This year's winner of the prestigious PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, Kate Christensen, is the latest author to join the ranks of other notable fiction writers.
On March 12, 2008 the newest winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction was announced. Kate Christensen's novel, The Great Man, beat out 350 other submissions vying for the prize.
History of the PEN/Faulkner Award
The PEN/Faulkner Foundation was organized in 1980 as a way to recognize and award young fiction writers. It is named after legendary fiction writer, William Faulkner, and according to the Foundation's official website, it strives to "bring together American readers and writers in a wide variety of programs to promote a love of literature." The first award was given in 1981 to Walter Abish's novel How German Is It? Any living American citizen can submit their original work of fiction to the Foundation to be considered for the prize.
Each year since the award's inception, the Foundation's board of directions chooses three well-regarded fiction writers to judge the contestants. It is now the "largest peer-juried award for fiction in the United States" according to the Foundation's website.
On average, the Foundation receives approximately 300 novels as well as short story collections, and the judges must choose one winner and four finalists out of all the submissions. The four finalists are each awarded a $5,000 prize, while the winner receives a $15,000 prize. An official award celebration is held in May for the winner and four finalists, where each author gets to read from their winning piece.
Notable Past PEN/Faulkner Award Winners and Finalists
To be among the list of authors who have the opportunity to call themselves PEN/Faulkner winners is to be among a distinguished crowd. Some past award winners and finalists of note include:
- Everyman by Phillip Roth (2007 winner)
- Drinking Coffee Elsewhere by ZZ Packer (2004 finalist)
- Bel Canto by Ann Patchett (2002 winner)
- The Hours by Michael Cunningham (1999 winner)
- Snow Falling on Ceders by David Guterson (1995 winner)
- Billy Bathgate by E.L. Doctorow (1990 winner)
- That Night by Alice McDermott (1988 finalist)
- The Barracks Thief by Tobias Wolff (1985 winner)
- At the Bottom of the River by Jamaica Kincaid (1984 finalist)
2008 PEN/Faulkner Award
Kate Christensen's forth novel, The Great Man, has the honor of being the winner of the 2008 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. Her novel is praised by the judges for its depth of characterization, humor and insight. Runners up included Annie Dillard's The Maytrees, David Leavitt's The Indian Clerk, T.M. McNally's The Gateway and Ron Rash's Chemistry and Other Stories.
Christensen's novel is now recognized as "first among equals" and she will be officially presented with the award at a ceremony on May 10 at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington D.C.
