2023 PEN America Literary Awards Longlists

The 2023 PEN American Literary Award Longlists have been introduced! This yr’s awards will confer $350,000 to greater than 100 writers and translators in eleven completely different classes that embody fiction, nonfiction, poetry, biography, essay, science writing, literature in translation, and extra. The winners might be introduced on the Literary Awards Ceremony on March 2nd at The Town Hall in New York City.

This yr marks the sixtieth anniversary of PEN America’s first literary prize. In PEN America’s announcement of this yr’s longlists, Clarisse Rosaz Shariyf, chief of literary packages, writes that, “For 60 years, writers and translators selected for PEN America’s awards have brought us closer to unfamiliar lives and experiences and opened our minds to ideas and subjects we may not have realized could fascinate and instruct us.” That rings true in my thoughts because the PEN America lists are a number of the most numerous and fascinating to be launched every year. This yr’s honorees are telling highly effective and mandatory tales of displacement and migration, racial justice, struggle, household, identification, and a lot extra.

There had been 1,744 complete entries this yr with half of these on the longlists coming from impartial and college presses. And this yr’s honorees are numerous in a complete host of the way, together with gender, race, sexual orientation, and geography. The PEN Translation Prize was the primary of the prizes to be offered 60 years in the past. This yr’s awards honor translations of books by authors from 20 completely different international locations. Translators working in additional than a dozen languages are represented on the checklist, together with Arabic, Belarusian, Danish, French, Galacian, German, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Persian, Portuguese, and Spanish.

2023 PEN America Literary Awards Longlists

PEN/JEAN STEIN BOOK AWARD ($75,000)

This award is given to a book-length work of any style for its originality, advantage, and influence, which has damaged new floor by reshaping the boundaries of its kind and signaling robust potential for lasting affect. And this yr’s judges are Joan Naviyuk Kane, Lauren Groff, and Madeleine Thien.

My Pinup by Hilton Als (New Directions)

Acting Class by Nick Drnaso (Drawn & Quarterly)

If I Survive You by Jonathan Escoffery (MCD)

Dr. No by Percival Everett (Graywolf Press)

Very Cold People by Sarah Manguso (Hogarth Press)

Milkweed Smithereens by Bernadette Mayer (New Directions)

If an Egyptian Cannot Speak English by Noor Naga (Graywolf Press)

The White Mosque by Sofia Samatar (Catapult)

Customs by Solmaz Sharif (Graywolf Press)

Night of the Living Rez by Morgan Talty (Tin House Books)

PEN Open Book Award ($10,000)

This award is given to an distinctive book-length work of any literary style by an creator of shade. This yr’s judges are Jenn Baker, Maurice Carlos Ruffin, Nina McConigley, and Erika L. Sanchez.

Golden Ax by Rio Cortez (Penguin Books)

Shutter by Ramona Emerson (Soho Crime)

The Black Period by Hafizah Augustus Geter (Random House)

The Listening Skin: Poems by Glenis Redmond (Four Way Books)

Gorgoneion by Casey Rocheteau (Noemi Press)

All the Flowers Kneeling by Paul Tran (Penguin Books)

The Town of Babylon by Alejandro Varela (Astra House)

Making Love with the Land by Joshua Whitehead (University of Minnesota Press)

Last Summer on State Street by Toya Wolfe (William Morrow & Company)

Solito by Javier Zamora (Hogarth Press)

PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Short Story Collection ($25,000)

This award is given to an creator whose debut assortment of quick tales represents distinguished literary achievement and suggests nice promise for future work. And this yr’s judges are Nafissa Thompson Spires, Chris Gonzalez, and Susan Muaddi Darraj.

Seeking Fortune Elsewhere by Sindya Bhanoo (Catapult)

Rainbow Rainbow by Lydia Conklin (Catapult)

Is This How You Eat a Watermelon? by Zein El-Amine (Radix Media)

If I Survive You by Jonathan Escoffery (MCD)

A Down Home Meal for These Difficult Times by Meron Hadero (Restless Books)

A Calm & Normal Heart by Chelsea T. Hicks (The Unnamed Press)

What We Fed to the Manticore by Talia Lakshmi Kolluri (Tin House Books)

The Anchored World by Jasmine Sawers (Rose Metal Press)

Night of the Living Rez by Morgan Talty (Tin House Books)

Manywhere by Morgan Thomas (MCD)

PEN/HEMINGWAY AWARD FOR DEBUT NOVEL ($10,000)

This award is given to a debut novel of remarkable literary advantage by an American creator. And this yr’s judges are Gina Apostol, Oscar Cásares, and Matthew Salesses.

A Tiny Upward Shove by Melissa Chadburn (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan (Simon & Schuster)

Activities of Daily Living by Lisa Hsiao Chen (W. W. Norton & Company)

Shutter by Ramona Emerson (Soho Crime)

Nuclear Family by Joseph Han (Counterpoint)

Calling For a Blanket Dance by Oscar Hokeah (Algonquin Books)

Nightcrawling by Leila Mottley (Alfred A. Knopf)

How High We Go within the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu (William Morrow & Company)

Little Rabbit by Alyssa Songsiridej (Bloomsbury Publishing)

Which Side Are You On by Ryan Lee Wong (Catapult)

PEN/VOELCKER AWARD FOR POETRY COLLECTION

This award is given to a poet whose distinguished assortment of poetry represents a notable and achieved literary presence. This yr’s judges are Kimiko Hahn, Molly McCully Brown, Allison Rollins, and Willie Perdomo.

Smoking the Bible by Chris Abani (Copper Canyon Press)

[To] The Last [Be] Human by Jorie Graham (Copper Canyon Press)

Maafa by Harmony Holiday (Fence Books)

The Hurting Kind by Ada Limon (Milkweed Editions)

To The Realization of Perfect Helplessness by Robin Coste Lewis (Penguin Random House)

Cain Named The Animal by Shane Mcrae (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

Pink Waves by Sawako Nakayasu (OmniDawn)

blood snow by Dg Nanouk Okpik (Wave Poetry)

Then The War by Carl Phillips (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

Best Barbarian by Roger Reeves (W. W. Norton & Company)

PEN AWARD FOR POETRY IN TRANSLATION ($3,000)

This award is given to a book-length translation of poetry from any language into English. And this yr’s judges are Baba Badji, Mona Kareem, and Julia Leverone.

The Loose Pearl by Paula Ilabaca Nuñez (Coimpress)
Translated from Spanish by Daniel Borzutzky

No Way within the Skin with out This Bloody Embrace by Jean D’Amérique (Ugly Duckling Presse)
Translated from French by Conor Bracken

The Threshold by Iman Mersal (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
Translated from Arabic by Robyn Creswell

claus and the scorpion by Lara Dopazo Ruibal (Coimpress)
Translated from Galician by Laura Cesarco Eglin

Dolore Minimo by Giovanna Cristina Vivinetto (Saturnalia Books)
Translated from Italian by Gabriella Fee and Dora Malech

Let Us Believe within the Beginning of the Cold Season by Forough Farrokhzad (New Directions Publishing)
Translated from Persian by Elizabeth T. Gray, Jr.

distant transit by Maja Haderlap (Archipelago Books)
Translated from German by Tess Lewis

Motherfield by Julia Cimafiejeva (Deep Vellum Publishing)
Translated from Belarusian by Valzhyna Mort and Hanif Abdurraqib

The Rust of History by Sotero Rivera Avilés (Circumference)
Translated from Spanish by Raquel Salas Rivera

Adela Zamudio: Selected Poetry & Prose by Adela Zamudio (Fuente Fountain Books)
Translated from Spanish by Lynette Yetter

PEN TRANSLATION PRIZE ($3,000)

This award is given to a book-length translation of prose from any language into English. And this yr’s judges are Layla Benitez-James, Slava Faybysh, Sora Kim-Russell, and Elton Uliana.

All Your Children, Scattered by Beata Umybyeyi Mairesse (Europa Editions)
Translated from French by Alison Anderson

The Tatami Galaxy by Tomihiko Morimi (HarperVia)
Translated from Japanese by Emily Balistrieri

Jawbone by Mónica Ojeda (Coffee House Press)
Translated from Spanish by Sarah Booker

Call Me Cassandra by Marcial Gala (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
Translated from Spanish by Anna Kushner

Moldy Strawberries by Caio Fernando Abreu (Archipelago Books)
Translated from Portuguese by Bruna Dantas Lobato

Toño the Infallible by Evelio Rosero (New Directions Publishing)
Translated from Spanish by Victor Meadowcroft and Anne McLean

Ghost Town by Kevin Chen (Europa Editions)
Translated from Taiwanese by Darryl Sterk

People from Bloomington by Budi Darma (Penguin Classics)
Translated from Indonesian by Tiffany Tsao

A Line within the World: A Year on the North Sea Coast by Dorthe Nors (Graywolf Press)
Translated from by Caroline Waight

Pina by Titaua Peu (Restless Books)
Translated from French by Jeffrey Zuckerman

PEN/DIAMONSTEIN-SPIELVOGEL AWARD FOR THE ART OF THE ESSAY ($15,000)

This award is given to a seasoned author whose assortment of essays is an growth on their corpus of labor and preserves the distinguished artwork type of the essay. And this yr’s judges are Jill Lepore, John McWhorter, and Simon Winchester.

I’ll Show Myself Out by Jessi Klein (HarperCollins)

Translating Myself and Others by Jhumpa Lahiri (Princeton University Press)

A Place within the World by Frances Mayes (Crown)

Still No Word From You by Peter Orner (Catapult)

Animal Bodies: On Death, Desire, and Other Difficulties by Suzanne Roberts (University of Nebraska Press)

Happy-Go-Lucky by David Sedaris (Little, Brown and Company)

Small Acreages by Georgia Green Stamper (Shadelandhouse Modern Press)

Streaming Now: Postcards from the Thing That Is Happening by Laurie Stone (Dottir Press)

A Left-Handed Woman by Judith Thurman (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

The Green Hour: A Natural History of Home by Alison Townsend (The University of Wisconsin Press)

PEN/E.O. WILSON LITERARY SCIENCE WRITING AWARD

This award is given to a piece that exemplifies literary excellence with regards to the bodily or organic sciences and communicates advanced scientific ideas to a lay viewers. And this yr’s judges are Tim Folger, David Hu, and Emily Raboteau.

Different: Gender Through the Eyes of a Primatologist by Frans de Waal (W. W. Norton & Company)

Vagina Obscura by Rachel E. Gross (W. W. Norton & Company)

Orchid Muse by Erica Hannickel (W. W. Norton & Company)

Sounds Wild and Broken by David George Haskell (Viking)

A Molecule Away from Madness by Sara Manning Peskin (W. W. Norton & Company)

The Wine-Dark Sea Within: A Turbulent History of Blood by Dhun Sethna (Basic Books)

Big Bang of Numbers by Manil Suri (W. W. Norton & Company)

Heartbreak by Florence Williams (W. W. Norton & Company)

An Immense World by Ed Yong (Random House)

Dancing Cockatoos by Marlene Zuk (W. W. Norton & Company)

PEN/JACQUELINE BOGRAD WELD AWARD FOR BIOGRAPHY ($5,000)

This award is given to a biography of remarkable literary, narrative, and inventive advantage, primarily based on scrupulous analysis. And this yr’s judges are Manu Bhagavan and Silvana Paternostro.

An American Martyr in Persia: The Epic Life and Tragic Death of Howard Baskerville by Reza Aslan (W. W. Norton& Company)

Civil Rights Queen: Constance Baker Motley and the Struggle for Equality by Tomiko Brown-Nagin (Pantheon)

Dilla Time: The Life and Afterlife of J Dilla, the Hip-Hop Producer Who Reinvented Rhythm by Dan Charnas (MCD)

The Adventures of Herbie Cohen by Rich Cohen (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

G-Man: J. Edgar Hoover and the Making of the American Century by Beverly Gage (Viking)

The Hyacinth Girl: T. S. Eliot’s Hidden Muse by Lyndall Gordon (W. W. Norton & Company)

Guru to the World: The Life and Legacy of Vivekananda by Ruth Harris (Belknap Press of Harvard University Press)

Mr. B: George Balanchine’s twentieth Century by Jennifer Homans (Random House)

The Pope at War: The Secret History of Pius XII, Mussolini, and Hitler by David I. Kertzer (Random House)

Saxophone Colossus: The Life and Music of Sonny Rollins by Aidan Levy (Hachette Books)

PEN/JOHN KENNETH GALBRAITH AWARD FOR NONFICTION

This award is given to a distinguished ebook of common nonfiction possessing notable literary advantage and demanding perspective that illuminates necessary modern points. And this yr’s judges are Sanjiv Bhattacharya, Geraldo Cadava, and Sofija Stefanovic.

The Naked Don’t Fear the Water: An Underground Journey with Afghan Refugees by Matthieu Aikins (HarperCollins)

Tree Thieves: Crime and Survival in North America’s Woods by Lyndsie Bourgon (Little, Brown and Company)

After the Ivory Tower Falls: How College Broke the American Dream and Blew Up Our Politics–And How to Fix It by Will Bunch (HarperCollins)

The Inheritors: An Intimate Portrait of South Africa’s Racial Reckoning by Eve Fairbanks (Simon & Schuster)

Bad Mexicans: Race, Empire, and Revolution within the Borderlands by Kelly Lytle Hernandez (W. W. Norton & Company)

South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation by Imani Perry (HarperCollins)

The War of Nerves: Inside the Cold War Mind by Martin Sixsmith (Pegasus Books)

The Viral Underclass: The Human Toll When Inequality and Disease Collide by Steven W. Thrasher (Celadon Books)

The Great Stewardess Rebellion: How Women Launched a Workplace Revolution at 30,000 Feet by Nell McShane Wulfhart (Random House)

Solito by Javier Zamora (Random House)

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Looking for much more nice suggestions? Check out final yr’s winners.