The PEN/Bare Life Review Grants support literary works in progress by immigrant and refugee writers, recognizing that the literature of migration is of inherent and manifest value. Beginning with the 2024 grant conferral, PEN America will confer two PEN/Bare Life Review Grants of $5,000 each.
The grants are made possible by a substantial contribution from The Bare Life Review, which celebrates world literature and has been a champion for migrant and diasporic arts.
2025 Winners
Judges: Khadija Abdalla Bajaber, Ahmed Naji, Ofelia Montelongo, Achiro Olwoch
L Vocem, The Air Beneath Her Feet
The Air Beneath Her Feet is a powerful exploration of displacement, survival, and the precarious reality of living in exile. Though taking place during the first Trump presidency, its themes remain profoundly relevant today, capturing the fear, uncertainty, and resilience of immigrants navigating hostile systems. With prose that is deceptively simple yet deeply deliberate, the piece carries immense emotional weight, drawing the reader into the ongoing struggles of those forced to leave home. It is a story that pulses with urgency, refusing to be merely an intellectual or artistic exercise – it bears witness to the prolonged survival of the displaced. The work’s commitment to language as a cultural anchor is particularly striking, as the writer insists on making it available not only in English but also in Spanish, recognizing the over eight million Venezuelans living in the U.S., Europe, and South America. This decision speaks to the power of language as both a claim to identity and an act of resistance against erasure. The piece’s clarity of purpose, its ability to articulate both the hope and despair of being caught between catastrophe and catastrophe. More than just a depiction of struggle, The Air Beneath Her Feet insists on being heard, offering a raw and unflinching look at the realities of displacement in a world where true safety remains elusive.
María Isabel Álvarez, All the Ways We Ached for Home
This collection of stories is a deeply nuanced exploration of Guatemalan identity, generational trauma, and the search for belonging. Through precise, evocative prose, María Isabel weaves together narratives that transcend stereotypes, allowing her characters to exist with agency, longing, and joy while navigating the lingering effects of civil war. The collection captures the quiet resilience of motherhood and the interwoven struggles of immigrants, offering a stereotype-free portrayal of Guatemalan life. The book’s ability to balance vulnerability and resilience, illustrating how displacement and inherited trauma shape the human experience. One sentence, in particular, stands out: “Papi wasn’t born sad; he’d earned the right to feel melancholy. Images from Guatemala’s Civil War had seared into his cellular memory, so that wherever he walked, death walked with him.” This haunting line encapsulates the deep scars of war and exile, reinforcing how the collection is not only a reflection on loss, but also a testament to survival, memory, and the enduring ache for home.
Eligibility
- The submitted project must be the work of a single individual, written in or translated into English. In the case of translated works, the grant will be conferred to the original author.
- The project must be an unpublished work-in-progress that will not be published prior to April 1, 2026, as the grants are intended to support the completion of a manuscript.
- The project must be a work of a literary nature: fiction, creative nonfiction, or poetry.
- This grant is available to foreign-born writers based in the U.S., and to writers living abroad who hold refugee/asylum seeker status.
- Writers may only submit one project per year.
Submission Guidelines
Please note that the application will require the following, submitted as one PDF file, in the below order.
All documents should be in 12pt, Times New Roman, with 1 inch margins. Each document should be single spaced with the exception of the writing sample which should be double spaced.
- A 1-2 page description of the work, answering: Why is this project important, and why did this author choose to undertake this project?
- A 1-2 page statement answering: How will this grant aid in the completion of the project? (This space can additionally be used to discuss any permissions, rights, contracts, publication timelines, or other aspects of your project.)
- A CV for the author of the project, which should include information on previous or forthcoming publications.
- An outline that includes the work completed thus far and the work remaining.
- A writing sample of up to 40 pages for poetry, and 75 pages for other genres. This, exceptionally, should be double spaced for legibility.
Submission Guidelines for Incarcerated Writers
Physical entries are accepted only from adults incarcerated in a federal or state prison, county jail, or other detention center. Submissions postmarked between April 1, 2025 and May 15, 2025 will be considered.
Submit by sending work to:
PEN America Literary Programs
ATTN: PEN Literary Grants
120 Broadway
26th Floor North
New York, NY 10271
Due to the volume of submissions, PEN America is unable to return submitted manuscripts. Authors retain all rights to their work upon publication.
- Manuscripts should be typewritten and double-spaced (except for poetry) whenever possible, or legibly handwritten on 8.5-by-11-inch paper.
- If possible, please send copies of your work, not the originals. PEN America is unable to return manuscripts after submission.
- Please follow the submission guidelines, including adding page numbers, name and/or title on each document.
These guidelines are for incarcerated writers only. If you are a writer on the outside and send a physical submission, it will be returned unread.
Please consult our FAQ page before contacting awards@pen.org with any questions.