The PEN Open Book Award (known as the Beyond Margins Award through 2009) is an award intended to foster racial and ethnic diversity within the literary and publishing communities, and works to establish access for diverse literary groups to the publishing industry.[1] Created in 1991 by the PEN American Center (today PEN America), the award ensures custodians of language and literature are representative of the American people.

The Committee discusses mutual concerns and strategies for advancing writing and professional activities, and coordinates Open Book events. While multiple awards were presented in previous years, the PEN Open Book Award now presents one award every year to books published in the United States (but without citizenship or residency requirements) by "authors of color who have not received wide media coverage".

The award is one of many PEN awards sponsored by International PEN affiliates in over 145 PEN centers around the world. The PEN American Center awards have been characterized as being among the "major" American literary prizes. [2]

Honorees

PEN Open Book Award

After 2010, the Beyond Margins Award was renamed the PEN Open Book Award.

PEN Open Book Award winners and finalists
YearAuthorTitleResult
2011Manu JosephSerious MenWinner[3]
John MurilloUp Jump the BoogieRunner Up[3]
2012Siddhartha DebThe Beautiful and the Damned: A Portrait of the New IndiaWinner[4]
Helon HabilaOil on WaterFinalist[4]
Quan BarryWater Puppets
2013Gina ApostolGun Dealers' DaughterWinner (tie)[5][6]
Kevin YoungThe Grey Album
Francine J. HarrisAllegianceFinalist[6]
Brenda ShaughnessyOur Andromeda
Natalie DiazWhen My Brother Was an Aztec
2014Nina McConigleyCowboys and East IndiansWinner (tie)[7][8]
Ruth Ellen Kocherdomina Un/blued
Kwame DawesDuppy ConquerorFinalist[8]
Taiye SelasiGhana Must Go
Jennifer FoersterLeaving Tulsa
2015Claudia RankineCitizen: An American LyricWinner[9]
Rabih AlameddineAn Unnecessary WomanFinalist[10][11]
Roxane GayAn Untamed State
Teju ColeEvery Day Is for the Thief
Samrat UpadhyayThe City Son
2016Rick BarotChordWinner[12]
Reginald Dwayne BettsBastards of the Reagan EraFinalist[12]
Vievee FrancisForest Primeval: Poems
Lauret SavoyTrace: Memory, History, Race, and the American Landscape
Marie Mutsuki MockettWhere the Dead Pause, and the Japanese Say Goodbye: A Journey
2017Helen OyeyemiWhat Is Not Yours Is Not YoursWinner[13]
Monica YounBlackacreFinalist[14]
Solmaz SharifLook
Jamaal MayThe Big Book of Exit Strategies
Petina GappahThe Book of Memory
2018Alexis OkeowoA Moonless, Starless Sky: Ordinary Women and Men Fighting Extremism in AfricaWinner[15][16]
Kei MillerAugustownFinalist[17]
Erika L. SánchezLessons on Expulsion: Poems
Jessica B. HarrisMy Soul Looks Back: A Memoir
Nicole SealeyOrdinary Beast: Poems
2019Nafissa Thompson-SpiresHeads of the Colored PeopleWinner[18]
Shauna BarbosaCape Verdean BluesFinalist[19]
Jenny XieEye Level
Tyrese ColemanHow to Sit: A Memoir in Stories and Essays
Ángel GarcíaTeeth Never Sleep
2020Brandon ShimodaThe Grave on the WallWinner[20]
Camonghne FelixBuild Yourself a BoatFinalist[21][22]
Carmen Giménez SmithBe Recorder
Maya PhillipsErou
Maurice Carlos RuffinWe Cast a Shadow
2021Asako SerizawaInheritorsWinner[23]
Mei-mei BerssenbruggeA Treatise on StarsFinalist[24]
Souvankham ThammavongsaHow to Pronounce Knife: Stories
Hafizah GeterUn-American
S*an D. Henry-SmithWild Peach
2022Divya VictorCurbWinner[25]
Rebecca HallWake: The Hidden History of Women-Led Slave RevoltsFinalist[25]
Rajiv MohabirAntiman: A Hybrid Memoir
Thirii Myo Kyaw MyintNames for Light: A Family History
Elissa WashutaWhite Magic
2023Hafizah Augustus GeterThe Black PeriodWinner[26][27]
Ramona EmersonShutterFinalist[28]
Casey RocheteauGorgoneion
Paul TranAll The Flowers Kneeling
Toya WolfeLast Summer on State Street
2024Jacqueline CrooksFire RushWinner[29]
Ava ChinMott Street: A Chinese American Family’s Story of Exclusion and HomecomingFinalist[30]
Soraya PalmerThe Human Origins of Beatrice Porter and Other Essential Ghosts
Parini ShroffThe Bandit Queens
2025Kali Nicole GrossVengeance Feminism: The Power of Black Women’s Fury in Lawless TimesWinner[31]
James B. Haile IIIThe Dark Delight of Being Strange: Black Stories of FreedomFinalist[32]
Jenn M. JacksonBlack Women Taught Us: An Intimate History of Black Feminism
Rae Giana RashadThe Blueprint
2026Rickey FayneThe Devil Three TimesFinalist[33]
Justin HaynesIbis
Kilbourne BrandonNatural History
Samyak ShertokNo Rhododendrons
Mary Annette PemberMedicine River: A Story of Survival and the Legacy of Indian Boarding Schools

Beyond Margins Award

Prior to 2010, the PEN Open Book Award was referred to as the Beyond Margins Award, and several books were selected per year as joint winners.

Beyond Margins Award winners
YearAuthorTitle
Earlier
winners		Giannina BraschiYo-Yo Boing!
Timothy LiuSay Goodnight
Bino Realuyo (ed.)The NuyorAsian Anthology
April Robinson
2002Meena AlexanderIlliterate Heart
Luis FranciaEye of the Fish
Joy HarjoA Map to the Next World: Poetry and Tales
Victor LaValleSlapboxing with Jesus: Stories
Nelly RosarioSong of the Water Saints
2004Laila HalabyWest of the Jordan: A Novel
Suki KimThe Interpreter
NasdijjThe Boy and the Dog Are Sleeping
Willie PerdomoSmoking Lovely
April ReynoldsKnee-Deep in Wonder: A Novel
2005Faith AdieleMeeting Faith: The Forest Journals of a Black Buddhist Nun
Raquel Cepeda (ed.)And It Don’t Stop: The Best American Hip-Hop Journalism of the Last 25 Years
Lan Samantha ChangInheritance
Lolita HernandezAutopsy of an Engine, and Other Stories from the Cadillac Plant
Ishle Yi ParkThe Temperature of This Water
2006Richard BlancoDirections to the Beach of the Dead
Andrew LamPerfume Dreams: Reflections on the Vietnamese Diaspora
Ed Bok LeeReal Karaoke People
Caryl PhillipsDancing in the Dark
Jennifer TsengThe Man with My Face
2007Chimamanda Ngozi AdichieHalf of a Yellow Sun
Ernest HardyBlood Beats, Vol. 1
Harryette MullenRecyclopedia
Alberto RíosTheater of Night
2008Chris AbaniSong for Night
Amiri BarakaTales of the Out and the Gone
Frances HwangTransparency
Naeem MurrThe Perfect Man
Joseph M. Marshall IIIThe Day the World Ended at Little Big Horn
2009Uwem AkpanSay You're One of Them
Juan Felipe HerreraHalf of the World in Light: New and Selected Poems
Lily HoangChanging
2010Sherwin BitsuiFlood Song
Robin D. G. KelleyThelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original
Canyon SamSky Train: Tibetan Women on the Edge of History

References

  1. ^ "PEN Beyond Margins". National Book Critics Circle. November 19, 2009. Archived from the original on May 20, 2011. Retrieved August 29, 2012.
  2. ^ Alfred Bendixen (2005). "Literary Prizes and Awards". The Continuum Encyclopedia of American Literature. Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 689. ISBN 978-0-8264-1777-0. Archived 2023-02-24 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2016-10-23.
  3. ^ "2011 PEN Open Book Award". pen.org. November 16, 2012. Archived October 27, 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved October 27, 2021.
  4. ^ "2012 PEN Open Book Award". pen.org. 14 November 2012. Archived June 7, 2014 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved August 1, 2014.
  5. ^ Carolyn Kellogg (August 14, 2013). "Jacket Copy: PEN announces winners of its 2013 awards". Los Angeles Times. Archived August 16, 2013 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved August 14, 2013.
  6. ^ "2013 PEN Open Book Award". pen.org. 25 July 2013. Archived October 11, 2014 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved August 1, 2014.
  7. ^ Ron Charles (July 30, 2014). "Winners of the 2014 PEN Literary Awards". Washington Post. Archived May 9, 2015 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved August 1, 2014.
  8. ^ "2014 PEN Open Book Award". pen.org. 16 April 2014. Archived August 14, 2014 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved August 1, 2014.
  9. ^ "2015 PEN Literary Award Winners". PEN. May 8, 2015. Archived March 2, 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved March 2, 2016.
  10. ^ "2015 PEN Literary Award Winners Make Great Recommendations". the American Booksellers Association. 2015-05-14. Archived 2022-01-30 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2022-01-30.
  11. ^ "2015 PEN Literary Awards Shortlist". PEN America. 2015-04-10. Archived 2022-12-06 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2022-01-30.
  12. ^ "2016 PEN Open Book Award". PEN. April 13, 2016. Archived April 19, 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved May 23, 2017.
  13. ^ "2017 PEN Open Book Award". PEN. February 22, 2017. Archived February 2, 2017 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved May 23, 2017.
  14. ^ "2017 PEN America Literary Awards Finalists". PEN America. 2017-01-18. Archived 2022-01-30 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2022-01-30.
  15. ^ John Maher (February 21, 2018). "Long Soldier, Zhang, Le Guin Win At 2018 PEN Literary Awards". Publishers Weekly. Archived February 22, 2018 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
  16. ^ "The 2018 PEN America Literary Awards Winners". PEN America. February 20, 2018. Archived February 21, 2018 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
  17. ^ Porter Anderson (January 31, 2018). "Industry Notes: PEN America's Finalists". Publishing Perspectives. Archived February 22, 2018 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
  18. ^ "PEN America Literary Awards 2019 winners announced". Books+Publishing. February 28, 2019. Archived February 28, 2019 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved February 27, 2019.
  19. ^ "Announcing the 2019 PEN America Literary Awards Finalists". PEN America. January 15, 2019. Archived October 30, 2019 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved February 23, 2019.
  20. ^ "The 2020 PEN America Literary Awards Winners". PEN America. 25 February 2020. Archived 2022-01-30 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2022-01-30.
  21. ^ "Announcing the 2020 PEN America Literary Awards Finalists". PEN America. 2020-01-28. Archived 2022-01-30 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2022-01-30.
  22. ^ Temple, Emily (2020-01-28). "Here are your 2020 PEN America literary awards finalists.". Literary Hub. Archived 2022-01-30 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2022-01-30.
  23. ^ "Announcing the 2021 PEN America Literary Awards Winners". PEN America. 2021-04-08. Archived 2022-01-21 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2022-01-30.
  24. ^ "Announcing the 2021 PEN America Literary Awards Finalists". PEN America. February 10, 2021. Archived February 14, 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved February 14, 2021.
  25. ^ Smith, Eliza (March 1, 2022). "Here are the winners of the 2022 PEN America Literary Awards.". Literary Hub. Archived March 3, 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved March 4, 2022.
  26. ^ Schaub, Michael (2023-03-03). "PEN Award Winners Announced". Kirkus Reviews. Archived 2023-03-06 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2023-03-06.
  27. ^ "PEN America Literary Award Winners Celebrated". Shelf Awareness. March 6, 2023. Archived 2023-03-07 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2023-03-07.
  28. ^ "Announcing the 2023 PEN America Literary Awards Finalists". PEN America. 2023-02-15. Archived 2023-02-20 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2023-02-20.
  29. ^ "PEN Open Book Award". PEN America. Retrieved 2026-02-08.
  30. ^ "Announcing the 2024 PEN America Literary Awards Finalists". PEN America. 2024-04-22. Archived 2025-11-27 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2026-02-08.
  31. ^ Schaub, Michael (2025-05-12). "PEN America Reveals 2025 Literary Award Winners". Kirkus Reviews. Archived 2025-06-18 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2026-02-08.
  32. ^ Schaub, Michael (April 14, 2025). "Finalists for the 2025 PEN America Awards Revealed". Kirkus Reviews. Archived 2025-04-29 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2026-02-08.
  33. ^ Schaub, Michael (2026-01-30). "PEN America Reveals Finalists for 2026 Book Awards". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 2026-02-08.