PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award
The PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award for nonfiction is awarded by PEN America (formerly PEN American Center) biennially "to a distinguished book of general nonfiction possessing notable literary merit and critical perspective and illuminating important contemporary issues which has been published in the United States during the previous two calendar years. It is intended that the winning book possess the qualities of intellectual rigor, perspicuity of expression, and stylistic elegance conspicuous in the writings of author and economist John Kenneth Galbraith, whose four dozen books and countless other publications continue to provide an important and incisive commentary on the American social, intellectual and political scene." [1]
The winner receives $10,000.
The award is one of many PEN awards sponsored by International PEN affiliates in over 145 PEN centres around the world. The PEN American Center awards have been characterized as being among the "major" American literary prizes.[2]
Award winners
- 2007 James Carroll, House of War: The Pentagon and the Disastrous Rise of American Power
- 2009 Steve Coll, The Bin Ladens: An Arabian Family in the American Century
- 2011 Robert Perkinson, Texas Tough: The Rise of America's Prison Empire[3]
- 2013 Katherine Boo, Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity[4]
- 2015 Sheri Fink, Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital[5][6]
- 2017 Matthew Desmond, Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City
- 2019 Bernice Yeung, In a Day's Work: The Fight to End Sexual Violence Against America’s Most Vulnerable Workers
References
- PEN American Center Literary Awards Archived 2012-06-14 at the Wayback Machine
- Alfred Bendixen (2005). "Literary Prizes and Awards". The Continuum Encyclopedia of American Literature. Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 689.
- "Jacket Copy: PEN American Center's 2011 award winners". Los Angeles Times. August 11, 2011. Retrieved August 11, 2012.
- Carolyn Kellogg (August 14, 2013). "Jacket Copy: PEN announces winners of its 2013 awards". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 14, 2013.
- Carolyn Kellogg (May 13, 2015). "PEN announces award-winners and shortlists". LA Times. Retrieved May 14, 2015.
- "2015 PEN Literary Award Winners". pen.org. Retrieved May 14, 2015.