PEN/Faulkner Award

The PEN/Faulkner Foundation each year recognizes the best published works of fiction by contemporary American writers. Named for William Faulkner, who used his Nobel Prize funds to create an award for young writers, and affiliated with PEN (Poets, Playwrights, Editors, Essayists and Novelists), the international writers' organization, the PEN/Faulkner Award was founded by writers in 1980 to honour their peers, and is now the largest juried award for fiction in the United States.

The award judges, who are themselves writers of fiction, each read more than 250 novels and short story collections published during the calendar year before selecting five outstanding books. 

2008

The Great Man Winner

Kate Christensen

The Maytrees

Annie Dillard

The Indian Clerk

David Leavitt

The Gateway: Stories

T.M. McNally

Chemistry and Other Stories

Ron Rash

2007

Everyman Winner

Philip Roth

The Dead Fish Museum

Charles DAmbrosio

Twilight of the Superheroes

Deborah Eisenberg

The Collected Stories of Amy Hempel

Amy Hempel

All Aunt Hagars Children

Edward P. Jones

 

2006

The March Winner

E.L. Doctorow

A Sudden Country

Karen Fisher

I Got Somebody in Staunton

William Henry Lewis

Last Night

James Salter

The Chrysanthemum Palace

Bruce Wagner

2005

• War Trash Ha Jin Winner
• The Green Lantern Jerome Charyn
• The Dew Breaker Edwidge Danticat
• Gilead Marilynne Robinson
• Prisoners of War Steve Yarbrough

2004

• The Early Stories John Updike Winner
• Elroy Nights Frederick Barthelme
• Drinking coffee elsewhere Z Z Packer
• A Distant shore Caryl Phillips
• Old School Tobias Wolff

2003

• The Caprices Sabina Murray Winner
• The City of your final destination Peter Cameron
• Roscoe William Kennedy
• The Ecstatic Victor LaValle
• Little Casino Gilbert Sorrentino

2002 

• Bel canto Ann Patchett Winner
• Sister Noon Karen Jay Fowler
• The Corrections Jonathan Franzen
• The Hunters Claire Messud
• The death of Vishnu Mani Suri

2001

• The Human stain Philip Roth Winner
• The Amazing adventures of Kavalier & Clay Michael Chabon
• Harry Gold Millicent Dillon
• The Name of the world Denis Johnson
• Off Keck Road Mona Simpson

2000

• Waiting Ha Jin Winner
• The Night inspector Frederick Busch
• Pu-239 and other Russian fantasies Ken Kalfus
• Amy and Isabelle Elizabeth Strout
• Siam: Or the woman who shot a man Lily Tuck

1999

• The Hours Michael Cunningham Winner
• The Poisonwood bible Barbara Kingsolver
• Cloudsplitter Russell Banks
• Starting out in the evening Brian Morton
• The Doctor stories Richard Selzer

1998

• The Bear comes home Rafi Zabor Winner
• The Mercy Seat Rilla Askew
• The Hundred brothers Donald Antrim
• Because they wanted to Mary Gaitskill
• The Ordinary seaman Francisco Goldman

1997

• Women in their beds Gina Berriault Winner
• St Burl's Obituary Daniel Akst
• The Book of mercy Kathleen Cambor
• Atticus Ron Hansen
• The Autobiography of my mother Jamaica Kincaid

1996

• Independence day Richard Ford Winner
• All Soul's rising Madison Smartt Bell
• The Tunnel William Gass
• When the world was steady Claire Messud
• The Good negress A J Verdelle

1995

• Snow falling on cedars David Guterson Winner
• The Children in the woods Frederick Busch
• Stones from the river Ursula Hegi
• What I lived for Joyce Carol Oates
• Various antidotes Joanna Scott

1994

• Operation Shylock Philip Roth Winner
• Van Gogh's room at Arles Stanley Elkin
• The Magic of blood Dagoberto Gilb
• Bone Fae Myenne Ng
• Not where I started from Kate Wheeler

1993

• Postcards E Annie Proulx Winner
• A Good scent from a strange mountain Robert Olen Butler
• The Long night of white chickens Francisco Goldman
• Natural history Maureen Howard
• Talking to the dead Sylvia Watanbe

1992

• Mao II Don DeLillo Winner
• Frog Stephen Dixon
• Extraordinary people Paul Gervais
• White people Allan Gurganus
• The Almanac branch Bradford Morrow

1991

• Philadelphia fire John Edgar Wideman Winner
• The Music of chance Paul Auster
• A Gentlemen's guide to the frontier Joanne Meschery
• The Barnum museum Steven Millhauser
• Arrogance Joanna Scott

1990

• Billy Bathgate E L Doctorow Winner
• Affliction Russell Banks
• The jump-off creek Molly Gloss
• On the island Josephine Jacobsen
• Leaving Brooklyn Lynne Sharon Schwartz