelFinalist [25]

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References

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