The PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay aims to preserve the dignity and esteem that the essay form imparts to literature. The winner receives a cash award of $5,000 and will be honored at the PEN Literary Awards.

There are no restrictions on the subject matter of the essays; books are judged solely on the basis of literary character and distinction of writing, and equal consideration is given to the work of both renowned essayists and more recently established writers. Essays may deal either with a range of subjects or may explore one specific theme, but the book, taken as a whole, should be a series of individual essays, not conceived as a single booklength work of nonfiction. Individual essays included in books may have been previously published in magazines, journals, or anthologies.

In 1991 PEN Member and author Barbaralee Diamonstein and Carl Spielvogel, former New York Times columnist, founded the PEN/Spielvogel-Diamonstein Award for the Art of the Essay to preserve the dignity and esteem that the essay form imparts to literature. The award took a hiatus from 2005-2010. The 2011 winner was Mark Slouka for Essays from the Nick of Time: Reflections and Refutations. The 2011 judges were André Aciman, Jo Ann Beard, William H. Gass. Other recent recipients of the award are David Bromwich’s Skeptical Music, David Quammen’s The Boilerplate Rhino, Annie Dillard’s For the Time Being, Marilynne Robinson’s The Death of Adam, Adam Hochschild’s Finding the Trapdoor, Cynthia Ozick’s Fame and Folly, Thomas Nagel’s Other Voices: Critical Essays 1969-1994, and Frederick Crews’s The Critics Bear It Away: American Fiction and the Academy.

Deadline:
Submissions must be received between October 1, 2011 and Februrary 1, 2012.

Who is eligible:
Eligible titles must have been published by a U.S. trade publisher between January 1, 2011 and December 31, 2011. Candidates must be permanent U.S. residents or American citizens. There are no restrictions on the candidate’s age or on the style of his or her work.

Submissions are welcome from any source: writers, editors, literary agents, or members of the literary community at large. One need not be a Member of PEN to submit. Self-published books are not eligible.

How to apply:
1) Pay the $50 entry fee online and proceed to checkout. If paying by check, skip to step 2.

2) Fill out the online submission form and click “Submit Form.”

3) Mail three copies of the candidate’s book, your printed submission form, and proof of online payment or a check between October 1, 2011 and February 1, 2012 to:

PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay
PEN American Center
588 Broadway, Suite 303
New York, NY 10012

Pay the $50 entry fee online or mail in payment with your submission. Submission fees may be waived for publishers whose annual net sales are less than $4 million. Please contact PEN if you wish to find out more.
For more information, please contact awards@pen.org or (212) 334-1660, ext. 126.