The PEN Open Book Award invites submissions of book-length writings by authors of color, published in the United States during the current calendar year. The Open Book Award was created by PEN American Center’s Open Book Committee, a group committed to racial and ethnic diversity within the literary and publishing communities. The award confers a $5,000 prize upon an author of color who has not received wide media coverage. U.S. residency or citizenship is not required. Works of fiction, literary nonfiction, biography/memoir and other works of literary character are strongly preferred.