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PEN America Literary Awards 2021

The 2021 PEN America Literary Awards went to Raised by Wolves: Poems and Conversations by Amang, translated by Steve Bradbury (PEN Award for Poetry in Translation), Inheritors by Asako Serizawa (PEN Open Book Award) and A Country for Dying: A Novel by Abdellah Taïa, translated by Emma Ramadan (PEN Translation Prize), with winners in 8 more categories. 55 books were finalists across 11 categories.

Winners

PEN Award for Poetry in Translation

  1. Raised by Wolves: Poems and Conversations by Amang, translated by Steve Bradburysource (opens in a new tab)

PEN Open Book Award

  1. Inheritors by Asako Serizawasource (opens in a new tab)

PEN Translation Prize

  1. A Country for Dying: A Novel by Abdellah Taïa, translated by Emma Ramadansource (opens in a new tab)

PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay

  1. Had I Known: Collected Essays by Barbara Ehrenreichsource (opens in a new tab)

PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award

  1. Owls of the Eastern Ice: A Quest to Find and Save the World’s Largest Owl by Jonathan C. Slaghtsource (opens in a new tab)

PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel

  1. Sharks in the Time of Saviors: A Novel by Kawai Strong Washburnsource (opens in a new tab)

PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for Biography

  1. Stranger in the Shogun’s City: A Japanese Woman and Her World by Amy Stanleysource (opens in a new tab)

PEN/Jean Stein Book Award

  1. Be Holding: A Poem by Ross Gaysource (opens in a new tab)

PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award for Nonfiction

  1. Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments: Intimate Histories of Riotous Black Girls, Troublesome Women, and Queer Radicals by Saidiya Hartmansource (opens in a new tab)

PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Short Story Collection

  1. Further News of Defeat: Stories by Michael X. Wangsource (opens in a new tab)

PEN/Voelcker Award for Poetry Collection

  1. Obit by Victoria Changsource (opens in a new tab)

Finalists

PEN Award for Poetry in Translation

  1. A New Orthography by Serhiy Zhadan, translated by John Hennessy and Ostap Kinsource (opens in a new tab)
  2. Katabasis by Lucía Estrada, translated by Olivia Lottsource (opens in a new tab)
  3. Lean Against This Late Hour by Garous Abdolmalekian, translated by Ahmad Nadalizadeh and Idra Noveysource (opens in a new tab)
  4. Sense Violence by Helena Boberg, translated by Johannes Göranssonsource (opens in a new tab)

PEN Open Book Award

  1. A Treatise on Stars by Mei-Mei Berssenbruggesource (opens in a new tab)
  2. How to Pronounce Knife: Stories by Souvankham Thammavongsasource (opens in a new tab)
  3. Un-American by Hafizah Getersource (opens in a new tab)
  4. Wild Peach by S*an D. Henry-Smithsource (opens in a new tab)

PEN Translation Prize

  1. Girls Lost by Jessica Schiefauer, translated by Saskia Vogelsource (opens in a new tab)
  2. Ornamental by Juan Cárdenas, translated by Lizzie Davissource (opens in a new tab)
  3. Our Riches by Kaouther Adimi, translated by Chris Andrewssource (opens in a new tab)
  4. That Hair: A Novel by Djaimilia Pereira de Almeida, translated by Eric M. B. Beckersource (opens in a new tab)

PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay

  1. Maybe the People Would Be the Times by Luc Santesource (opens in a new tab)
  2. Nature Matrix: New and Selected Essays by Robert Michael Pylesource (opens in a new tab)
  3. Terroir: Love, Out of Place by Natasha Sajésource (opens in a new tab)
  4. Unfinished Business: Notes of a Chronic Re-Reader by Vivian Gornicksource (opens in a new tab)

PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award

  1. Fathoms: The World in the Whale by Rebecca Giggssource (opens in a new tab)
  2. The Bird Way: A New Look at How Birds Talk, Work, Play, Parent, and Think by Jennifer Ackermansource (opens in a new tab)
  3. The Last Stargazers: The Enduring Story of Astronomy’s Vanishing Explorers by Emily Levesquesource (opens in a new tab)
  4. The Next Great Migration: The Beauty and Terror of Life on the Move by Sonia Shahsource (opens in a new tab)

PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel

  1. How Much of These Hills Is Gold: A Novel by C Pam Zhangsource (opens in a new tab)
  2. Luster: A Novel by Raven Leilanisource (opens in a new tab)
  3. Shuggie Bain: A Novel by Douglas Stuartsource (opens in a new tab)
  4. These Ghosts Are Family: A Novel by Maisy Cardsource (opens in a new tab)

PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for Biography

  1. 999: The Extraordinary Young Women of the First Official Jewish Transport to Auschwitz by Heather Dune Macadamsource (opens in a new tab)
  2. Black Spartacus: The Epic Life of Toussaint Louverture by Sudhir Hazareesinghsource (opens in a new tab)
  3. MBS: The Rise to Power of Mohammed bin Salman by Ben Hubbardsource (opens in a new tab)
  4. The Sword and the Shield: The Revolutionary Lives of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. by Peniel E. Josephsource (opens in a new tab)

PEN/Jean Stein Book Award

  1. Borderland Apocrypha by Anthony Codysource (opens in a new tab)
  2. Sharks in the Time of Saviors: A Novel by Kawai Strong Washburnsource (opens in a new tab)
  3. The Death of Vivek Oji: A Novel by Akwaeke Emezisource (opens in a new tab)
  4. The Freezer Door by Mattilda Bernstein Sycamoresource (opens in a new tab)

PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award for Nonfiction

  1. Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkersonsource (opens in a new tab)
  2. Deported Americans: Life after Deportation to Mexico by Beth C. Caldwellsource (opens in a new tab)
  3. Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family by Robert Kolkersource (opens in a new tab)
  4. The Yellow House by Sarah M. Broomsource (opens in a new tab)

PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Short Story Collection

  1. A House Is a Body: Stories by Shruti Swamysource (opens in a new tab)
  2. Adults and Other Children: Stories by Miriam Cohensource (opens in a new tab)
  3. Alligator & Other Stories by Dima Alzayatsource (opens in a new tab)
  4. You Will Never Be Forgotten: Stories by Mary Southsource (opens in a new tab)

PEN/Voelcker Award for Poetry Collection

  1. Blessed as We Were: Late Selected and New Poems, 2000–2018 by Gerald Sternsource (opens in a new tab)
  2. Conjure by Rae Armantroutsource (opens in a new tab)
  3. Kontemporary Amerikan Poetry by John Murillosource (opens in a new tab)
  4. The Age of Phillis by Honorée Fanonne Jefferssource (opens in a new tab)

About the PEN America Literary Awards

Eleven PEN America book awards, one category each: Jean Stein, Open Book (incl. its predecessor Beyond Margins Award), Hemingway (debut novel), Bingham (debut fiction, now debut story collection), E.O. Wilson, Galbraith, Bograd Weld, Diamonstein-Spielvogel, Translation Prize, Poetry in Translation, Voelcker (book-based years only). PEN/Faulkner is a separate source. Year is the award year PEN uses in its announcement (books are mostly from the prior year). Winners plus finalists/shortlists/runners-up where PEN published them; longlists skipped. pen.org blocks bots, so pages were read from web.archive.org captures of pen.org; sourceUrl keeps the original pen.org URL. Before 2013 PEN printed only winners and a few runners-up, so those years are short. Hemingway 2006-2017 was run by PEN New England: winners from pen.org's Hemingway page, finalists and honorable mentions (level Honor) from Wikipedia. 2024: the ceremony was cancelled and many finalists withdrew; only listed, non-withdrawn finalists are kept, and only the winners PEN named. Voelcker honored a poet's body of work before 2021 and is included only from 2021. Galbraith is biennial. PEN's 2018 finalist and winner pages list no Poetry in Translation award, so 2018 has none. PEN's Jean Stein page lists no 2024 or 2025 winner; those years carry finalists only.

Organization: PEN America. Years are award years, which can differ from publication years. Official site (opens in a new tab)

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