PEN America is honored to announce the Longlists for the 2023 Literary Awards. Our Awards are juried by panels of esteemed, award-winning authors, editors, translators, and critics. These authors are committed to recognizing their contemporaries, from promising debut writers to those who have had a continuous, lasting impact on the literary landscape. You can learn more about the 2023 Judges PEN America Literary Awards judges here.
The 2023 Literary Awards will confer over $350,000 to writers and translators. Spanning fiction, nonfiction, poetry, biography, essay, science writing, translation, and more, these Longlisted books are dynamic, diverse, and thought-provoking examples of literary excellence.
Finalists for all Book Awards will be announced in February 2023. Stay tuned for more.
Join us at the 2023 Literary Awards Ceremony on March 2!
PEN/Jean Stein Book Award ($75,000)
To a book-length work of any genre for its originality, merit, and impact, which has broken new ground by reshaping the boundaries of its form and signaling strong potential for lasting influence.
Judges: Joan Naviyuk Kane, Lauren Groff, Madeleine Thien
My Pinup, Hilton Als (New Directions Publishing Corporation)
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Acting Class, Nick Drnaso (Drawn & Quarterly)
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If I Survive You, Jonathan Escoffery (MCD)
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Dr. No, Percival Everett (Graywolf Press)
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Very Cold People, Sarah Manguso (Hogarth Press)
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Milkweed Smithereens, Bernadette Mayer (New Directions Publishing Corporation)
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If an Egyptian Cannot Speak English, Noor Naga (Graywolf Press)
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The White Mosque, Sofia Samatar (Catapult)
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Customs, Solmaz Sharif (Graywolf Press)
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Night of the Living Rez, Morgan Talty (Tin House Books)
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PEN Open Book Award ($10,000)
To an exceptional book-length work of any literary genre by an author of color.
Judges: Jenn Baker, Maurice Carlos Ruffin, Nina McConigley, Erika L. Sanchez
Golden Ax, Rio Cortez (Penguin Books)
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Shutter, Ramona Emerson (Soho Crime)
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The Black Period, Hafizah Augustus Geter (Random House)
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The Listening Skin: Poems, Glenis Redmond (Four Way Books)
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Gorgoneion, Casey Rocheteau (Noemi Press)
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All the Flowers Kneeling, Paul Tran (Penguin Books)
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The Town of Babylon, Alejandro Varela (Astra House)
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Making Love with the Land, Joshua Whitehead (University of Minnesota Press)
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Last Summer on State Street, Toya Wolfe (William Morrow & Company)
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Solito, Javier Zamora (Hogarth Press)
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PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Short Story Collection ($25,000)
To an author whose debut collection of short stories represents distinguished literary achievement and suggests great promise for future work.
Judges: Nafissa Thompson Spires, Chris Gonzalez, Susan Muaddi Darraj
Seeking Fortune Elsewhere, Sindya Bhanoo (Catapult)
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Rainbow Rainbow, Lydia Conklin (Catapult)
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Is This How You Eat a Watermelon?, Zein El-Amine (Radix Media)
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If I Survive You, Jonathan Escoffery (MCD)
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A Down Home Meal for These Difficult Times, Meron Hadero (Restless Books)
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A Calm & Normal Heart, Chelsea T. Hicks (The Unnamed Press)
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What We Fed to the Manticore, Talia Lakshmi Kolluri (Tin House Books)
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The Anchored World, Jasmine Sawers (Rose Metal Press)
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Night of the Living Rez, Morgan Talty (Tin House Books)
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Manywhere, Morgan Thomas (MCD)
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PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel ($10,000)
To a debut novel of exceptional literary merit by an American author.
Judges: Gina Apostol, Oscar Cásares, Matthew Salesses
A Tiny Upward Shove, Melissa Chadburn (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
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The School for Good Mothers, Jessamine Chan (Simon & Schuster)
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Activities of Daily Living, Lisa Hsiao Chen (W. W. Norton & Company)
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Shutter, Ramona Emerson (Soho Crime)
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Nuclear Family, Joseph Han (Counterpoint)
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Calling For a Blanket Dance, Oscar Hokeah (Algonquin Books)
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Nightcrawling, Leila Mottley (Alfred A. Knopf)
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How High We Go in the Dark, Sequoia Nagamatsu (William Morrow & Company)
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Little Rabbit, Alyssa Songsiridej (Bloomsbury Publishing)
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Which Side Are You On, Ryan Lee Wong (Catapult)
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PEN/Voelcker Award for Poetry Collection ($5,000)
To a poet whose distinguished collection of poetry represents a notable and accomplished literary presence.
Judges: Kimiko Hahn, Molly McCully Brown, Allison Rollins, Willie Perdomo
Smoking the Bible, Chris Abani (Copper Canyon Press)
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[To] The Last [Be] Human, Jorie Graham (Copper Canyon Press)
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Maafa, Harmony Holiday (Fence Books)
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The Hurting Kind, Ada Limon (Milkweed Editions)
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To The Realization of Perfect Helplessness, Robin Coste Lewis (Penguin Random House)
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Cain Named The Animal, Shane Mcrae (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
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Pink Waves, Sawako Nakayasu (OmniDawn)
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blood snow, Dg Nanouk Okpik (Wave Poetry)
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Then The War, Carl Phillips (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
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Best Barbarian, Roger Reeves (W. W. Norton & Company)
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PEN Award for Poetry in Translation ($3,000)
For a book-length translation of poetry from any language into English.
Judges: Baba Badji, Mona Kareem, Julia Leverone
The Loose Pearl, Paula Ilabaca Nuñez (Coimpress)
Translated from Spanish by Daniel Borzutzky
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No Way in the Skin without This Bloody Embrace, Jean D’Amérique (Ugly Duckling Presse)
Translated from French by Conor Bracken
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The Threshold, Iman Mersal (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
Translated from Arabic by Robyn Creswell
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claus and the scorpion, Lara Dopazo Ruibal (Coimpress)
Translated from Galician by Laura Cesarco Eglin
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Dolore Minimo, Giovanna Cristina Vivinetto (Saturnalia Books)
Translated from Italian by Gabriella Fee and Dora Malech
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Let Us Believe in the Beginning of the Cold Season, Forough Farrokhzad (New Directions Publishing)
Translated from Persian by Elizabeth T. Gray, Jr.
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distant transit, Maja Haderlap (Archipelago Books)
Translated from German by Tess Lewis
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Motherfield, Julia Cimafiejeva (Deep Vellum Publishing)
Translated from Belarusian by Valzhyna Mort and Hanif Abdurraqib
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The Rust of History, Sotero Rivera Avilés (Circumference)
Translated from Spanish by Raquel Salas Rivera
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Adela Zamudio: Selected Poetry & Prose, Adela Zamudio (Fuente Fountain Books)
Translated from Spanish by Lynette Yetter
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PEN Translation Prize ($3,000)
For a book-length translation of prose from any language into English.
Judges: Layla Benitez-James, Slava Faybysh, Sora Kim-Russell, Elton Uliana
All Your Children, Scattered, Beata Umybyeyi Mairesse (Europa Editions)
Translated from French by Alison Anderson
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The Tatami Galaxy, Tomihiko Morimi (HarperVia)
Translated from Japanese by Emily Balistrieri
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Jawbone, Mónica Ojeda (Coffee House Press)
Translated from Spanish by Sarah Booker
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Call Me Cassandra, Marcial Gala (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
Translated from Spanish by Anna Kushner
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Moldy Strawberries, Caio Fernando Abreu (Archipelago Books)
Translated from Portuguese by Bruna Dantas Lobato
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Toño the Infallible, Evelio Rosero (New Directions Publishing)
Translated from Spanish by Victor Meadowcroft and Anne McLean
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Ghost Town, Kevin Chen (Europa Editions)
Translated from Taiwanese by Darryl Sterk
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People from Bloomington, Budi Darma (Penguin Classics)
Translated from Indonesian by Tiffany Tsao
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A Line in the World: A Year on the North Sea Coast, Dorthe Nors (Graywolf Press)
Translated from by Caroline Waight
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Pina, Titaua Peu (Restless Books)
Translated from French by Jeffrey Zuckerman
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PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay ($15,000)
For a seasoned writer whose collection of essays is an expansion on their corpus of work and preserves the distinguished art form of the essay.
Judges: Jill Lepore, John McWhorter, Simon Winchester
I’ll Show Myself Out, Jessi Klein (HarperCollinsPublishers)
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Translating Myself and Others, Jhumpa Lahiri (Princeton University Press)
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A Place in the World, Frances Mayes (Crown)
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Still No Word From You, Peter Orner (Catapult)
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Animal Bodies: On Death, Desire, and Other Difficulties, Suzanne Roberts (University of Nebraska Press)
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Happy-Go-Lucky, David Sedaris (Little, Brown and Company)
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Small Acreages: New and Selected Essays, Georgia Green Stamper (Shadelandhouse Modern Press)
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Streaming Now: Postcards from the Thing That Is Happening, Laurie Stone (Dottir Press)
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A Left-Handed Woman, Judith Thurman (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
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The Green Hour: A Natural History of Home, Alison Townsend (The University of Wisconsin Press)
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PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award ($10,000)
For a work that exemplifies literary excellence on the subject of the physical or biological sciences and communicates complex scientific concepts to a lay audience.
Judges: Tim Folger, David Hu, Emily Raboteau
Different, Frans de Waal (W. W. Norton & Company)
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Vagina Obscura, Rachel E. Gross (W. W. Norton & Company)
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Orchid Muse, Erica Hannickel (W. W. Norton & Company)
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Sounds Wild and Broken, David George Haskell (Viking)
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A Molecule Away from Madness, Sara Manning Peskin (W. W. Norton & Company)
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The Wine-Dark Sea Within: A Turbulent History of Blood, Dhun Sethna (Basic Books)
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Big Bang of Numbers, Manil Suri (W. W. Norton & Company)
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Heartbreak, Florence Williams (W. W. Norton & Company)
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An Immense World, Ed Yong (Random House)
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Dancing Cockatoos, Marlene Zuk (W. W. Norton & Company)
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PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for Biography ($5,000)
For a biography of exceptional literary, narrative, and artistic merit, based on scrupulous research.
Judges: Manu Bhagavan, Silvana Paternostro
An American Martyr in Persia: The Epic Life and Tragic Death of Howard Baskerville, Reza Aslan (W. W. Norton& Company)
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Civil Rights Queen: Constance Baker Motley and the Struggle for Equality, Tomiko Brown-Nagin (Pantheon)
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Dilla Time: The Life and Afterlife of J Dilla, the Hip-Hop Producer Who Reinvented Rhythm, Dan Charnas (MCD)
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The Adventures of Herbie Cohen, Rich Cohen (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
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G-Man: J. Edgar Hoover and the Making of the American Century, Beverly Gage (Viking)
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The Hyacinth Girl: T. S. Eliot’s Hidden Muse, Lyndall Gordon (W. W. Norton & Company)
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Guru to the World: The Life and Legacy of Vivekananda, Ruth Harris (Belknap Press of Harvard University Press)
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Mr. B: George Balanchine’s 20th Century, Jennifer Homans (Random House)
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The Pope at War: The Secret History of Pius XII, Mussolini, and Hitler, David I. Kertzer (Random House)
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Saxophone Colossus: The Life and Music of Sonny Rollins, Aidan Levy (Hachette Books)
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PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award for Nonfiction ($10,000)
For a distinguished book of general nonfiction possessing notable literary merit and critical perspective that illuminates important contemporary issues.
Judges: Sanjiv Bhattacharya, Geraldo Cadava, Sofija Stefanovic
The Naked Don’t Fear the Water: An Underground Journey with Afghan Refugees, Matthieu Aikins (HarperCollinsPublishers)
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Tree Thieves: Crime and Survival in North America’s Woods, Lyndsie Bourgon (Little, Brown and Company)
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After the Ivory Tower Falls: How College Broke the American Dream and Blew Up Our Politics–And How to Fix It, Will Bunch (HarperCollinsPublishers)
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The Inheritors: An Intimate Portrait of South Africa’s Racial Reckoning, Eve Fairbanks (Simon & Schuster)
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Bad Mexicans: Race, Empire, and Revolution in the Borderlands, Kelly Lytle Hernandez (W. W. Norton & Company)
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South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation, Imani Perry (HarperCollinsPublishers)
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The War of Nerves: Inside the Cold War Mind, Martin Sixsmith (Pegasus Books)
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The Viral Underclass: The Human Toll When Inequality and Disease Collide, Steven W. Thrasher (Celadon Books)
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The Great Stewardess Rebellion: How Women Launched a Workplace Revolution at 30,000 Feet, Nell McShane Wulfhart (Random House)
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Solito, Javier Zamora (Random House)
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