National Book Awards

PEN America Literary Awards

Since 1963, the PEN America Literary Awards have honored many of the most outstanding voices in literature across diverse genres, including fiction, poetry, science writing, essays, sports writing, biography, children’s literature, and drama. With the help of our partners, PEN America confers over 20 distinct awards, fellowships, grants and prizes each year, awarding nearly $350,000 to writers and translators. 

2018 Winners & Awards won:

Love - Hanne ØrstavikTranslation Prize
Heads of the Colored People - Nafissa Thompson-SpiresOpen Book Award
Friday Black - Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
Jean Stein Book Award
Beyond the Pale (work-in-progress) - Loida Maritza Pérez
Jean Stein Grant for Literary Oral History
Against Memoir - Michelle TeaArt of the Essay Award
Jonah Mixon - WebsterAward for Poetry
A Certain Plume - Henri Michaux
Award for Poetry in Translation
Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter - Ben GoldfarbLiterary Science Writing
The Circuit: A Tennis Odyssey - Rowan RicardoLiterary Sports Writing
Jackie "Mac" MacmullanESPN Lifetime Achievement Award for Literary Sports Writing 
Alexandra WatsonNora Magid Award for Editing
In a Day’s Work - Bernice Yeung
John Kenneth Galbraith Award for Nonfiction
Looking for Lorraine: The Radiant and Radical Life of Lorraine Hansberry - Imani PerryJacqueline Bograd Weld Award
Sandra CisnerosNabokov Award
If You Knew (work-in-progress) - Katherine Seligman
Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction
Womb Talk (work-in-progress) - Noni Carter
Phyllis Naylor Working Writer Fellowship
Larissa FasthorseTheater Award
Bring Out the Dog - Will MackinRobert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Short Story Collection
The Rickies (Nimrod Journal) - Sarah CurryRobert J. Dau Short Story
The Manga Artist (The Iowa Review) - Doug HendersonRobert J. Dau Short Story
Mother and Child (The Sun) - Laura FreudigRobert J. Dau Short Story
Good Hope (Auburn Avenue) - Enyeribe Ibegwan
Robert J. Dau Short Story
Cicadas and the Dead Chairman (Epiphany) - Pingmei Lan
Robert J. Dau Short Story
Without a Big One (Kweli Journal) - John Paul InfanteRobert J. Dau Short Story
Last Days, Part 1 (Black Warrior Review) - Tamiko Beyer
Robert J. Dau Short Story
Tornado Season (Alaska Quarterly Review) - Marilyn Manolakas
Robert J. Dau Short Story
Bad Northern Women (Conjunctions) - Erin Singer
Robert J. Dau Short Story
The Unsent Letters of Blaise and Jacqueline Pascal (Conjunctions) - Kelsey Peterson
Robert J. Dau Short Story
Today, You’re a Black Revolutionary (The Rumpus) - Jade Jones
Robert J. Dau Short Story
Vain Beasts (Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet) - A. B. Young
Robert J. Dau Short Story


 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction

The Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction were established in 2012 to recognize the best fiction and nonfiction books for adult readers published in the U.S. in the previous year. They are named in honor of nineteenth-century American philanthropist Andrew Carnegie in recognition of his deep belief in the power of books and learning to change the world.  The award is supported by the Carnegie Corporation of New York and administered by the American Library Association (ALA). Booklist and the Reference and User Services Association (RUSA) cosponsor the awards.

2019 Winners:Andrew Carnegie Medal 2019

  • 2019 Fiction Awarded to: Rebecca Makkai - The Great Believers 
  • 2019 Nonfiction Awarded to: Kiese Laymon - Heavy: An American Memoir