# List of PEN literary awards

There are over 145 International PEN centres on the world, some of which hold annual literary awards. The PEN America Literary Awards have been characterized as being among the "major" literary awards in America.

## PEN America

| Award | Description | Founded | Status |
| PEN Award for Poetry in Translation | To honor a poetry translation | 1996 | Active |
| PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award | Established in 2016, this award is designed to honor a writer imprisoned for his or her work. Its predecessor was PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom To Write Award (see below). | 2016 | Active |
| PEN/Bellwether Prize | For a previously unpublished work of fiction that address issues of social justice. | 2000 | Active |
| PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay | For a book of original collected essays | 1990 | Active |
| PEN/Distinguished Leadership Award | Individual award given out in 2018 and 2019, both times to lawyers. In 2018, an entertainment lawyer was honored "for exceptional work in support of PEN America and its mission to defend free expression", and in 2019, a First Amendment lawyer was honored for "for his exceptional work handling high-profile litigation, media relations, and media legal issues, particularly his recent representation of [two] White House correspondent[s]". | 2018 | Active |
| PEN/Edward and Lily Tuck Award for Paraguayan Literature | To honor an author of a major work of Paraguayan literature and the English translator. | 2012 | Active |
| PEN/E. O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award | For writing that exemplifies literary excellence on the subject of physical and biological sciences. | 2011 | Active |
| PEN/ESPN Award for Literary Sports Writing | To honor a nonfiction book about sports. | 2010-2019 | Inactive |
| PEN/ESPN Lifetime Achievement Award for Literary Sports Writing | To honor an author's body of work and long-term contributions to the field of literary sports writing. | 2011-2019 | Inactive |
| PEN/Fusion Emerging Writers Prize | Recognizes a promising young writer of an unpublished work of nonfiction that addresses a global and/or multicultural issue | 2015 | Active |
| PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award | To honor a "distinguished biography possessing notable literary merit which has been published in the United States during the previous calendar year." | 2008 | Active |
| PEN/Jean Stein Book Award | To "a book that has broken new ground and signals strong potential for lasting influence." | 2016 | Active |
| PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award for Nonfiction | To a distinguished book of general nonfiction that possess the qualities of intellectual rigor, perspicuity of expression, and stylistic elegance conspicuous in the writings of author and economist John Kenneth Galbraith. | 2007 | Active |
| PEN/Joyce Osterweil Award for Poetry | In recognition of a book of poetry with high literary character by a new and emerging American poet of any age with the promise of further literary achievement. | 1999-2020 | Inactive |
| PEN/Laura Pels Theater Award | To a Grand Master of American Theater and a playwright in mid-career. | 1998 | Active |
| PEN/Nabokov Award | To writers, principally novelists, "whose works evoke to some measure Nabokov's brilliant versatility and commitment to literature as a search for the deepest truth and the highest pleasure". | 2000–2008; 2017– | Active |
| PEN/Nora Magid Award for Magazine Editing | To "a magazine editor whose high literary standards and taste have, throughout their career, contributed significantly to the excellence of the publication he or she edits." | 1993 | Active |
| PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories | Annual American award given to short stories of exceptional merit. | 1919 | Active |
| PEN Open Book Award | To books published in the United States (but without citizenship or residency requirements) by "authors of color who have not received wide media coverage". | 1991 | Active |
| PEN/Phyllis Naylor Working Writer Fellowship | To a writer of children's or young-adult fiction of high literary caliber "at a crucial moment in their career to complete a book-length work-in-progress." | 2001 | Active |
| PEN/Ralph Manheim Medal for Translation | To a translator "whose career has demonstrated a commitment to excellence through the body of their work". | 1982 | Active |
| PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers | Recognizes 12 emerging fiction writers each year for their debut short story | 2016 | Active |
| PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize | To "exceptionally talented fiction writers whose debut work—a first novel or collection of short stories...represent distinguished literary achievement and suggests great promise." | 2002 | Active |
| PEN/Saul Bellow Award for Achievement in American Fiction | To "a distinguished living American author of fiction whose body of work in English possesses qualities of excellence, ambition, and scale of achievement over a sustained career which place him or her in the highest rank of American literature." | 2007 | Active |
| PEN Translation Fund Grants | Grants are awarded each year to a select number of literary translators | 2003 | Active |
| PEN Translation Prize | To outstanding translations into the English language. | 1963 | Active |
| PEN/Voelcker Award for Poetry | To an American poet whose distinguished and growing body of work to date represents a notable and accomplished presence in American literature. | 1994 | Active |
| PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award | Honours writers anywhere in the world who have fought courageously in the face of adversity for the right to freedom of expression. Succeeded by PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award (see above). | 1987–2015 | Inactive |
| PEN/Steven Kroll Award | "to acknowledge the distinct literary contributions of picture book writers." | 2012–2014 | Inactive |
| PEN/W.G. Sebald Award | To honor a promising writer who has published three works of fiction. | 2010–2011 | Inactive |
| PEN Emerging Writers Awards | To up-and-coming authors whose writing have been featured in distinguished literary journals, but haven't published book-length works. | 2011–2011 | Inactive |
| PEN/Amazon.com Short Story Award | Unpublished writers submit original short story manuscripts. Each manuscript will compete for a $10,000 cash grant and publication at Amazon.com and in The Boston Book Review. Award active for one year. | 2000–2000 | Inactive |
| Architectural Digest Award for Literary Writing on the Visual Arts | For literary writing on the visual arts. Award active for two years. | 2000–2001 | Inactive |
| Gregory Kolovakos Award | To a U.S. literary translator, editor, or critic "whose work, in meeting the challenge of cultural difference, extends Gregory Kolovakos's commitment to the richness of Hispanic literature and to expanding its English-language audience". | 1992–2004 | Inactive |
| Jerard Fund Award | Honors a work in progress of general nonfiction distinguished by high literary quality by a woman at the midpoint in her career. Presented every 2 years. | 2001–2005 | Inactive |
| Martha Albrand Award for the Art of the Memoir | For a first published memoir. | 1998–2006 | Inactive |
| Martha Albrand Award for First Nonfiction | For an American author's first-published book of general nonfiction. | 1989–2006 | Inactive |
| PEN/Katherine Anne Porter First Amendment Award | To a U.S. resident "who has fought courageously, despite adversity, to safeguard the First Amendment right to freedom of expression as it applies to the written word." The award succeeded the PEN/Newman's Own First Amendment Award | 2008–2008 | Inactive |
| PEN/Newman's Own First Amendment Award | To a U.S. resident who "fought courageously, despite adversity, to safeguard the First Amendment right to freedom of expression as it applies to the written word." | 1993–2006 | Inactive |
| Renato Poggioli Translation Award | For a translator at work on an English-language version of Italian literature. | 1991–2000 (?) | Inactive |
| Roger Klein Award for Career Achievement | To a trade book editor every two years for "distinguished editorial achievement." | 1971–2000 (?) | Inactive |
| Roger Klein Award for Editing | An honor "given [every two years] to an outstanding editor in trade hardcover publishing." | 1971–2000 (?) | Inactive |

## PEN/Faulkner Foundation

| Award | Description | Founded | Status |
| PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction | To the authors of the year's best works of fiction by living American citizens. | 1981 | Active |
| PEN/Malamud Award | Honors "excellence in the art of the short story." | 1988 | Active |

## PEN Center USA

| Award | Description | Founded | Status |
| Annual Literary Awards | Awards presented in 12 categories: Lifetime Achievement, Award of Honor, Freedom to Write, First Amendment, Award of Merit, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, Research Nonfiction, Poetry, Children's and Young Adult Literature, Translation, Journalism, Drama, Teleplay, Screenplay, UC Press Exceptional First Book Award. | 2000 | Active |

## PEN New England (today PEN America Boston)

| Award | Description | Founded | Status |
| Laurence L. & Thomas Winship/PEN New England Award | To honor a New England author or book with a New England setting or subject. | 1975 | Active |
| PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel | To a novel or book of short stories by an American author who has not previously published a book of fiction. | 1976 | Active |
| PEN Song Lyrics Award | to a singer songwriter, for Song Lyrics of Literary Excellence | 2012 | Active |
| Vasyl Stus Freedom-to-Write Award | Recognizes a writer persecuted for the peaceful expression of their views and whose courage in the face of censorship and oppression is exemplary. | (?) | Active |
| Susan P. Bloom Children's Book Discovery Award | Given to a New England resident for an unpublished work in one of four categories of children’s literature: picture books, novels, poetry, and nonfiction. | (?) | Active |
| Henry David Thoreau Prize | Awarded annually to a writer demonstrating literary excellence in nature writing. | (?) | Active |
| Friend to Writers Award | To one individual and one organization whose commitment to a culture of literature and the free and open exchange of ideas personifies PEN’s core mission. | (?) | Active |
| Howard Zinn Award | Presented to an American writer for speaking truth to power. | (?) | Active |

## PEN Oakland

| Award | Description | Founded | Status |
| PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Literary Award | In order to "promote works of excellence by writers of all cultural and racial backgrounds and to educate both the public and the media as to the nature of multi-cultural work." | 1989 | Active |
| PEN Oakland/Censorship Award | Honors authors of literature of conscience who may have suffered censorship, efforts to discredit or failure to distribute/review their work based on philosophical or cultural content. | 1997 | Active |
| PEN Oakland/Lockett Lifetime Achievement Award | In honor of PEN Oakland Vice President Reginald Lockett who died in 2008. | 2006 | Active |

## English PEN

| Award | Description | Founded | Status |
| PEN/Pinter Prize | Awarded annually to a British writer or a writer resident in Britain of outstanding literary merit who, in the words of Harold Pinter’s Nobel speech, casts an ‘unflinching, unswerving’ gaze upon the world, and shows a ‘fierce intellectual determination … to define the real truth of our lives and our societies’. | 2009 | Active |
| Golden PEN Award | A Lifetime's Distinguished Service to Literature is presented annually to a British Writer. | 1993 | Active |
| PEN Hessell-Tiltman Prize | Awarded annually for a non-fiction book of specifically historical content. Entrants, which may include first British translations, are to be books of high literary merit – that is, not primarily written for the academic market – and can cover all historical periods up to and including the Second World War. | 2002 | Active |
| PEN/Ackerley Prize | To a literary autobiography of excellence, written by an author of British nationality and published during the preceding year, for which it is felt that J.R. Ackerley would have expressed enthusiasm. | 1982 | Active |
| PEN/Macmillan Silver Pen Award | Awarded annually to a collection of short stories. | 1985–2001(?) | Inactive |

## Irish PEN

| Award | Description | Founded | Status |
| Irish PEN Award | To honour an Irish-born writer who has made an outstanding contribution to Irish Literature. | 1999 | Active |

## Catalan PEN Club

| Award | Description | Founded | Status |
| Free Voice Prize | Is awarded to an author who has suffered imprisonment or persecution because of their writing. | 2010 | Active |

## Portuguese PEN Club

| Award | Description | Founded | Status |
| Portuguese PEN Club Prize | Awards in four categories: Prose Fiction/Novel, Poetry, Essay and Literary Translation. | 1980 | Active |

## International PEN

| Award | Description | Founded | Status |
| Oxfam Novib/PEN Award | To recognise writers who have been persecuted for their work and continue working despite the consequences. | 2001 | Active |
| David T.K. Wong Prize for Short Fiction | Unpublished stories, written in English, submitted through any worldwide PEN center. Awarded bi-annually. | 2000/1 to 2004/5 | Inactive |

## Sydney PEN

| Award | Description | Founded | Status |
| Sydney PEN Award | Presented annually to a Sydney PEN member who has worked especially hard to promote the Centre’s values and the PEN Charter. | 2006 | Active |
| PEN Keneally Award | For recognizing an achievement in promoting freedom of expression, international understanding and access to literature. | 2004 | Active |

## PEN Centre Germany

| Award | Description | Founded | Status |
| Hermann Kesten Prize | Presented annually for outstanding efforts in support of persecuted writers. | 1985 | Active |

## Hungarian PEN Club

| Award | Description | Founded | Status |
| Janus Pannonius International Poetry Prize | Presented to an international poet whose oeuvre fits into the mainstream of European culture. | 2012 | Active |

## Norsk PEN

| Award | Description | Founded | Status |
| Ossietzky Prize | For outstanding achievements within the field of freedom of expression | 2001 | Active |