PEN/Nora Magid Award for Magazine Editing

The PEN/Nora Magid Award for Magazine Editing, established in 1993, biennially honors a magazine editor whose high literary standards and taste have, throughout their career, contributed significantly to the excellence of the publication they edit. The winning editor will receive an award of $2,500.

Candidates for this biennial award include current editors-in-chief, literary editors, and “back-of-the-book” editors of serious general interest magazines, book reviews, or literary reviews and quarterlies, whose intellectual discernment and wide range of interests recall the late PEN America Member Nora Magid. Nora Magid was for many years the literary editor of The Reporter. The award is made possible by a grant from PEN America Member Gerald Weales. For more information, please visit our Awards FAQ page.

2025 Honoree: Charles Henry Rowell, Callaloo

From the judges’ citation: “Some literary journals do more than publish—they build communities, challenge assumptions, and make space for voices too often unheard. For decades, Charles Henry Rowell has done just that through his work with Callaloo. Under his editorship, the journal became a vital platform for Black writers, artists, and scholars across the African diaspora. Charles Henry Rowell didn’t just edit a publication—he cultivated a safe space and an artistic community. The depth, range, and intellectual courage found in Callaloo reflect his vision and dedication. His influence stretches far beyond the page, shaping the broader landscape of American literature in lasting and meaningful ways.”

History

Previous Winners

(This award is offered every other year, in odd-numbered years.)

2021 Kwame Dawes, Prairie Schooner

2019 Alexandra Watson, Apogee Journal

2017 Michael Archer & Joel Whitney, Guernica

2015 Rob Spillman, Tin House

2013 Monika Bauerlein and Clara Jeffery, Mother Jones

2011 Brigid Hughes, A Public Space

2009 Hannah Tinti, One Story

2007 Bradford Morrow, Conjunctions

2005 Willard Spiegelman, Southwest Review

2003 Robert Fogarty, Antioch Review

2001 Askold Melnyczuk, AGNI

1999 Stan Lindberg, Georgia Review

1997 Wendy Lesser, The Threepenny Review

1995 Herbert Leibowitz, Parnassus

1993 Peter Stitt, Gettysburg Review

Eligibility

  • Especially welcome are candidates who are editors of magazines, journals, and reviews published by small or regional presses, or magazines whose subjects are aimed at a specialized, but literate, readership.
  • Editors may not nominate themselves.