NEW YORK—PEN American Center today announced the longlists for the 2015 PEN Literary Awards, including titles by writer and photographer Teju Cole, debut novelist Phil Klay, journalist Elizabeth Kolbert, poet Claudia Rankine, and many more. This announcement comes earlier this year than in recent award cycles so as to bring more immediate attention to a wide array of deserving titles published in 2014, representing a diverse spectrum of talent.

“For some writers, being recognized on PEN’s longlist can be a catalytic event, sparking attention and awakening audiences to a new and important voice,” said Suzanne Nossel, executive director of PEN American Center. “We are proud to welcome all of these works into PEN’s long tradition of literary excellence, offering recognition to a panoramic breadth of works by writers both highly decorated and yet undiscovered, from publishers both established and upstart. The PEN Awards become more competitive every year, and we congratulate each author for achieving this distinction.”

For more than 50 years, the PEN Literary Awards have honored many of the most outstanding voices in literature across such diverse fields as fiction, poetry, science writing, essays, sports writing, biography, children’s literature, translation, and drama. With the help of its partners and supporters, PEN will confer 19 distinct awards, fellowships, grants, and prizes in 2015, awarding nearly $150,000 to writers and translators.

“PEN’s Literary Awards Committee is again pleased to have our roster of prestigious, life-changing awards in the hands of judges who represent the full spectrum of voices and genres in literature today,” said Monique Truong, chair of PEN’s Literary Awards Committee. “We are indebted to the writers and editors on all of the panels whose impeccable literary discernment is clear from the remarkable titles on the longlist. As a Committee, we remain dedicated to casting the widest possible net when rewarding merit, a commitment that is reflected in our distinguished, diverse, and inclusive roster of judges.”

The shortlists for 2015 PEN Literary Award book nominations will be released on April 15. The complete list of winners for all 2015 PEN Literary Awards will be announced on May 13, followed by a ceremony honoring the winners on Monday, June 8 at The New School’s Auditorium in New York.

The complete list of longlisted titles is available at https://pen.org/2015-pen-literary-awards-longlist

2015 PEN LITERARY AWARDS LONGLISTS

PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Fiction ($25,000): To an author whose debut work—a first novel or collection of short stories published in 2014—represents distinguished literary achievement and suggests great promise.

JUDGES: Caroline Fraser, Katie Kitamura, Paul La Farge, and Victor LaValle

LONGLIST:
The UnAmericans (W. W. Norton & Company), Molly Antopol
Ruby (Hogarth), Cynthia Bond
Black Moon (Hogarth), Kenneth Calhoun
Redeployment (Penguin Press), Phil Klay
Ride Around Shining (Harper), Chris Leslie-Hynan
The Dog (Farrar, Straus and Giroux), Jack Livings
The Wives of Los Alamos (Bloomsbury), TaraShea Nesbit
The Heaven of Animals (Simon & Schuster), David James Poissant
Love Me Back (Doubleday), Merritt Tierce
Time of the Locust (Atria Books), Morowa Yejidé

PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay ($10,000): For a book of essays published in 2014 that exemplifies the dignity and esteem that the essay form imparts to literature.

JUDGES: Diane Johnson, Dahlia Lithwick, Vijay Seshadri, and Mark Slouka

LONGLIST:
Moral Imagination (Princeton University Press), David Bromwich
Theater of Cruelty (New York Review Books), Ian Buruma
Loitering (Tin House Books), Charles D’Ambrosio
Surrendering Oz (Etruscan Press), Bonnie Friedman
The Hard Way on Purpose (Scribner), David Giffels
Where Have You Been? (Farrar, Straus and Giroux), Michael Hofmann
The Empathy Exams (Graywolf Press), Leslie Jamison
Sidewalks, translated by Christina MacSweeney (Coffee House Press), Valeria Luiselli
Limber (Sarabande Books), Angela Pelster
You Feel So Mortal (University Of Chicago Press), Peggy Shinner

PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award ($10,000): For a book of literary nonfiction on the subject of the physical or biological sciences published in 2014.

JUDGES: Sue Halpern, Marie Myung-Ok Lee, and Carl Zimmer

LONGLIST:
War of the Whales (Simon & Schuster), Joshua Horwitz
How We Got to Now (Riverhead Books), Steven Johnson
The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons (Little, Brown and Company), Sam Kean
The Sixth Extinction (Henry Holt and Co.), Elizabeth Kolbert
Small (Dartmouth College Press), Catherine Musemeche MD
The Age of Radiance (Scribner), Craig Nelson
Proof (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), Adam Rogers
The Copernicus Complex (Scientific American/ Farrar, Straus and Giroux), Caleb Scharf
Arrival of the Fittest (Current), Andreas Wagner

PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award for Nonfiction ($10,000): To an author of a distinguished book of general nonfiction possessing notable literary merit and critical perspective and illuminating important contemporary issues which has been published in 2013 or 2014.

JUDGES: Andrew Blechman, Paul Elie, Azadeh Moaveni, Rahna Reiko Rizzuto, and Paul Reyes

LONGLIST:
Our Declaration (Liveright), Danielle Allen
All the Truth Is Out (Alfred A. Knopf), Matt Bai
League of Denial (Crown Archetype), Mark Fainaru-Wada and Steve Fainaru
Five Days at Memorial (Crown), Sheri Fink
The Big Truck That Went By (Palgrave Macmillan), Jonathan M. Katz
This Changes Everything (Simon & Schuster), Naomi Klein
The Bill of the Century (Bloomsbury), Clay Risen
The Impulse Society (Bloomsbury), Paul Roberts
A Chance to Win (Henry Holt and Co.), Jonathan Schuppe
Powers of Two (Eamon Dolan Books), Joshua Wolf Shenk

PEN Open Book Award ($5,000): For an exceptional book-length work of literature by an author of color published in 2014.

JUDGES: R. Erica Doyle, W. Ralph Eubanks, and Chinelo Okparanta

LONGLIST:
An Unnecessary Woman (Grove Press), Rabih Alameddine
Fire Shut Up in My Bones (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), Charles M. Blow
Team Seven (Doubleday), Marcus Burke
Every Day Is for the Thief (Random House), Teju Cole
An Untamed State (Black Cat), Roxane Gay
Streaming (Coffee House Press), Allison Adelle Hedge Coke
A Brief History of Seven Killings (Riverhead Books), Marlon James
Kinder Than Solitude (Random House), Yiyun Li
Citizen (Graywolf Press), Claudia Rankine
The Fateful Apple (Urban Poets and Lyricists), Venus Thrash
The City Son (Soho Press), Samrat Upadhyay

PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for Biography ($5,000): For a distinguished biography published in 2014.

JUDGES: Emily Bernard, Nicholas Fox Weber, and Jon Meacham

LONGLIST:
Updike (Harper), Adam Begley
Isabella (Nan A. Talese), Kirstin Downey
Rebel Yell (Scribner), S. C. Gwynne
The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace (Scribner), Jeff Hobbs
John Quincy Adams (Harper), Fred Kaplan
Strange Glory (Alfred A. Knopf), Charles Marsh
Becoming Richard Pryor (Harper), Scott Saul
The Queen’s Bed (Sarah Crichton Books), Anna Whitelock
Victoria (Penguin Press), A. N. Wilson
Piero’s Light (Pegasus Books), Larry Witham

PEN/ESPN Award for Literary Sports Writing ($5,000): To honor a nonfiction book on the subject of sports published in 2014.

JUDGES: Rich Cohen, George Dohrmann, and Jonathan Mahler

LONGLIST:
Boy on Ice (W. W. Norton & Company), John Branch
Why Football Matters (Penguin Press), Mark Edmundson
Black Noon (Thomas Dunne Books), Art Garner
All Fishermen are Liars (Simon & Schuster), John Gierach
Ping-Pong Diplomacy (Scribner), Nicholas Griffin
Bird Dream (Penguin Press), Matt Higgins
Thrown (Sarabande Books), Kerry Howley
Deep (Eamon Dolan Books), James Nestor
Life Is a Wheel (Scribner), Bruce Weber

PEN Award for Poetry in Translation ($3,000): For a book-length translation of poetry into English published in 2014.

JUDGE: Ana Božičević

LONGLIST:
Sorrowtoothpaste Mirrorcream by Kim Hyesoon (Action Books), translated from the Korean by Don Mee Choi
Love Poems by Bertolt Brecht (Liveright), translated from the German by David Constantine & Tom Kuhn
I Am the Beggar of the World (Farrar, Straus and Giroux), translated from the Pashto by Eliza Griswold
Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz by Juana Inés de la Cruz (W. W. Norton & Company), translated from the Spanish by Edith Grossman
Where Are the Trees Going? by Venus Khoury-Ghata (Curbstone Books), translated from the French by Marilyn Hacker
Breathturn into Timestead by Paul Celan (Farrar, Straus and Giroux), translated from the German by Pierre Joris
Guantanamo by Frank Smith (Les Figues Press), translated from the French by Vanessa Place
Skin by Tone Škrjanec (Tavern Books), translated from the Slovenian by Matthew Rohrer and Ana Pepelnik
Diana’s Tree by Alejandra Pizarnik (Ugly Duckling Presse), translated from the Spanish by Yvette Siegert
Autoepitaph by Reinaldo Arenas (University Press of Florida), translated from the Spanish by Kelly Washbourne

PEN Translation Prize ($3,000): For a book-length translation of prose into English published in 2014.

JUDGES: Heather Cleary, Lucas Klein, Tess Lewis, and Allison Markin Powell

LONGLIST:
Trans-Atlantyk by Witold Gombrowicz (Yale/ Margellos), translated from the Polish by Danuta Borchardt
The Gray Notebook by Josep Pla (New York Review Books), translated from the Catalan by Peter Bush
The Symmetry Teacher by Andrei Bitov (Farrar, Straus and Giroux), translated from the Russian by Polly Gannon
The Master of Confessions by Thierry Cruvellier (Ecco), translated from the French by Alex Gilly
The Man Who Loved Dogs by Leonardo Padura (Farrar, Straus and Giroux), translated from the Spanish by Anna Kushner
I Ching (Viking Books), translated from the Chinese by John Minford
Baboon by Naja Marie Aidt (Two Lines Press), translated from the Danish by Denise Newman
Texas: The Great Theft by Carmen Boullosa (Deep Vellum Publishing), translated from the Spanish by Samantha Schnee
Self-Portrait in Green by Marie NDiaye (Two Lines Press), translated from the French by Jordan Stump
The Woman Who Borrowed Memories by Tove Jansson (New York Review Books), translated from the Swedish by Thomas Teal and Silvester Mazzarella

2015 CAREER ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS

(The following PEN Awards do not have longlists. The winners will be announced on May 13.)

PEN/Fusion Emerging Writers Prize ($10,000): For a promising young writer under the age of 35 for an unpublished work of nonfiction that addresses a global and/or multicultural issue.

JUDGES: John Freeman, Roxane Gay, and Cristina Henríquez

PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater Awards ($7,500 and $2,500): Three awards which honor a Master American Dramatist, American Playwright in Mid-Career, and Emerging American Playwright.

JUDGES: Kathleen Chalfant, Ellen McLaughlin, and Adam Rapp

PEN/Joyce Osterweil Award for Poetry ($5,000): For an emerging American poet showing promise of further literary achievement.

JUDGES: Marie Howe, Mary Szybist, and Craig Morgan Teicher

PEN/Phyllis Naylor Working Writer Fellowship ($5,000): For an author of children’s or young-adult fiction to complete a book-length work-in-progress.

JUDGES: Viola Canales, Selene Castrovilla, and Elizabeth Levy

PEN/ESPN Lifetime Achievement Award for Literary Sports Writing ($5,000): For a writer whose body of work represents an exceptional contribution to the field.

JUDGES: Mike Barnicle, Franklin Foer, and Selena Roberts

PEN/Nora Magid Award for Editing ($2,500): For a magazine editor whose high literary taste has, throughout his or her career, contributed significantly to the excellence of the publication he or she edits.

JUDGES: Christopher Castellani, Carmela Ciuraru, and Bill Clegg

PEN/Ralph Manheim Medal for Translation: For a translator whose career has demonstrated a commitment to excellence through the body of his or her work.

JUDGES: Selected by the PEN Translation Committee

PEN/Heim Translation Fund Grants ($2,000-$4,000): To support the translation of book-length works into English.

JUDGES: Esther Allen, Mitzi Angel, Peter Blackstock, Howard Goldblatt, Sara Khalili, Michael F. Moore*, Declan Spring, and Alex Zucker (*Voting Chair of the PEN/Heim Advisory Board)

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The 2015 PEN Literary Awards are made possible through the generous support of PEN’s many donors: Amazon.com, the family of Robert W. Bingham, Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel and Carl Spielvogel, Bernard Malamud, ESPN, Gay Talese, Gerald Weales, Harrison Ford, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, The Kaplen Foundation, Barbara Kingsolver, Priscilla and Michael Henry Heim, Phyllis Naylor, the Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater, the Estate of Rochelle Ratner, Dr. Edward O. Wilson and the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation, James and Cathy Stone, the family and friends of Ralph Manheim, Jacqueline Bograd Weld and Rodman L. Drake, and Univision.

PEN will begin accepting submissions for its 2016 Awards later this summer. For a list of all 2016 PEN Awards and information about submission guidelines, please visit www.pen.org/awards. For questions about any of the awards, write to [email protected]. For questions about the longlisted titles, upcoming awards announcements, or advertising in the 2015 Ceremony program, please contact Paul W. Morris, PEN’s Director of Literary Programs, at [email protected].

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Founded in 1922, PEN American Center is an association of 4,000 U.S writers working to break down barriers to free expression worldwide. Its distinguished members carry on the achievements in literature and the advancement of human rights of such past members as Langston Hughes, Arthur Miller, Susan Sontag, and John Steinbeck. www.pen.org

 

CONTACT
Paul W. Morris, Director of Literary Programs: 646-779-4824, [email protected]
Sarah Edkins, Communications Manager: 646-779-4830, [email protected]