(NEW YORK)— PEN America today announced 50 finalists for its 2026 Literary Awards, showcasing excellence from literary superstars and new voices alike and spanning genres including fiction, poetry, drama, essays, biography, translation, nonfiction, and more. The writers organization also named two honorees for career achievement— Haitian-American novelist and short story writer Edwidge Danticat (Breath, Eyes, Memory and Krik? Krak!) will receive the PEN/Nabokov Award for Achievement in International Literature, and playwright and screenwriter Julia Cho (Office Hour and Language Archive) will receive the PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater Award.
The award ceremony will be held on Tuesday evening, March 31 at New York City’s historic The Town Hall. Famously called the “Oscars for books,” the ceremony features live music performances, dramatic readings, and authors’ celebratory remarks on stage as they are revealed as winners.
In its 62nd year, the awards will confer 10 book prizes with a total purse of nearly $350,000; winners are chosen by notable judges including award-winning authors, editors, critics and translators. This year, seven of the 43 judges for the book and career achievement prizes were previous PEN America literary award winners.
Finalists’ Titles Are on “Must Read” and “Notable Book” Lists
This year’s finalists for books published in 2025 include several titles nominated for other top literary prizes, and were placed on “must read” and “notable book” lists for the year. The finalists include Things in Nature Merely Grow, a memoir by Yiyun Li on the suicides of her two sons seven years apart; The Zorg: A Tale of Greed and Murder That Inspired the Abolition of Slavery by Siddharth Kara, the gruesome true story of the murders of 132 Africans aboard a British slave ship that led to the abolition movement; Into the Hush by Arthur Sze, the 25th Poet Laureate,which was longlisted for the National Book Critics Circle Award in poetry; The Pelican Child byJoy Williams, a short story collection focused on environmental degradation and existential dread, which was longlisted for the National Book Awards for fiction; and Run the Song: Writing About Running About Listening by Ben Ratliff, the former New York Times music critic, whose essay collection is about the connection between music and running; it was longlisted for the National Book Award for nonfiction.
Clarisse Rosaz Shariyf, interim co-chief executive officer and chief of literary programming at PEN America, said: “Literature and stories in essence celebrate freedom — to write, to think, to read, and to learn based on the experiences and observations of others. Books, drama, and poetry all change our own perspectives and compel us to consider the fullness of the human experience, with compassion and open hearts. In troubling times, such as our own, they are indispensable. We are excited to celebrate these exceptional storytellers whose powerful ideas can move us toward deeper empathy and understanding.”
Finalists Include Debut Writers and Masters of their Craft
The finalists include titles published by the Big Five publishers and independent presses alike. Among them are promising debut writers along with the poet Susan Howe, who is 88 years old and chosen for her 11th collection, Penitential Cries published by New Directions. One of the books is the debut title by the publishing imprint Ayin Press: SURVIVA: A Future Ancestral Field Guide by Cannupa Hanska Luger.
The PEN/Jean Stein Book Award, recognizes the originality, merit, and impact of a book-length work of any genre, and confers $75,000 to its author. On the shortlist for the award this year are Things in Nature Merely Grow by Yiyun Li, Into the Hush by Arthur Sze, The Pelican Child by Joy Williams, SURVIVA by Cannupa Hanska Luger,and The Devil Is a Southpaw by Brandon Hobson.
Five books were selected as finalists for the PEN Open Book Award, awarded to a writer of color: The Devil Three Times by Rickey Fayne, an historical novel that follows an African-American family over eight generations; Ibis by Justin Haynes, a Caribbean story of migration across generations; Natural History by Brandon Kilbourne, poems exploring the intersection of poetry and science; Medicine River by Mary Annette Pember, a history of Native American boarding schools, and No Rhododendrons by Samyak Shertok, a debut poetry collection exploring identity, homeland and loss in the context of Nepal’s Maoist conflict and the poet’s Tamang heritage.
The finalists live in at least 20 different states as well as multiple countries. Many are teachers and professors, and not just of English; the finalists also include books about the environment, anthropology, and neurology.
Judges Praise Danticat for the ‘Sweeping Force’ of Her Stories
The PEN/Nabokov prize recognizes Edwidge Danticat’s place as perhaps the most prominent, critically acclaimed Haitian-American author of her time. Her work has connected millions of readers globally, both immigrants and non-immigrants, to Haitian culture and the immigrant experience in the United States, while expanding the definition of “Americanness.” A dual citizen of Haiti and the United States, she won a MacArthur “genius grant” in 2009, and numerous literary prizes, including the Neustadt International Prize for Literature (2018), often referred to as the “American Noble.” Her latest book, We’re Alone, was a 2025 National Book Critics Circle finalist for nonfiction. Two other dual citizens have won the prize: Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o (2022) and Sandra Cisneros (2019).
Danticat, who writes in English, has been widely translated, most notably into French, Haitian Creole, German, Spanish, and Dutch but also in Arabic, Japanese, and several other European languages as well.
The panel of judges for the award wrote that Danticat, in her “border-transcending” writing, “has shaped the landscape of fiction and non-fiction alike, sometimes with the sweeping force of her stories about identity and the diaspora, sometimes with her mournful and steady framing of grief as we know it.”
The judge’s citation called her career “that rare combination of big bangs and steady influence, of power and elegance. Her keen observation about injustice, immigration, and detention have been invaluable and her voice continues to uplift generations of writers.”
Founded in 2016 in collaboration with the Vladimir Nabokov Literary Foundation, the $50,000 award is conferred annually to a living author for their body of work written in English or translated and demonstrating originality and consummate craftsmanship.
Judges’ Citation Calls Cho’s Plays ‘Poetic and Visceral”
Judges for the PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater Award praised Julia Cho for her “transcendent, tender and searching body of work.”
They wrote in a citation: “Her craft is vital and memorable, both on the page and experienced live in a theater. From how a sandwich made by a loved one can live on in memory (Aubergine), to the terrifying, visceral discomfort of Office Hour, to cataloguing disappearing words in The Language Archive, Cho’s plays are both poetic and visceral.”
The award recognizes an American playwright in mid-career with an outstanding voice and includes a $10,000 cash prize.
Cho’s plays have been produced in New York at Roundabout Theatre Company, The Public Theater, The Vineyard Theatre and New York Theatre Workshop, along with numerous regional theaters; she has received awards including Yale University’s Windham-Campbell Literature Prize for drama. As a screenwriter, Cho, who was born in Los Angeles, has written for the television series Big Love and Fringe, along with the Pixar animated features Turning Red and Elio.
In the coming weeks, PEN America will announce the ceremony’s host. The role has been filled in previous years by headliners Tamron Hall, Seth Meyers, and John Oliver. Tickets will be sold through The Town Hall box office starting in February.
About PEN America
PEN America stands at the intersection of literature and human rights to protect free expression in the United States and worldwide. We champion the freedom to write, recognizing the power of the word to transform the world. Our mission is to unite writers and their allies to celebrate creative expression and defend the liberties that make it possible. Learn more at pen.org.
Contact: Suzanne Trimel, [email protected], 201-247-5057