2026 PEN America Finalists

PEN America announced the finalists for ten literary awards. The awards will confer nearly $350,000 to writers and translators. Categories include fiction, poetry, essay, and translation. Works of genre interest are among the finalists. One award is the PEN/Jean Stein Book Award ($75,000). Another is the PEN Open Book Award ($10,000). There is also the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Short Story Collection ($25,000). Another award is the PEN Translation Prize ($3,000). The PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay is also up for grabs ($15,000). The Literary Awards Ceremony will be held on March 31, 2026.

  • PEN America announced the 2026 finalists for ten literary awards on January 29, 2026.
  • The awards “will confer nearly $350,000 to writers and translators.
  • Spanning fiction, poetry, essay, translation, and more, these Longlisted books are dynamic, diverse, and thought-provoking examples of literary excellence.”
📚 BookAddict’s Take: If you follow literary prizes, this is a good list to check out for new works and authors to explore.

Source: Locus Magazine  | 
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