The Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award is awarded annually to a novel or book of short stories by an American author who has not previously published a book of fiction. The award is named after Ernest Hemingway and funded by the Ernest Hemingway Foundation, which has been administered by the Hemingway Society since 1987, and PEN New England. Mary Hemingway, a member of PEN, founded the award in 1976 both to honor the memory of her husband and to recognize distinguished first books of fiction.
The winner is selected by a panel of three distinguished fiction writers and receives a cash prize of US$8,000. Along with the winner, two finalists and two runners-up receive a Ucross Residency Fellowship at the Ucross Foundation, a retreat for artists and writers on a 22,000 acre (89 km²) ranch on the high plains in Ucross, Wyoming. The award ceremony is held at the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum in Boston, Massachusetts.
The award presentation is sponsored in part by the JFK Presidential Library.
The award is one of many PEN awards sponsored by International PEN affiliates in over 145 PEN centres around the world.
Read more about Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award: Winners
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