Books

2025 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction Finalists Announced

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The finalists for the 2025 PEN/Faulkner Award have been announced. The award honors the best fiction by permanent American residents within a calendar year. For this 45th iteration of the award, three writers—Bruce Holsinger, Deesha Philyaw, and Luis Alberto Urrea—were chosen to serve as judges. They whittled down the potential award winners to a ten-book-long list, and now they’ve shortened the list further into five books. Finally, in a ceremony on May 15, 2025, they will announce a winner who they deem to be “the first among equals.”

Below are the five finalists.

ghostroots book coverghostroots book cover

Ghostroots by ‘Pemi Aguda

cover of Behind You Is the Sea by Susan Muaddi Darrajcover of Behind You Is the Sea by Susan Muaddi Darraj

Behind You Is the Sea by Susan Muaddi Darraj

cover of James by Percival Everettcover of James by Percival Everett

James by Percival Everett

cover of Small Rain by Garth Greenwellcover of Small Rain by Garth Greenwell

Small Rain by Garth Greenwell

cover of Colored Television by Danzy Senna; photo of a Black woman done in reds and pinks with big gold dotscover of Colored Television by Danzy Senna; photo of a Black woman done in reds and pinks with big gold dots

Colored Television by Danzy Senna

The 45th Annual PEN/Faulkner Award Celebration will take place at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library in Washington, D.C., on May 15 this year. It will feature presentations by PEN/Faulkner judges, original readings by the winner and finalists, and a celebration of this year’s PEN/Faulkner Literary Champion, Dr. Carla Hayden.

The winner of the prize will receive $15,000, while each of the finalists gets $5,000.

To learn more about the finalists and the award, visit PEN/Faulkner.


Find more news and stories of interest from the book world in Breaking in Books.

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