2016 PEN Shortlists Announced

The PEN Literary Awards are sponsored by PEN America. PEN confers an annual monetary award to some of the best writers currently working in the fields of fiction, science writing, essays, sports writing, biography, children’s literature, translation, drama, or poetry.

In concert with their international colleagues, PEN American Center works “to ensure that people everywhere have the freedom to create literature, to convey information and ideas, to express their views, and to make it possible for everyone to access the views, ideas, and literatures of others.”

The shortlist for this year's PEN/Robert W Bingham Prize for Debut Fiction are:

• In the Country: Stories by Mia Alvar
• The Turner House by Angela Flournoy
• Mr. and Mrs. Doctor by Julie Iromuanya
• The Sympathizer: A Novel by Viet Thanh Nguyen
• Mayumi and the Sea of Happiness by Jennifer Tseng

The complete set of shortlists can be found at PEN Awards 2016 Shortlists Announced 

Except in five fields, all winners of the 2016 awards will be announced on March 1. The Debut Fiction, Art of the Essay, Literary Science Writing, and PEN Open Book awards along with the PEN/Fusion Prize will be presented on April 11 during the 2016 PEN Literary Awards Ceremony at The New School in New York City.