PEN America is honored to announce the Longlists for the 2025 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 already had a continuous and lasting impact on the literary landscape.
The 2025 Literary Awards will confer over $350,000 to writers and translators. Spanning fiction, poetry, essay, translation, and more, these Longlisted books are dynamic, diverse, and thought-provoking examples of literary excellence.
Finalists for the following awards will be announced before the ceremony. We hope you can join us at the 2025 Literary Awards Ceremony on May 8, 2025!
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: Julie Agoos, Eric Borsuk, Melissa Febos, Sunil Yapa
Martyr!, Kaveh Akbar (Alfred A. Knopf)
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Dead in Long Beach, California, Venita Blackburn (MCD)
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With My Back to the World: Poems, Victoria Chang (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
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Soldiers and Kings: Survival and Hope in the World of Human Smuggling, Jason de Léon (Viking)
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James, Percival Everett (Doubleday)
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All Fours, Miranda July (Riverhead Books)
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I Heard Her Call My Name: A Memoir of Transition, Lucy Sante (Penguin Press)
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On Freedom, Timothy Snyder (Crown)
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The Barn: The Secret History of a Murder in Mississippi, Wright Thompson (Penguin Press)
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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: Kendra Allen, Cassandra Jackson, Malavika Kannan, Richie Narvaez, Jacinda Townsend
Vengeance Feminism: The Power of Black Women’s Fury in Lawless Times, Kali Nicole Gross (Seal Press)
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The Dark Delight of Being Strange: Black Stories of Freedom, James B. Haile, III (Columbia University Press)
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How to Kill a Goat and Other Monsters, Saúl Hernández (University of Wisconsin Press)
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Black Women Taught Us: An Intimate History of Black Feminism, Jenn M. Jackson, PhD (Random House)
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Undue Burden: Life and Death Decisions in Post-Roe America, Shefali Luthra (Doubleday)
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Black Woman on Board: Claudia Hampton, the California State University, and the Fight to Save Affirmative Action, Donna J. Nicol (University of Rochester Press)
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Perennial Ceremony: Lessons and Gifts from a Dakota Garden, Teresa R. Peterson (University of Minnesota Press)
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The Blueprint, Rae Giana Rashad (Harper)
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Good Dress, Brittany Rogers (Tin House)
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SEE: LOSS. SEE ALSO: LOVE, Yukiko Tominaga (Scribner)
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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: Sarah Shun-Lien Bynum, Leah Hampton, Wendy Wimmer
Thanks for This Riot, Janelle Bassett (University of Nebraska Press)
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Softie, Megan Howell (West Virginia University Press)
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The Goodbye Process, Mary Jones (Zibby Books)
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I’ll Give You a Reason, Annell López (Feminist Press)
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Japa and Other Stories, Iheoma Nwachukwu (University of Georgia Press)
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The Ill-Fitting Skin, Shannon Robinson (Press 53)
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The Man in the Banana Trees, Marguerite Sheffer (University of Iowa Press)
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Sad Grownups, Amy Stuber (Stillhouse Press)
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Beautiful Days, Zach Williams (Doubleday)
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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: Lauren Acampora, Allegra Goodman, Akhil Sharma
Dead in Long Beach, California, Venita Blackburn (MCD)
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Early Sobrieties, Michael Deagler (Astra House)
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Atta Boy, Cally Fiedorek (University of Iowa Press)
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High Hawk, Amy Frykholm (University of Iowa Press)
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Head Fake, Scott Gordon (Maxwell Street Books)
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The Road to the Salt Sea, Samuel Kọ́láwọlé (Amistad)
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Controlled Conversations, Karol Lagodzki (Milford House Press)
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Fire Exit, Morgan Talty (Tin House)
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A Thousand Times Before, Asha Thanki (Viking Books)
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Catalina, Karla Cornejo Villavicencio (Random House)
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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: Carrie Fountain, Laura Kasischke, Maurice Manning, Ander Monson, Sheila Squillante
Go Figure, Rae Armantrout (Wesleyan University Press)
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Room Swept Home, Remica Bingham-Risher (Wesleyan University Press)
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Sonnets for a Missing Key, Percival Everett (Ren Hen Press)
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After Image, Jenny George (Copper Canyon Press)
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Yard Show, Janice N. Harrington (BOA Editions)
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The Story of Your Obstinate Survival, Daniel Khalastchi (University of Wisconsin Press)
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Still City, Oksana Maksymchuk (University of Pittsburgh Press)
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Soon and Wholly, Idra Novey (Wesleyan University Press)
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Load in Nine Times, Frank X Walker (Liveright)
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The Life of Tu Fu, Eliot Weinberger (New Directions Publishing)
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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: Munawwar Abdulla, Curtis Bauer, Suzanne Jill Levine
No One Will Know You Tomorrow, Najwan Darwish (Yale University Press)
Translated from Arabic by Kareem James Abu-Zeid
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How to Be a Good Savage and Other Poems, Mikeas Sánchez (Milkweed Editions)
Translated from Zoque and Spanish by Wendy Call and Shook
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Three by Tsvetaeva, Marina Tsvetaeva (NYRB Poets)
Translated from Russian by Andrew Davis
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Day Lasts Forever: Selected Poems, Mario dell’Arco (World Poetry Books)
Translated from Romanesco by Marc Alan Di Martino
Asterism
Homeland of Swarms, Oriette D’Angelo (co▪im▪press)
Translated from Spanish by Lupita Eyde-Tucker
Asterism
Book of Exercises II, George Seferis (World Poetry Books)
Translated from Greek by Jennifer R. Kellogg
Asterism
Lost in Living, Halyna Kruk (Lost Horse Press)
Translated from Ukrainian by Dzvinia Orlowsky and Ali Kinsella
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To the Letter, Tomasz Różycki (Archipelago Books)
Translated from Polish by Mira Rosenthal
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Chimera, Phoebe Giannisi (New Directions Press)
Translated from Greek by Brian Sneeden
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PEN Translation Prize ($3,000)
For a book-length translation of prose from any language into English.
Judges: Vincent Kling, Ron Slate, Val Vinokur
Selamlik, Khaled Alesmael
Translated from Arabic by Leri Price (World Editions)
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Planes Flying Over a Monster, Daniel Saldaña
Translated from Spanish by Christina MacSweeney and Philip K. Zimmerman (Catapult)
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Verdigris, Michele Mari
Translated from Italian by Brian Robert Moore (And Other Stories)
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The Empusium, Olga Tokarczuk
Translated from Polish by Antonia Lloyd-Jones (Riverhead Books)
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The Tale of a Wall, Nasser Abu Srour
Translated from Arabic by Luke Leafgren (Other Press)
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The Book Against Death, Elias Canetti
Translated from German by Peter Filkins (New Directions)
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Banana King Ngôo Tsín-suī, Wang-Tai Lee
Translated from Mandarin, Hoklo, and Japanese by Timothy Smith (Shadelandhouse Modern Press)
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Fragments of a Paradise, Jean Giono
Translated from French by Paul Eprile (Archipelago)
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I Talk About It All the Time, Camara Lundestad Joof
Translated from Norwegian by Olivia Noble Gunn (University of Wisconsin Press)
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Great Fear on the Mountain, Charles Ferdinand Ramuz
Translated from French by Bill Johnston (Archipelago)
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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: Peter Catapano, Adam Davidson, Guy Nordenson
Sing by the Burying Ground, Marianne Boruch (Northwestern University Press)
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Any Person Is the Only Self, Elisa Gabbert (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
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A Passing West, Dagoberto Gilb (University of New Mexico Press)
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The Salt of the Universe, Amy Leach (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
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My Affair with Art House Cinema, Phillip Lopate (Columbia University Press)
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The Crop Cycle: Stories With Deep Roots, Shane Mitchell (Bitter Southerner Publishing)
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Like Love, Maggie Nelson (Graywolf Press)
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I Just Keep Talking, Nell Irvin Painter (Doubleday)
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The Lede, Calvin Trillin (Random House)
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Magically Black and Other Essays, Jerald Walker (Amistad)
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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: Cat Bohannon, Jordan Ellenberg, Jennifer Raff
The Burning Earth: A History, Sunil Amrith (W. W. Norton & Company)
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Playing with Reality: How Games Have Shaped Our World, Kelly Clancy (Riverhead Books)
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All in Her Head: The Truth and Lies Early Medicine Taught Us About Women’s Bodies and Why It Matters Today, Elizabeth Comen (Harper)
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Father Time: A Natural History of Men and Babies, Sarah Blaffer Hrdy (Princeton University Press)
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The Age of Deer: Trouble and Kinship with Our Wild Neighbors, Erika Howsare (Catapult)
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The Big Freeze: A Reporter’s Personal Journey into the World of Egg Freezing and the Quest to Control Our Fertility, Natalie Lampert (Ballantine)
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Every Living Thing: The Great and Deadly Race to Know All Life, Jason Roberts (Random House)
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The War Below: Lithium, Copper, and the Global Battle to Power Our Lives, Ernest Scheyder (Atria)
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Waves in an Impossible Sea: How Everyday Life Emerges from the Cosmic Ocean, Matt Strassler (Basic Books)
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The Living Medicine: How a Lifesaving Cure Was Nearly Lost—and Why It Will Rescue Us When Antibiotics Fail, Lina Zeldovich (St. Martin’s Press)
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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: Anna Beer, Dan Charnas, Steve Coll, Joe Jackson
Savarkar and the Making of Hindutva, Janaki Bakhle (Princeton University Press)
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Reagan: His Life and Legend, Max Boot (Liveright)
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Candy Darling: Dreamer, Icon, Superstar, Cynthia Carr (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
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Dorothy Parker in Hollywood, Gail Crowther (Gallery Books)
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Night Flyer: Harriet Tubman and the Faith Dreams of a Free People, Tiya Miles (Penguin Press)
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Charlie Hustle: The Rise and Fall of Pete Rose, and the Last Glory Days of Baseball, Keith O’Brien (Pantheon)
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The Showman: Inside the Invasion That Shook the World and Made a Leader of Volodymyr Zelensky, Simon Shuster (William Morrow)
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The Wide Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook, Hampton Sides (Doubleday)
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We Are Free to Change the World: Hannah Arendt’s Lessons in Love and Disobedience, Lyndsey Stonebridge (Hogarth)
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The Swans of Harlem: Five Black Ballerinas, Fifty Years of Sisterhood, and Their Reclamation of a Groundbreaking History, Karen Valby (Pantheon)
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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: Julia Angwin, Charles Duhigg, Eve Fairbanks, Kashmir Hill, Anjan Sundaram
The Lucky Ones: A Memoir, Zara Chowdhary (Crown)
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The Achilles Trap: Saddam Hussein, the C.I.A., and the Origins of America’s Invasion of Iraq, Steve Coll (Penguin Press)
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The Grief Cure: Looking for the End of Loss, Cody Delistraty (Harper)
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The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness, Jonathan Haidt (Penguin Press)
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Stolen Pride: Loss, Shame, and the Rise of the Right, Arlie Russell Hochschild (New Press)
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Madness: Race and Insanity in a Jim Crow Asylum, Antonia Hylton (Legacy Lit)
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The Rent Collectors: Exploitation, Murder, and Redemption in Immigrant LA, Jesse Katz (Astra House)
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In the Shadow of Liberty: The Invisible History of Immigrant Detention in the United States, Ana Raquel Minian (Viking)
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By the Fire We Carry: The Generations-Long Fight for Justice on Native Land, Rebecca Nagle (Harper)
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What Does Israel Fear from Palestine, Raja Shehadeh (Other Press)
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