What To Read

Literature lovers convened at New York's Town Hall last night for one of the most dynamic and star-studded events in the book world: the PEN America Literary Awards ceremony.

Bold-faced names at the event included actor Kal Penn as emcee, Tina Fey as a lifelong achievement honoree and actor Molly Ringwald and trans pageant queen Geena Rocero as guest presenters.

The ceremony featured several performances, including a monologue by actor Lizan Mitchell from the play shadow/land written by PEN’s theater awardee Erika Dickerson-Despenza. Following the performance, the playwright brought down the house with her impassioned acceptance speech that ended with a call to action: "May we all live up to the words we write.”

But the real star of the show was Percival Everett, who took home the prestigious PEN/Jean Stein Award for his novel Dr. No. The award goes to a work in any genre that has broken new ground by reshaping the boundaries of its form and signaling strong potential for lasting influence.

On stage, Everett recalled what his literary agent Melanie Jackson told him when they started working together 30 years ago: "You're never going to make me any money, so just write what you want to write." In addition to winning the Stein award, which is one of the richest literary prizes at $75,000, Everett has been a Pulitzer and Booker Prize finalist.

Here is the full list of winners and finalists in all categories:

PEN/JEAN STEIN AWARD

WINNER: Dr. No by Percival Everett

FINALISTS:

My Pinup by Hilton Als

Acting Class by Nick Drnaso

If I Survive You by Jonathan Escoffery

Very Cold People by Sarah Manguso

Milkweed Smithereens by Bernadette Mayer

If an Egyptian Cannot Speak English by Noor Naga

The White Mosque by Sofia Samatar

Customs by Solmaz Sharif

Night of the Living Rez by Morgan Talty

PEN OPEN BOOK AWARD

WINNER: The Black Period by Hafizah Augustus Geter 

FINALISTS:

Golden Ax by Rio Cortez 

Shutter by Ramona Emerson 

The Listening Skin: Poems by Glenis Redmond 

Gorgoneion by Casey Rocheteau 

All the Flowers Kneeling by Paul Tran 

The Town of Babylon by Alejandro Varela 

Making Love with the Land by Joshua Whitehead

Last Summer on State Street by Toya Wolfe 

Solito by Javier Zamora 

PEN/ROBERT W. BINGHAM PRIZE FOR DEBUT SHORT STORY COLLECTION

WINNER: Night of the Living Rez by Morgan Talty

FINALISTS:

Seeking Fortune Elsewhere by Sindya Bhanoo 

Rainbow Rainbow by Lydia Conklin 

Is This How You Eat a Watermelon? by Zein El-Amine 

If I Survive You by Jonathan Escoffery 

A Down Home Meal for These Difficult Times by Meron Hadero 

A Calm & Normal Heart by Chelsea T. Hicks 

What We Fed to the Manticore by Talia Lakshmi Kolluri 

The Anchored World by Jasmine Sawers

Manywhere by Morgan Thomas 

PEN/HEMINGWAY AWARD FOR DEBUT NOVEL

WINNER: Calling For a Blanket Dance by Oscar Hokeah 

FINALISTS:

A Tiny Upward Shove by Melissa Chadburn 

The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan 

Activities of Daily Living by Lisa Hsiao Chen 

Shutter by Ramona Emerson 

Nuclear Family by Joseph Han 

Nightcrawling by Leila Mottley 

How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu 

Little Rabbit by Alyssa Songsiridej 

Which Side Are You On by Ryan Lee Wong

PEN/VOELCKER AWARD FOR POETRY COLLECTION 

WINNER: To The Realization of Perfect Helplessness by Robin Coste Lewis

FINALISTS:

Smoking the Bible by Chris Abani 

[To] The Last [Be] Human by Jorie Graham 

Maafa by Harmony Holiday 

Hurting Kind by Ada Limon

Cain Named The Animal by Shane Mcrae 

Pink Waves by Sawako Nakayasu 

Blood Snow by Dg Nanouk Okpik 

Then The War by Carl Phillips 

Best Barbarian by Roger Reeves

PEN AWARD FOR POETRY IN TRANSLATION

WINNER: The Loose Pearl by Paula Ilabaca Nuñez  Translated from Spanish by Daniel Borzutzky 

FINALISTS:

No Way in the Skin without This Bloody Embrace by Jean D’Amérique  Translated from French by Conor Bracken 

The Threshold by Iman Mersal  Translated from Arabic by Robyn Creswell

Claus and the Scorpion by Lara Dopazo Ruibal  Translated from Galician by Laura Cesarco Eglin

Dolore Minimo by Giovanna Cristina Vivinetto  Translated from Italian by Gabriella Fee and Dora Malech

Let Us Believe in the Beginning of the Cold Season by Forough Farrokhzad  Translated from Persian by Elizabeth T. Gray, Jr. 

Distant Transit by Maja Haderlap  Translated from German by Tess Lewis

Motherfield by Julia Cimafiejeva  Translated from Belarusian by Valzhyna Mort and Hanif Abdurraqib

The Rust of History by Sotero Rivera Avilés  Translated from Spanish by Raquel Salas Rivera 

Adela Zamudio: Selected Poetry & Prose by Adela Zamudio  Translated from Spanish by Lynette Yetter

PEN TRANSLATION PRIZE

WINNER: People from Bloomington by Budi Darma;   Translated from Indonesian by Tiffany Tsao

FINALISTS:

All Your Children, Scattered by Beata Umybyeyi Mairesse  Translated from French by Alison Anderson

The Tatami Galaxy by Tomihiko Morimi  Translated from Japanese by Emily Balistrieri

Jawbone by Mónica Ojeda  Translated from Spanish by Sarah Booker

Call Me Cassandra by Marcial Gala  Translated from Spanish by Anna Kushner

Moldy Strawberries by Caio Fernando Abreu  Translated from Portuguese by Bruna Dantas Lobato

Toño the Infallible by Evelio Rosero  Translated from Spanish by Victor Meadowcroft and Anne McLean

Ghost Town by Kevin Chen  Translated from Taiwanese by Darryl Sterk

A Line in the World: A Year on the North Sea Coast by Dorthe Nors  Translated from by Caroline Waight

Pina by Titaua Peu  Translated from French by Jeffrey Zuckerman

PEN/DIAMONSTEIN-SPIELVOGEL AWARD FOR THE ART OF THE ESSAY

WINNER: A Left-Handed Woman by Judith Thurman 

FINALISTS:

I’ll Show Myself Out by Jessi Klein 

Translating Myself and Others by Jhumpa Lahiri 

A Place in the World by Frances Mayes 

Still No Word From You by Peter Orner 

Animal Bodies: On Death, Desire, and Other Difficulties by Suzanne Roberts 

Happy-Go-Lucky by David Sedaris 

Small Acreages: New and Selected Essays by Georgia Green Stamper 

Streaming Now: Postcards from the Thing That Is Happening by Laurie Stone 

The Green Hour: A Natural History of Home by Alison Townsend 

PEN/E.O. WILSON LITERARY SCIENCE WRITING AWARD

WINNER: Heartbreak by Florence Williams 

FINALISTS:

Different by Frans de Waal 

Vagina Obscura by Rachel E. Gross 

Orchid Muse by Erica Hannickel 

Sounds Wild and Broken by David George Haskell 

A Molecule Away from Madness by Sara Manning Peskin 

The Wine-Dark Sea Within: A Turbulent History of Blood by Dhun Sethna 

Big Bang of Numbers by Manil Suri 

An Immense World by Ed Yong 

Dancing Cockatoos by Marlene Zuk 

PEN/JACQUELINE BOGRAD WELD AWARD FOR BIOGRAPHY

WINNER: Dilla Time: The Life and Afterlife of J Dilla, the Hip-Hop Producer Who Reinvented Rhythm by Dan Charnas 

FINALISTS:

An American Martyr in Persia: The Epic Life and Tragic Death of Howard Baskerville by Reza Aslan 

Civil Rights Queen: Constance Baker Motley and the Struggle for Equality by Tomiko Brown-Nagin

The Adventures of Herbie Cohen by Rich Cohen 

G-Man: J. Edgar Hoover and the Making of the American Century by Beverly Gage 

The Hyacinth Girl: T. S. Eliot’s Hidden Muse by Lyndall Gordon 

Guru to the World: The Life and Legacy of Vivekananda by Ruth Harris 

Mr. B: George Balanchine’s 20th Century by Jennifer Homans 

The Pope at War: The Secret History of Pius XII, Mussolini, and Hitler by David I. Kertzer 

Saxophone Colossus: The Life and Music of Sonny Rollins by Aidan Levy 

PEN/JOHN KENNETH GALBRAITH AWARD FOR NONFICTION

WINNER: The Inheritors: An Intimate Portrait of South Africa’s Racial Reckoning by Eve Fairbanks 

FINALISTS:

The Naked Don’t Fear the Water: An Underground Journey with Afghan Refugees by Matthieu Aikins 

Tree Thieves: Crime and Survival in North America’s Woods by Lyndsie Bourgon 

After the Ivory Tower Falls: How College Broke the American Dream and Blew Up Our Politics–And How to Fix It by Will Bunch

Bad Mexicans: Race, Empire, and Revolution in the Borderlands by Kelly Lytle Hernandez 

South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation by Imani Perry 

The War of Nerves: Inside the Cold War Mind by Martin Sixsmith 

The Viral Underclass: The Human Toll When Inequality and Disease Collide by Steven W. Thrasher

The Great Stewardess Rebellion: How Women Launched a Workplace Revolution at 30,000 Feet by Nell McShane Wulfhart

Solito by Javier Zamora