PEN America is honored to announce the finalists for the 2021 PEN America Literary Awards. Each year, our Literary Awards are juried by panels of esteemed, award-winning writers, editors, translators, and critics from diverse backgrounds and around the globe. Collectively, our dedicated judges read over 1,850 books this cycle in their commitment to recognizing literary excellence in their contemporaries. You can learn more about the 2021 PEN America Literary Awards judges here.
This spring, the 2021 PEN America Literary Awards will confer over $380,000 to writers and translators across all stages of their careers. Spanning fiction, nonfiction, poetry, biography, essay, science writing, translation, and more, these Finalists’ books are dynamic, imaginative, and thought-provoking examples of literary excellence published in the 2020 calendar year. From promising debut writers to those who have had a continuous, lasting impact on the literary canon, these books showcase distinguished contributions to American culture and thought.
Winners will be announced at the virtual Literary Awards Ceremony on April 8, 2021 at 7pm ET / 4pm PT. Reserve tickets today »