pen president peter godwin and awards committee chair ... · awards committee chair alice quinn...
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2014 LITERARY AWARDS
CEREMONY
PEN President PETER GODWIN and Awards Committee Chair ALICE QUINN
present the
Master of CeremoniesBen Greenman
MONDAYSEPTEMBER 29
6:30 PM
THE NEW SCHOOLTHE AUDITORIUM 66 WEST 12TH ST
For a complete list of authors and artists, visit www.pen-auction.org
DECEMBER 2, 2014
An historic auction of annotated first edition books and original artwork by today’s leading authors and
artists to benefit PEN American Center
PEN wishes to thank tonight’s presenters who
represent PEN’s diverse membership of novelists, poets,
translators, journalists, and literary citizens, as well as all of
this year’s dedicated judges. To read the judges’ full citations
for this year’s winners, please visit PEN.org.
CLOSING REMARKS
Suzanne NosselExecutive Director
PEN American Center
WELCOME REMARKS
Luis JaramilloDirector, School of Writing
The New School
OPENING ADDRESS
Peter GodwinPresident
PEN American Center
Natasha WimmerTranslation Awards
Tiphanie YaniqueChildren’s Books and
Open Book Awards
Andrew SolomonScience and
Essay Awards
Barbara KingsolverSocially Engaged
Fiction Award
Joseph O’NeillSports Writing Awards
Elizabeth AlexanderBiography and Poetry Awards
Elizabeth StrebTheater Awards
Zadie SmithLifetime Achievement in Fiction Award
Louise ErdrichDebut Fiction Award
MASTER OF CEREMONIES
Ben Greenman
PRESENTERS
2014 LITERARY AWARDS
CEREMONY
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a r c h i p e l a g o b o o k swww.archipelagobooks.org • www.facebook.com/archipelagobooks • www.twitter.com/archipelagobks
distributed to the trade by Random House: www.randomhouse.biz
Poems by Hugo Claus
Even Now
Translated from the Flemish by David Colmer
a r c h i p e l a g o b o o k s
Ya n n i s R i t s o s
Diaries of Exile
a r c h i p e l a g o b o o k s
Translated from the Greek by Karen Emmerich and Edmund Keeley
Its power comes from the way it blends the diaristic with the poetic ... There is no pity in the book, nor resignation, despite the circumstance. That clarity ... has to do with giving witness, with the idea of poetry as testimony. Again and again, Ritsos records the smallest moments, as if were he to leave out a single detail of his incarceration, the whole experi-ence might disappear. This is what poetry can do: preserve the moments that would otherwise be forgotten, and in so doing, recreate the world.
David Ulin, The Los Angeles Times
Claus’s work has been called a cosmos in its own right ... Yet this Promethean artist with his Burgundian exuberance and prolixity ... is, like W. B. Yeats, capable of stunning simplicity.
Paul Vincent, The Independent
We would like to congratul ate our transl ators. . .
David Colmer, for Even Now: Poems by Hugo Claus
Edmund Keeley and Karen Emmerich, for Diaries of Exile
N E W D I R E C T I O N S would like to congratulate
our prizewinning translators
Kurt BealsThe Country Road Regina Ullmann
Michael HofmannThe Emperor’s Tomb
Joseph Roth
Yvette SiegertExtracting the Stone of Madness
Alejandra Pizarnik
ndbooks.com
Shortlisted for the PENPoetry in Translation Award
“A vital addition to the contemporary poetry canon, a collection as interesting as it is touching that will inevitably be remembered for years to come.”—Will Evans, Three Percent
Congratulations to Andrew Wachtel and Anzhelina Polonskaya from Zephyr Press
zephyrpress.org
PENad.indd 1 9/18/14 11:28 PM
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translation
PEN/EDWARD AND LILY TUCK AWARD FOR PARAGUAYAN LITERATURE
To a living author of a major work of Paraguayan literature
not yet translated into English.
WINNER
Raúl Silva AlonsoEn Tacumbú(El Lector)
“ Alonso’s micro-fictions are unpredictable, vivid and radically unlike anything else being written in his country. . . . En Tacumbú is a book of great humanity
and of mysterious moments of grace. ”—From the Judges’ citation: Idra Novey, Yvette Siegert, and Mark Statman
PEN AWARD FOR POETRY IN TRANSLATION
For a book-length translation of poetry into English
published in 2013.
WINNER
Karen Emmerich & Edmund KeeleyDiaries of Exile
by Yannis Ritsos(Archipelago)
“ Stellar translators Karen Emmerich and Edmund Keeley take these poems from their limited context and
bring out a universal predicament, that is, writing from an existence of harshness and hope.
I feel privileged to hold these. ”—From the Judge’s citation: Kimiko Hahn
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congratulates
Joanne Turnbull and Nikolai Formozov translators of
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A CORPSEby Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky
on winning the PEN Translation Prize
www.nyrb.com
PEN TRANSLATION PRIZE
For a book-length translation of prose into English
published in 2013.
WINNER
Joanne Turnbull & Nikolai FormozovAutobiography of a Corpse
by Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky(New York Review Books)
“ Joanne Turnbull, in collaboration with Nikolai Formozov, has produced a compellingly readable
translation that is also inventive, that improvises when necessary and consistently insinuates a strangeness and beauty of other worlds, both literary and real. ”—From the Judge’s citation: Ann Goldstein, Becka McKay,
and Katherine Silver
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translation
PEN/HEIM TRANSLATION FUND GRANTS
To support the translation of book-length works into English.
JUDGES
Esther Allen, Barbara Epler, Sara Khalili, Michael F. Moore*, Lorin Stein, Lauren Wein
(*Voting Chair of the PEN/Heim Translation Fund Advisory Council)
WINNERS
Kurt BealsThe Country Road
by Regina Ullmannfrom the German
(Forthcoming from New Directions)
Eric M. B. BeckerSelected Stories
by Mia Coutofrom the Portuguese
(Available for publication)
David BurnettThe American Storiesby Johannes Urzidil
from the German(Available for publication)
Janet HongThe Impossible Fairytale
by Han Yujoofrom the Korean
(Available for publication)
Paul HooverNightmare Running on a Meadow of Absolute Light
by María Barandafrom the Spanish
(Available for publication)
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Andrea G. LabingerGesell Dome
by Guillermo Saccomannofrom the Spanish
(Available for publication)
Sergey LevchinCommentaires
by Chris Markerfrom the French
(Available for publication)
Zachary LudingtonPixel Flesh (Carne de Píxel) by Agustín Fernández Mallo
from the Spanish(Available for publication)
J. Bret ManeyManhattan Tropics
by Guillermo Cotto-Thornerfrom the Spanish
(Available for publication)
Philip Metres & Dimitri PsurtsevI Burned at the Feastby Arseny Tarkovsky
from the Russian(Forthcoming from Cleveland State University Poetry Center)
Sayuri OkamotoDear Monster: the Naked Poetry of Gozo Yoshimasu
by Gozo Yoshimasufrom the Japanese
(Available for publication)
Benjamin PaloffThe Game for Realby Richard Weiner
from the Czech(Forthcoming from Two Lines Press)
May 5, 2015SAVE THE DATE
PEN Literary
Gala
www.pen.org/pengala2015
translation
Miranda Richmond MouillotThe Kites
by Romain Garyfrom the French
(Available for publication)
Thom SatterleeNew and Selected Poetry
by Per Aage Brandtfrom the Danish
(Available for publication)
Sholeh WolpéThe Conference of Birds (Man-tiq ut-tayr)
by Farid ud-Din Attarfrom the Persian
(Available for publication)
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2014 PEN Open Book Award
ISBN 978-1-936797-19-6 Paperback, $16.95 www.tupelopress.org
Tupelo Press congratulates Ruth Ellen Kocher, maker of transcendent poems and a gift to contemporary letters!
t i m o t h y
m c s w e e n e y ’ sc h u r c h o u t f i t i s t h e s a m e a s h i s
e l e c t i o n o u t f i t .
www.mcsweeneys.net
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children’s literature
PEN/PHYLLIS NAYLOR WORKING WRITER FELLOWSHIP
To an author of children’s or young-adult fiction, who has
published at least two books, to complete a book-length
work-in-progress.
WINNER
Linda Oatman HighThe Taste of Elephant Tears(Available for publication)
“ There have been several elephants in children’s literature: Kipling’s Elephant’s Child, de Brunhoff’s Babar and Dr. Seuss’s Horton to name just three. . . .
We predict that before long Queenie Grace will be as loved by young readers as the elephants who
preceded her. ”—From the Judges’ citation: Kathi Appelt, Johanna Hurwitz, and Padma Venkatraman
PEN/STEVEN KROLL AWARD FOR PICTURE BOOK WRITING
To a writer for an exceptional story illustrated in a picture book
published in 2013.
WINNER
Bil LeppThe King of Little Things
(Peachtree Publishers)
“ With sprightly humor and clever wordplay, Bil Lepp tells an engaging tale of a king who affirms the notion of simplicity. Readers will delight in the comic
rhymes and inspired vocabulary. ”—From the Judges’ citation: Mac Barnett, Ted Lewin, and Elizabeth Winthrop
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Elyse Cheney Literary Associates
proudly congratulates
James WolcottWinner of
the PEN/Diamonstein -Spielvogel
Award for the Art of the Essay
MCCORMICK & WILLIAMS and PENGUIN PRESS congratulate
JON MOOALLEM
“ Ambitious and fascinating . . . [Mooallem] seamlessly blends reportage from the front
lines of wildlife conservation with a lively
cultural history of animals in America. . . .
This is not a book about wilderness; it’s a book about us.”
—The New York Times Book Review
Finalist for the PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary
Science Writing Award
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books
PEN OPEN BOOK AWARD
For an exceptional book-length work of literature by an author
of color published in 2013.
WINNERS
Ruth Ellen Kocherdomina Un/blued
(Tupelo Press)
“ Kocher’s formal innovations reflect unexpected angles on her subject, and surprise us everywhere—in architectural details, in questions of translation, in the dilemmas of sexual intimacy. These repeating images
and themes echo through the white space of these poems, creating resonances that are both rigorous
and sensuous. ”—From the Judges’ citation: Catherine Chung, Randa Jarrar, and Monica Youn
Nina McConigleyCowboys and East Indians
(FiveChapters Books)
“ McConigley has shaped a work destined to be a classic, like Sherwood Anderson’s Winesburg, Ohio. Its
characters—Indians in America, Americans in India, and Indian-Americans in both places—echo Vonnegut’s
statement that ‘Out on the edge you see all kinds of things you can’t see from the center.’ It’s electrifying to
be out on the edge with this book. ”—From the Judges’ citation: Catherine Chung, Randa Jarrar, and Monica Youn
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“Moving and inspiring…. Hart’s memoir, especially his description of meeting his now-adult son, is deeply honest.”
—Boston Globe
CONGRATULATES
Dr. Carl HartWinner of the PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award
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books
PEN/E. O. WILSON LITERARY SCIENCE WRITING AWARD
For a book of literary nonfiction on the subject of the physical
or biological sciences published in 2013.
WINNER
Dr. Carl HartHigh Price(Harper)
“ Dr. Hart’s unflinching view of his past, along with his rigorous academic inquiry, make for a document of innovative thinking and profound humanity. Written with clarity, honesty, and courage, High Price offers a compelling argument to reconsider this country’s
policies on drug use . . . ”—From the Judges’ citation: Akiko Busch, Rivka Galchen, and Eileen Pollack
C O N G R A T U L A T I O N S
SCOTT ANDERSONAuthor of Lawrence in Arabia
Finalist for the PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for Biography
JAMES WOLCOTTAuthor of Critical Mass
Awarded the PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay
HANYA YANAGIHARAAuthor of The People in the Trees
Finalist for the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for Best Debut Novel
D O U B L E D A Y A N C H O R B O O K S
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We Proudly Support the
PEN LITERARY AWARDSAnd Congratulate Our Clients
KEVIN FEDARKO 2014 Finalist for the PEN/ESPN Award For Literary Sports Writing The Emerald Mile
DEBORAH SOLOMON 2014 Finalist for the PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for Biography American Mirror: The Life and Art ofNorman Rockwell
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books
PEN/DIAMONSTEIN-SPIELVOGEL AWARD FOR THE ART OF THE ESSAY
For a book of essays published in 2013 that exemplifies the
dignity and esteem the essay form imparts to literature.
WINNER
James WolcottCritical Mass(Doubleday)
“ It is difficult to know what to admire more, Wolcott’s panoramic and encyclopedic variety . . . or the precise
structuring of individual sentences that can be Swiftian in their tendency to go on and on and be chock-full of names, places, put-downs, bric-a-brac, all wrapped in a contagious pleasure in the fecundity of language. ”—From the Judges’ citation: Geoff Dyer, Stanley Fish, Ariel Levy,
and Cheryl Strayed
Scribner congratulates
Kevin FedarkoAuthor of The Emerald Mile
Shortlisted for the PEN/ESPN Award for Literary Sports Writing
“An instant classic of adventure literature.”
—Hampton Sides, editor at large at Outside magazine
SimonandSchuster.com
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F I N A L I S T F O R T H E P E N / R O B E R T W. B I N G H A M P R I Z E
S H O R T L I S T E D F O R T H E 2 0 1 4P E N / E . O . W I L S O N
L I T E R A R Y S C I E N C E W R I T I N G A WA R D
L O N G L I S T E D F O R T H E2 0 1 4 P E N / E S P N A WA R D
F O R L I T E R A R Y S P O R T S W R I T I N G
C O N G R AT U L AT I O N S T O O U R A U T H O R S F O R T H E I R
O U T S TA N D I N G L I T E R A R Y A C H I E V E M E N T
W I N N E R O F T H E2 0 1 4 P E N / E S P N A WA R D F O R
L I T E R A R Y S P O R T S W R I T I N G
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books
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PEN/BELLWETHER PRIZE FOR SOCIALLY ENGAGED FICTION
To an author of an unpublished novel that addresses issues
of social justice. The prize also includes a publishing contract
with Algonquin Books.
WINNER
Ron ChildressAnd West Is West
“ And West Is West reveals how the lower-order participants in corrupt systems take the fall when things go badly. It’s about the impossibility of steering clear of corruption both on Wall Street and in the military. It is not just a look at an America in crisis; it is also a story
of love, loss and hope. ”—From the Judges’ citation: Terry McMillan, Nancy Pearl, and Kathy Pories
saïd sayrafiezadeh
RANDOM HOUSE
PROUDLY CONGRATULATES
PEN/ROBERT W. BINGHAM
PRIZE
FINALIST FOR THE
The Dial Press www.thedialpress.com
author of
BRIEF ENCOUNTERS WITH THE ENEMY
© B
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Winners of the PEN/ESPN Award for Literary Sports Writing for their groundbreaking
book,
LEAGUE OF DENIAL
WLWaxman LeavellL I T E R A RY A G E N C Y
CONGRATULATIONS TO STEVE FAINARU AND
MARK FAINARU-WADA
WLLA PEN ad.indd 1 9/2/14 6:08 PM
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www.fsgbooks.com
Farrar, StrauS and Girouxcongratulates
Frank Bidartwinner of the 2014
PEN/Voelcker Award for Poetry
Linda LeaveLLHolding On Upside Down
winner of the 2014
PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for Biography
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books
PEN/ESPN AWARD FOR LITERARY SPORTS WRITING
To honor a nonfiction book on the subject of sports
published in 2013.
WINNER
Mark Fainaru-Wada & Steve FainaruLeague of Denial
(Crown Archetype)
“ League of Denial is such a compelling and important book—one the National Football League fervently hopes you never read. . . . With exhaustive
reporting and brilliant prose, the authors also expose the unseemly tactics of competing medical entities
who jockey for the right to study the brains of deceased NFL players, often within hours of their passing. ”—From the Judges’ citation: Joel Drucker, Chad Harbach,
and Jackie MacMullan
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congratulates
S H A W N V E S T A LG O D F O R S A K E N I D A H O
Shortlisted for the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize
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PEN/JACQUELINE BOGRAD WELD AWARD FOR BIOGRAPHY
For a distinguished biography published in 2013.
WINNER
Linda LeavellHolding On Upside Down(Farrar, Straus & Giroux)
“ One could say of Leavell’s lucid, compelling achievement what Moore wrote of her own:
If you will tell me why the fen appears impassable, I then
will tell you why I think that I can get across it, if I try. ”—From the Judges’ citation: James Atlas, Lisa Cohen,
and Wendy Gimbel
books
Z A C H A R Y S H U S T E R H A R M S W O R T HC O N G R A T U L A T E S
A N T H O N Y M A R R A
F I N A L I S T F O R T H E
P E N /R O B E R T W . B I N G H A M A W A R D
h o g a r t h
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Little, Brown and CompanySalutes our PEN Literary Award Nominees
PAUL BOGARD
The End of Night
(PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award)
NICHOLAS DAWIDOFF
Collision Low Crossers
(PEN/ESPN Award for Literary Sports
Writing)
DAVID SEDARIS Let’s Explore
Diabetes with Owls
(PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay)
© K
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© P
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Little, Brown and Company | Back Bay Books | Hachette Book Grouplittlebrown.com
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books
PEN/ROBERT W. BINGHAM PRIZE
To an author whose debut work—a first novel or collection
of short stories published in 2013—represents distinguished
literary achievement and suggests great promise. Winner will
be announced during the Awards Ceremony.
FINALISTS
Anthony MarraA Constellation of Vital Phenomena
(Hogarth)
Saïd SayrafiezadehBrief Encounters With the Enemy
(The Dial Press)
Ian StanselEverybody’s Irish
(FiveChapters Books)
Shawn VestalGodforsaken Idaho
(Little A/New Harvest)
Hanya YanagiharaThe People in the Trees
(Doubleday)
JUDGES
Charles BockJonathan DeeFiona Maazel
Karen Shepard
PEN joins the judges in congratulating all the finalists being recognized for this literary achievement. To read the judges’
citation for the winner, please visit PEN.org/awards, where you can read excerpts from all of the finalists’ works as well
as interviews with the authors.
The Renée ZuckeRbRoT LiTeRaRy agency congRaTuLaTes shawn VesTaL
on being named a finaLisT foR The 2014 Pen/RobeRT w. bingham PRiZe.
Thank you PEN for showcasing new and vital writing from the United States and around the world, and for promoting literary citizenship.
Photo by Dan Pelle.
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PEN/ESPN LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD FOR LITERARY SPORTS WRITING
To a writer whose body of work represents an exceptional
contribution to the field.
WINNER
Dave Anderson
“ For more than half a century, Dave Anderson waded into the hurly-burly of sportswriting with quiet dignity and a true craftsman’s regard for the language.
You didn’t read him for bombast or half-cocked opinion, you read him because, quite simply, he knew
whereof he wrote. ”—From the Judges’ citation: Kostya Kennedy, David Rosenthal, and John Schulian
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career achievement
PEN/VOELCKER AWARD FOR POETRY
To a poet whose distinguished and growing body of work
to date represents a notable and accomplished presence in
American literature.
WINNER
Frank Bidart
“ No poet of our time has so embodied conflict, creating living expressions of a consciousness moving
through guilts and unmastered desires without resorting to easy resolutions. . . . Bidart is an absolutely essential poet on the current American scene and the legacy of his original, consistently powerful work will
be felt in American letters for generations to come. ”—From the Judges’ citation: Peg Boyers, Toi Derricotte, and Rowan Ricardo Phillips
CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR 2014
PEN/LAURA PELS AWARD RECIPIENTS
MASTER AMERICAN DRAMATIST
DAVID RABE
EMERGING AMERICAN DRAMATIST
LAURA MARKS
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PEN/LAURA PELS INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION FOR THEATER AWARDS
Three awards which honor a Master American Dramatist,
American Playwright in Mid-Career, and Emerging American
Playwright. This is the inaugural year of the Award for an
Emerging American Playwright.
EMERGING AMERICAN PLAYWRIGHT
WINNER
Laura Marks
“ With the skill of an artist far beyond her years, she knows how to make an audience desperate to find out what comes next. We feel the same way about her
nascent career. ”—From the Judges’ citation: John Lithgow, Elizabeth Streb, and Maria Tucci
AMERICAN PLAYWRIGHT IN MID-CAREER
WINNER
Donald Margulies
“ Margulies has explored the strains on human relationships wrought by ambition, self-doubt, the loss of integrity, the loss of love, the passage of time, and the persistence of traumatic memory. But if his work grapples with the serious business of life, it is shot
through with sly, literate humor and it is far from grim. ”—From the Judges’ citation: John Lithgow, Elizabeth Streb, and Maria Tucci
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career achievement
MASTER AMERICAN DRAMATIST
WINNER
David Rabe
“ We recall the harrowing experience of first encountering Rabe’s plays, some forty years ago. In our opinion, they have withstood the test of time and will remain a powerful record of American life for decades
to come. . . . Recent revivals of Rabe’s plays have confirmed their craft, compassion, and staying
power. ”—From the Judges’ citation: John Lithgow, Elizabeth Streb, and Maria Tucci
PEN/SAUL BELLOW AWARD FOR ACHIEVEMENT IN AMERICAN FICTION
To a living American author whose scale of achievement
in fiction, over a sustained career, places him or her in the
highest rank of American literature.
WINNER
Louise Erdrich
“ Some writers work a small piece of land: Louise Erdrich is not one of those writers. Her work has
an awesome capaciousness—each person is a world. . . . Read in full she dazzles as a writer of all
times and all places, following those branching shoots of story wherever they sprout. She is a writer
only America could have produced, committed to the extraordinary project of capturing a complex land and a various people in their own voices, and in hers. ”—From the Judges’ citation: Edwidge Danticat, E.L. Doctorow,
and Zadie Smith
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PEN President’s CirclePEN President’s Circle Members are individuals who both care deeply about PEN’s work and annually make significant commitments of support. President’s circle Members are essential partners in all PEN’s work: securing the liberty of imprisoned writers of conscience, mobilizing writers as agents for social change, and producing compelling public literary programs. We hope you will consider becoming part of the PEN President’s Circle.
PEN PRESIDENT’S CIRCLE MEMBERSHIP BENEFITSPoets—for donors contributing $10,000+ benefits include all Essayists & Novelists level benefits, and:• Invitations to private events, including the PEN World Voices
Festival Opening and Closing night parties• Annual reception with the PEN Board of Trustees• PEN Literary Awards Green Room gathering to meet presenters
and winners• Invitations to one exclusive Author’s Evening per year that is
open only to circle members and includes a leading writer in an intimate setting
Essayists—for donors contributing $5,000+ benefits include all Essayists benefits, and:• Early sign up for Author’s Evenings prior to the program’s official
announcement• Invitation to two annual briefings on pressing issues of free
expression• Invitation to the PEN New Members/New Books Party, one of the
hottest events of the literary calendar bringing together more than 350 established and up-and-coming writers
Novelists—for donors contributing $2,500+ benefits include:• Invitations to attend PEN programming events, such as the annual
Arthur Miller Freedom to Write lecture, the PEN Literary Awards Ceremony, PEN World Voices Festival and other PEN events. Circle members will receive preferential seating where available
• Inclusion in an honor roll listing on PEN’s website, annual report, quarterly newsletter, and gala journal
For more information please contact Lorna Flynn, Manager, Authors’ Evenings/President’s Circle at [email protected] or (212) 334 1660, ext 119.
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POETSClara Bingham • Joan Bingham • John & Laura Coles • Roxanne Donovan & Tom Scarangello • Susan Dryfoos • Jeanmarie & William Fenrich • Toni & James Goodale • Stephen & Cathy Graham • Patricia Grodd • Other Press • Beth Gutcheon • Samuel Heins & Stacey Mills • The Kaplen Brothers Fund • Lawrence & Barbara Kirshbaum • Wendy Gimbel & Doug Liebhafsky • Yvonne & Michael Marsh • Carol Mack • Jerome L. Greene Foundation • Jay McInerney & Ann Hearst • Christian Oberbeck • The Seedlings Foundation • Alice Sebold • Mr. & Mrs. Stanley S. Shuman • Laura & Robert F. X. Sillerman • FJC A Foundation of Philanthropic Funds • Andrew Solomon & John Habich Solomon • Barbaralee & Carl Diamonstein–Spielvogel • Tracy Higgins & James Leitner • Davis Weinstock & Elizabeth Hawes Weinstock • Annette Tapert & Joseph Allen • Jeffrey Tarrant & Lilly Hartley • Ann Tenenbaum & Thomas H. Lee • Mr. & Mrs. John B. Troubh • Jacqueline Weld • Shelby White • Anonymous Donors
ESSAYISTDiane Archer & Stephen Presser • Emily Blavatnik • Helen Bodian & Mr Roger Alcaly • Dalio Foundation • Bokara Legendre • Katherine Farley & Jerry Speyer • Margaret Loeb • Tess O’Dwyer • William & Katharine Rayner • Theresa Rebeck • Dede Reed • Simon Schama • Thomas Tisch • Barbara Tober • Danielle Truscott & Andrew H. Kaufman
NOVELISTSLiaquat Ahamed • Alexandra Alger • Sabrina Eve Allan & Douglas Ellenoff • Stuart Applebaum • Angelica & Euan Baird • Rob & Loren Beyer • Edward L. & Perdita Burlingame • Blake Cabot & Elizabeth Cabot • Michael Carlisle & Sally Peterson • Lauren Cerand • Boykin Curry • Mr. & Mrs. Stephen D. Greenberg • Lesley Goldwasser & Jonathan Plutzik • Shelagh & Bruce Herzog • Mr. & Mrs. Warren Hoge • Steven & Barbara Isenberg • Elinor Lipman • Daniel & Devon MacEachron • Richard L. Menschel • Evangeline Morphos & Alan Brinkley • John Oakes & Carin Kuoni • James & Patty Peterson • Elizabeth Rea • Victoria Redel & Bruce Van Dusan • Samantha Boardman & Aby Rosen • Eve Stuart • Enzo Viscusi • Jacob Weisberg & Deborah Needleman • Dave Williams & Reba White Williams
Benefits are updated as opportunities arise and reviewed annually. Membership to the President’s Circle is based on individual giving.
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PRESENTERS
Elizabeth Alexander is a poet, essayist, and playwright. She has published six books of poems, including The Venus Hottentot, Body of Life, Antebellum Dream Book, and American Sublime, which was one of three finalists for the Pulitzer Prize and was one of the American Library Association’s “Notable Books of the Year.” She is currently the Thomas E. Donnelley Professor of African American Studies at Yale University.
Ben Greenman is a contributing writer for the New Yorker and a bestselling author whose books include, most recently, the novel The Slippage and the hip-hop memoir Mo Meta Blues, co-written with Questlove.
Barbara Kingsolver has published fourteen books of fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction, including The Bean Trees, The Poisonwood Bible, and The Lacuna. Her books have been translated into more than twenty languages and received many awards, including the National Humanities Medal.
Joseph O’Neill’s most recent novel is The Dog. He received the 2009 PEN/Faulkner Prize for Fiction for Netherland.
Zadie Smith is the author of the novels White Teeth, The Autograph Man, On Beauty, NW, and the essay collection Changing My Mind. She is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
Andrew Solomon is Professor of Clinical Psychology at Columbia University and is the author of Far from the Tree: Parents, Children, and the Search for Identity and The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression, which won the National Book Award. He lives in New York and London with his husband and son.
Elizabeth Streb founded STREB in 1985 and became a MacArthur Foundation fellow in 1997. In 2003 she founded the STREB Lab for Action Mechanics (SLAM) in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. She also wrote the book STREB: How to Become an Extreme Action Hero (Feminist Press). Streb is the subject of the 2014 documentary Born to Fly (Aubin Pictures).
Natasha Wimmer is the translator of six books by Roberto Bolaño, including The Savage Detectives and 2666, among other works.
Tiphanie Yanique is the author of the just published novel Land of Love and Drowning and the award-winning story collection How to Escape from a Leper Colony. She teaches at the New School and lives in Brooklyn and Saint Thomas.
ABOUT PEN AMERICAN CENTER
PEN American Center is the largest of the 145 centers of PEN International, the world’s leading human rights and international literary organization. PEN International was founded in 1921 to dispel national, ethnic, and racial tensions and to promote understanding among all countries. PEN American Center works to advance literature, to defend free expression, and to foster international literary fellowship.
For over 50 years, the PEN Literary Awards Program has honored and introduced some of the most outstanding voices in literature across such diverse genres as debut fiction, poetry, essay, biography, translation, sports and science writing, children’s books, as well as several career achievement awards.
PEN is now accepting submissions for its 2015 literary awards cycle.
To learn more, please visit PEN.org or email [email protected].
Paul W. MorrisDirector of Membership, Marketing & Literary Awards
Arielle AnemaMembership, Literary Awards, Writers’ Fund Associate
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Michael Moritz & Harriet HeymanPEN/Saul Bellow Award for Achievement in American Fiction
Barbara KingsolverPEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction
Hunce VoelckerPEN/Voelcker Award for Poetry
Lily TuckPEN/Edward and Lily Tuck Award for Paraguayan Literature
The Kaplen FoundationPEN Award for Poetry in Translation
Priscilla & Michael Henry Heim, Amazon.comPEN/Heim Translation Fund Grants
The Family of Robert BinghamPEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize
Dr. Edward O. Wilson and the E. O. Wilson Biodiversity FoundationPEN/E. O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award
The Laura Pels International Foundation for TheaterPEN/Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater Awards
Barbaralee Diamonstein & Carl SpielvogelPEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay
ESPNPEN/ESPN Lifetime Achievement and Literary Sports Writing Awards
Rodman L. Drake and Jacqueline Bograd WeldPEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award
Kathleen BeckettPEN/Steven Kroll Award
The Rochelle Ratner FundPEN Open Book Award
Phyllis Reynolds NaylorPEN/Phyllis Naylor Working Writer Fellowship
PEN gratefully acknowledges Bauman Rare Books and The New School for their generosity and hospitality.
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C o n g r a t u l a t i o n st o
L o u i s e E r d r i c h
From all of us at
and
www.hc.com
Winner of the PEN/Saul Bellow Awardfor Achievement in American Fiction
HARPER
H A R P E R
P E R E N N I A L
PEN GALA AD COMP.indd 1 9/15/14 2:46 PM
PEN’s Board of Trustees would like to congratulate
all the winners of the 2014 PEN Literary Awards
BOARD OF TRUSTEES 2014–2015
OFFICERS
Peter Godwin, PresidentJohn Troubh, Executive Vice-President
Jeri Laber, Vice-PresidentJoanne Leedom-Ackerman, Vice-President
Annette Tapert, Vice-PresidentJohn Oakes, Treasurer
Theresa Rebeck, SecretarySuzanne Nossel, Executive Director
TRUSTEES
Cara Benson
Edward Burlingame
Roxanne Donovan
Jennifer Egan
Nathan Englander
Morgan Entrekin
Jeanmarie Fenrich
Leon Friedman
Wendy Gimbel
Barbara Goldsmith
Annette Gordon-Reed
Tom Healy
Samuel Heins
Tracy Higgins
Elinor Lipman
Erroll McDonald
Claudia Menza
Sevil Miyhandar
Christian Oberbeck
Tess O’Dwyer
Hannah Pakula
Greg Pardlo
Michael Pietsch
Susanna Reich
Elisabeth Sifton
Laura Baudo Sillerman
Clinton Ives Smullyan, Jr.
Andrew Solomon
Danielle Truscott
Davis Weinstock
Jacob Weisberg
Alex Zucker