The PEN/ESPN Lifetime Achievement Award for Literary Sports Writing is given to one living American or U.S.-based writer each year to celebrate their body of work. The award recognizes a lifetime of writing about sports and its dimensions of character and action with keen knowledge and insight, and especially with a literary voice evidenced in a style of agility and flair. The winner’s work may be in short- or long-form prose.
Jackie "Mac" MacMullan, 2019 Winner
Judges: Chris Bachelder, Rafi Kohan, Carvell Wallace
From the judges’ citation: For the high literary quality of her sportswriting, her exemplary use of the oral history form, and her body of work including Basketball: A Love Story (2018), When the Game Was Ours (2013; with Larry Bird and Magic Johnson), Geno: In Pursuit of Perfection (2006), and her many years as a newspaper sportswriter and NBA columnist. She is the first female sportswriter to win the PEN/ESPN Lifetime Achievement Award for Literary Sports Writing.
Featured Works
History
2011 Roger Angell
2012 Dan Jenkins
2013 Frank Deford
2014 Dave Anderson
2015 Bob Ryan
2016 John Schulian
2017 William Nack
2018 Dave Kindred
Selection Process
- Nominations must be made by awards judges or PEN Members. Click here to learn how to become a member.
- The nomination form will require:
- A statement of support that describes in some detail how the sports writer meets the criteria for the award.
- Detailed information on the sports writer’s past publications