PEN/Jean Stein Book Award

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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.

Contents

The award is one of many PEN awards sponsored by International PEN affiliates in over 145 PEN centers around the world. The PEN American Center awards have been characterized as being among the "major" American literary prizes. [1]

Winners and finalists

Previous winners and finalists [2]
YearAuthorTitleResultRef.
2017 Hisham Matar The Return: Fathers, Sons and the Land in Between Winner [3]
Teju Cole Known and Strange ThingsFinalist [4]
Tyehimba Jess Olio
Jane Mayer Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right
Colson Whitehead The Underground Railroad
2018 Layli Long Soldier WHEREAS Winner [5] [6]
Ta-Nehisi Coates We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy Finalist [7]
Hari Kunzru White Tears
Victor LaValle The Changeling
Kevin Young Bunk: The Rise of Hoaxes, Humbug, Plagiarists, Phonies, Post-Facts, and Fake News
2019 Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah Friday Black Winner
Ada Limón The Carrying: PoemsFinalist [8]
José Olivarez Citizen Illegal
Richard Powers The Overstory: A Novel
Tara Westover Educated: A Memoir
2020 Yiyun Li Where Reasons EndWinner [9]
Anne Boyer The UndyingFinalist [10]
Ilya Kaminsky Deaf Republic: Poems
Rion Amilcar Scott The World Doesn’t Require You
Chris Ware Rusty Brown
2021 Anthony Cody Borderland ApocryphaWinner
Kawai Strong Washburn Sharks in the Time of Saviors: A NovelFinalist [11]
Akwaeke Emezi The Death of Vivek Oji: A Novel
Ross Gay Be Holding: A Poem
Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore The Freezer Door
2022 Daisy Hernández The Kissing BugWinner [12]
Joy Williams Harrow Finalist
Percival Everett The Trees
Dantiel W. Montiz Milk Blood Heat
Carolina de Robertis The President and the Frog

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References

  1. Alfred Bendixen (2005). "Literary Prizes and Awards". The Continuum Encyclopedia of American Literature. Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 689.
  2. "Past Winners". PEN American Center. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
  3. "Hisham Matar Takes $75,000 Prize for Book of the Year at Reimagined PEN America Literary Awards Ceremony". PEN America. 2017-03-28. Retrieved 2022-01-30.
  4. Italie, Hillel (2017-01-18). "Colson Whitehead is a finalist for $75,000 PEN America award". AP NEWS. Retrieved 2022-01-30.
  5. John Maher (February 21, 2018). "Long Soldier, Zhang, Le Guin Win At 2018 PEN Literary Awards". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
  6. "The 2018 PEN America Literary Awards Winners". PEN America. February 20, 2018. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
  7. Porter Anderson (January 31, 2018). "Industry Notes: PEN America's Finalists". Publishing Perspectives. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
  8. "Announcing the 2019 PEN America Literary Awards Finalists". PEN America. 2019-01-15. Retrieved 2019-02-23.
  9. "Yiyun Li receives PEN/Jean Stein Book Award for originality, merit and impact". Princeton University. March 3, 2020. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  10. "PEN/Jean Stein Book Award Finalists Include Anne Boyer and Ilya Kaminsky". Poetry Foundation. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  11. "Announcing the 2021 PEN America Literary Awards Finalists". PEN America. 2021-02-10. Retrieved 2021-02-14.
  12. Smith, Eliza (March 1, 2022). "Here are the winners of the 2022 PEN America Literary Awards". Literary Hub . Retrieved March 4, 2022.