2024 PEN/Faulkner Award Celebration
Thursday, May 2, 2024
6:30 pm arrivals, 7 pm ceremony, 8 pm buffet dinner and dessert
Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library
Cocktail Attire
An Event to Remember for Contemporary Fiction Lovers
Our 44th Annual PEN/Faulkner Award Celebration on May 2, 2024 honored this year’s distinguished books and authors. This exquisite literary evening featured presentations by our judges; original readings by our winner and four finalists; and a celebration of David Baldacci, our 2024 PEN/Faulkner Literary Champion.
HONOREES
PEN/Faulkner Award Finalists
Jamel Brinkley
Henry Hoke
Claire Jiménez
Alice McDermott
Colin Winnette
PEN/Faulkner Literary Champion
David Baldacci
SPECIAL GUESTS
2024 Judges
Xochitl Gonzalez
Alan Michael Parker
Lynn Steger Strong
Master of Ceremonies
Ron Charles
Featured Speaker
Sarah Pekkanen
CELEBRATION TEAM
Anonymous
Anne Aaron
Elliot Ackerman & Lea Carpenter
Alan Squire Publishing
Aldridge Borden
Marie Arana & Jonathan Yardley
Jabari & Liana Asim
Bards Alley
Louis Bayard & Don Montuori
Wendy Benchley & John Jeppson
Katherine Boone & Joshua Geltzer
The Honorable Ann Brown
Melinda & John Buntin
Catapult Book Group
Susan Keselenko Coll & Paul Goldberg
Randy & Lisa Cone
The Honorable Esther Coopersmith
The Honorable Walter & Didi Cutler
DC Writers Room
Anthony Dobranski
East City Bookshop
Field Recordings Wine
Lauren Francis-Sharma & Anand Sharma
The Garcia Family Spotlight Foundation
Renée & Stephen Gardner
Susan Ginsburg & Mario Velasquez
Ginny Grenham & Paul Zevnik
Patricia Griffith
Hachette Book Group
Mary & Robert Haft
Linette S. Hwu
Ingram Content Group
The Ivy Bookshop
Jonathan & Laura Kravis
Willee & Finlay Lewis
Sophia McCrocklin & William Isaacson
Tracy & Gregory McGillivary
Malcolm & Virginia O’Hagan
Park Books
Erich Parker & Jeffrey Dale Lofton
The Paz Fund
Penguin Random House
People’s Book
Politics & Prose
Jane Evans Ramsay
Joan H. Simmons
Emilie & Jacob Sommer
Deborah Tannen & Michael Macovski
Ericka Taylor
Tertulia
Martha Anne Toll
Jung Yun & Joel Anderson
*This list is current as of May 1, 2024.
Our 2024 PEN/Faulkner Award Winner and Finalists
Ghostroots
Longlisted for the 2025 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction ’Pemi Aguda is an MFA graduate from the Helen Zell Writers’ Program at the University of Michigan. Her writing has been published in Granta, Ploughshares, Zoetrope, and other publications, and has been awarded the...
Behind You Is the Sea
Longlisted for the 2025 PEN/Faulkner Award for FictionSusan Muaddi Darraj is the author of American Book Award–winner A Curious Land and was a finalist for a Palestine Book Award. A United States Artists’ Ford Fellow and past winner of the Maryland State Arts...
James
Longlisted for the 2025 PEN/Faulkner Award for FictionPercival Everett is a Distinguished Professor of English at USC. His most recent books include Dr. No (finalist for the NBCC Award for Fiction and winner of the PEN/ Jean Stein Book Award), The Trees (finalist for...
Small Rain
Longlisted for the 2025 PEN/Faulkner Award for FictionGarth Greenwell is the author of What Belongs to You, which won the British Book Award for Debut of the Year, was longlisted for the National Book Award, and was a finalist for six other awards, including the...
Colored Television
Longlisted for the 2025 PEN/Faulkner Award for FictionDanzy Senna is the bestselling author of six previous books, including Caucasia, New People, and most recently Colored Television. The recipient of numerous awards and honors, she teaches writing at the University...
OUR 2024 PEN/FAULKNER LITERARY CHAMPION
David Baldacci
David Baldacci is a global #1 bestselling author, and one of the world’s favorite storytellers. His books are published in over 45 languages and in more than 80 countries, with 150 million copies sold worldwide. His works have been adapted for both feature film and television.
Along with his wife, David is also the cofounder of the Wish You Well Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting literacy programs in the United States. David is a graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University and the University of Virginia School of Law.
MASTER OF CEREMONIES
Ron Charles
Ron Charles writes about books and publishing for The Washington Post. For a dozen years, he enjoyed teaching American literature and critical theory in the Midwest. Before moving to the District, he edited the books section of the Christian Science Monitor in Boston. His wife is an English teacher and the cinematographer of their satirical series, “The Totally Hip Video Book Review.” His awards include the Louis Shores Award for reviewing from the American Library Association, the Nona Balakian Citation for Excellence in Reviewing from the National Book Critics Circle, and First Place for Arts & Entertainment Commentary from the Society for Features Journalism in 2011. He was one of three jurors for the 2014 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction.
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Unit #1062
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