Melinda Page is the Program Director of the Literary Awards. Before joining PEN America, she co-founded the Neilson Hays Bangkok Literature Festival and served as its curator. Started in 2019, the festival showcased more than 50 authors from 13 countries, promoting undersung voices from Thailand and Southeast Asia alongside winners of the Booker, Pulitzer, and Giller Prizes. Before moving to Bangkok, Page worked as the Cultural Affairs Specialist at the U.S. Embassy in Singapore, where she oversaw and expanded the American Writers Festival and organized engaging public programs that drew attention to several issues, including human trafficking, LGBTQ+ rights, freedom of expression, human rights for migrant workers, and women and girls. She began her career as a journalist in New York, where she was a senior editor at several national magazines, including Real Simple, Town & Country, and Martha Stewart Living.
Page holds a Bachelor’s in Asian Studies from the University of Virginia, and studied in China and Taiwan.