2025 PEN/Faulkner Award Celebration
Thursday, May 15, 2025
6 PM arrivals, 7 PM ceremony, 8 PM dinner and dessert
Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library
Cocktail Attire
An Event to Remember for Contemporary Fiction Lovers
Our 45th Annual PEN/Faulkner Award Celebration on May 15, 2025 will honor this year’s distinguished books and authors. This exquisite literary evening willl feature presentations by our judges; original readings by our winner and four finalists; and a celebration of Dr. Carla Hayden, our 2025 PEN/Faulkner Literary Champion.
HONOREES
PEN/Faulkner Award Finalists
‘Pemi Aguda
Susan Muaddi Darraj
Percival Everett
Garth Greenwell
Danzy Senna
PEN/Faulkner Literary Champion
Dr. Carla Hayden
SPECIAL GUESTS
2025 Judges
Bruce Holsinger
Deesha Philyaw
Luis Alberto Urrea
Master of Ceremonies
Ron Charles
CELEBRATION CO-CHAIRS
Renée & Stephen Gardner
Laura & Jonathan Kravis
Sophia McCrocklin & William Isaacson
CELEBRATION TEAM
Anonymous
Anne Aaron
Elliot Ackerman & Lea Carpenter
Aldridge Borden
Marie Arana & Jonathan Yardley
Deborah Taylor Ashford
Katherine Boone & Joshua Geltzer
The Honorable Ann Brown
Melinda & John Buntin
Leslie & Andrew Cockburn
Jonathan Coopersmith & Lisa Halperin
Susan M. Crawford
DC Writers Room
East City Bookshop
Molly Elkin & Ivan Wasserman
Lauren Francis-Sharma & Anand Sharma
Elizabeth & Paul L. Friedman
The Garcia Family Spotlight Foundation
Renée & Stephen Gardner
Susan Ginsburg & Mario Velasquez
Emily & David Glendinning
Hachette Book Group
Mary & Robert Haft
Shelby Settles Harper
Linette S. Hwu
Ingram Content Group
Laura & Jonathan Kravis
Margaret Rood Lenzer
Willee & Finlay Lewis
Loyalty Books
Sophia McCrocklin & William Isaacson
Tracy & Gregory McGillivary
Malcolm & Virginia O’Hagan
Lisa & Clarence Page
John & Bethanne Kelly Patrick
The Paz Fund
Nicole Petrosky & De Margo “Kali” Hopson
Politics & Prose
Wendy Ponvert & Harold Rosen
Relegation Books
Shreve Williams Public Relations
Joan H. Simmons
James K. Smith & Michael Singer
Emilie & Jacob Sommer
Deborah Tannen & Michael Macovski
Lucretia Dewey Tanner
Ericka Taylor
Martha Anne Toll & Daniel Becker
The Warner Foundation
Stephanie Wimmer
Jung Yun & Joel Anderson
This list is current as of March 27, 2025
Our 2025 PEN/Faulkner Award 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 2025 PEN/FAULKNER LITERARY CHAMPION
Dr. Carla Hayden
Dr. Carla Hayden was sworn in as the 14th Librarian of Congress on September 14, 2016. Dr. Hayden, the first woman and the first African American to lead the national library, was nominated to the position by President Barack Obama on February 24, 2016, and her nomination was confirmed by the U.S. Senate later that year on July 13.
Her vision for America’s national library, connecting all Americans to the Library of Congress, has redefined and modernized the Library’s mission: to engage, inspire and inform Congress and the American people with a universal and enduring source of knowledge and creativity.
Prior to her current role, Dr. Hayden held leadership positions at the Enoch Pratt Free Library, the Chicago Public Library, the University of Pittsburgh Library, the Museum of Science and Industry, and the Chicago Public Library.
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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