The shortlist for the PEN/Faulkner Award has been revealed, with five books in the running for the annual prize honoring an outstanding work of fiction by a U.S. permanent resident.
Percival Everett was named a finalist for James, his retelling of Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn told from the point of view of the enslaved Jim. The novel previously won the Kirkus Prize and the National Book Award. Also shortlisted was Everett’s wife, Danzy Senna, for Colored Television, which, along with James, was longlisted for the National Book Critics Circle Award.
’Pemi Aguda made the shortlist for Ghostroots, her story collection that was previously a finalist for the National Book Award. Garth Greenwell was named a finalist for Small Rain, which was longlisted for the National Book Critics Circle Award, and Susan Muaddi Darraj made the shortlist for Behind You Is the Sea.
Lauren Francis-Sharma, the committee chair for the PEN/Faulkner Award, said in a statement, “These voices haunt, whisper, and invoke humor and terror. They make us feel deeply at a time when so many of us feel numb at the happenings of the world around us. In these pages we get the fullness of humanity, and we here at PEN/Faulkner cannot wait to celebrate these magnificent contributions to American fiction.”
The PEN/Faulkner Award was established in 1981. Past winners include T.C. Boyle for World’s End, Don DeLillo for Mao II, and Deesha Philyaw for The Secret Lives of Church Ladies.
The winner of this year’s prize will be announced next month.
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
