Every PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction winner, 1981–2026

The PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction has gone to 46 books since 1981. The latest winner is Small Scale Sinners by Mahreen Sohail (2026). Of the 38 winners on ReadingRate, the most readable is Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue (difficulty 41/100, about 6.4 hours); the hardest is Philadelphia Fire by John Edgar Wideman (72/100). The quickest of them to finish is The Barracks Thief by Tobias Wolff, at about 2.2 hours.

How book difficulty is measured

2026

• Small Scale Sinners by Mahreen Sohail — difficulty 44/100, about 4.8 hours
• Dominion by Addie E. Citchens — finalist
• The White Hot by Quiara Alegría Hudes — finalist
• The Sisters by Jonas Hassen Khemiri — finalist
• Heart the Lover by Lily King — finalist

2025

• Small Rain by Garth Greenwell — difficulty 59/100, about 6.3 hours
• James by Percival Everett — finalist
• Colored Television by Danzy Senna — finalist
• Ghostroots by Pemi Aguda — finalist
• Behind You Is the Sea by Susan Muaddi Darraj — finalist

2024

• What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez by Claire Jiménez
• Witness by Jamel Brinkley — finalist
• Open Throat by Henry Hoke — finalist
• Absolution by Alice McDermott — finalist
• Users by Colin Winnette — finalist

2023

• The Book of Goose by Yiyun Li — difficulty 61/100, about 8.4 hours
• If I Survive You by Jonathan Escoffery — finalist
• Sweet, Soft, Plenty Rhythm by Laura Warrell — finalist
• The Islands by Dionne Irving — finalist
• Fruiting Bodies by Kathryn Harlan — finalist

2022

• The Wrong End of the Telescope by Rabih Alameddine
• Radiant Fugitives by Nawaaz Ahmed — finalist
• Dear Miss Metropolitan by Carolyn Ferrell — finalist
• How Beautiful We Were by Imbolo Mbue — finalist
• The President and the Frog by Carolina de Robertis — finalist

2021

• The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw — difficulty 54/100, about 3.4 hours
• Disappear Doppelgänger Disappear by Matthew Salesses — finalist
• The Knockout Queen by Rufi Thorpe — finalist
• Mother Daughter Widow Wife by Robin Wasserman — finalist
• Scattered Lights by Steve Wiegenstein — finalist

2020

• Sea Monsters by Chloe Aridjis
• Where Reasons End by Yiyun Li — finalist
• The Night Swimmers by Peter Rock — finalist
• We Cast a Shadow by Maurice Carlos Ruffin — finalist
• On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong — finalist

2019

• Call Me Zebra by Azareen Van der Vliet Oloomi
• Tomb of the Unknown Racist by Blanche McCrary Boyd — finalist
• The Overstory by Richard Powers — finalist
• Love War Stories by Ivelisse Rodriguez — finalist
• Don't Skip Out on Me by Willy Vlautin — finalist

2018

• Improvement by Joan Silber
• In the Distance by Hernán Diaz — finalist
• The Dark Dark by Samantha Hunt — finalist
• The Tower of the Antilles by Achy Obejas — finalist
• Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward — finalist

2017

• Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue — difficulty 41/100, about 6.4 hours
• After Disasters by Viet Dinh — finalist
• LaRose by Louise Erdrich — finalist
• What Belongs to You by Garth Greenwell — finalist
• Your Heart Is a Muscle the Size of a Fist by Sunil Yapa — finalist

2016

• Delicious Foods by James Hannaham — difficulty 53/100, about 3.3 hours
• Mr. and Mrs. Doctor by Julie Iromuanya — finalist
• The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen — finalist
• Mendocino Fire by Elizabeth Tallent — finalist
• The Water Museum by Luis Alberto Urrea — finalist

2015

• Preparation for the Next Life by Atticus Lish — difficulty 54/100, about 7.3 hours
• Song of the Shank by Jeffery Renard Allen — finalist
• Prayers for the Stolen by Jennifer Clement — finalist
• Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill — finalist
• Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel — finalist

2014

• We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler — difficulty 60/100, about 6.8 hours
• At Night We Walk in Circles by Daniel Alarcón — finalist
• Percival Everett by Virgil Russell by Percival Everett — finalist
• Fools by Joan Silber — finalist
• Search Party by Valerie Trueblood — finalist

2013

• Everything Begins and Ends at the Kentucky Club by Benjamin Alire Sáenz — difficulty 49/100, about 3 hours
• Threats by Amelia Gray — finalist
• Kind One by Laird Hunt — finalist
• Hold It 'Til It Hurts by T. Geronimo Johnson — finalist
• Watergate by Thomas Mallon — finalist

2012

• The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka — difficulty 56/100, about 2.6 hours
• Lost Memory of Skin by Russell Banks — finalist
• The Angel Esmeralda by Don DeLillo — finalist
• The Artist of Disappearance by Anita Desai — finalist
• We Others by Steven Millhauser — finalist

2011

• The Collected Stories of Deborah Eisenberg by Deborah Eisenberg
• A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan — finalist
• Lord of Misrule by Jaimy Gordon — finalist
• Model Home by Eric Puchner — finalist
• Aliens in the Prime of Their Lives by Brad Watson — finalist

2010

• War Dances by Sherman Alexie — difficulty 55/100, about 3.1 hours
• The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver — finalist
• Homicide Survivors Picnic by Lorraine López — finalist
• A Gate at the Stairs by Lorrie Moore — finalist
• Sag Harbor by Colson Whitehead — finalist

2009

• Netherland by Joseph O'Neill — difficulty 56/100, about 11 hours
• Ms. Hempel Chronicles by Sarah Shun-lien Bynum — finalist
• A Person of Interest by Susan Choi — finalist
• Lush Life by Richard Price — finalist
• Serena by Ron Rash — finalist

2008

• The Great Man by Kate Christensen — difficulty 69/100, about 8.8 hours
• The Maytrees by Annie Dillard — finalist
• The Indian Clerk by David Leavitt — finalist
• The Gateway by T. M. McNally — finalist
• Chemistry and Other Stories by Ron Rash — finalist

2007

• Everyman by Philip Roth — difficulty 42/100, about 2.5 hours
• The Dead Fish Museum by Charles D'Ambrosio — finalist
• Twilight of the Superheroes by Deborah Eisenberg — finalist
• The Collected Stories of Amy Hempel by Amy Hempel — finalist
• All Aunt Hagar's Children by Edward P. Jones — finalist

2006

• The March by E. L. Doctorow — difficulty 68/100, about 11 hours
• A Sudden Country by Karen Fisher — finalist
• I Got Somebody in Staunton by William Henry Lewis — finalist
• Last Night by James Salter — finalist
• The Chrysanthemum Palace by Bruce Wagner — finalist

2005

• War Trash by Ha Jin — difficulty 55/100, about 6.3 hours
• The Green Lantern by Jerome Charyn — finalist
• The Dew Breaker by Edwidge Danticat — finalist
• Gilead by Marilynne Robinson — finalist
• Prisoners of War by Steve Yarbrough — finalist

2004

• The Early Stories: 1953–1975 by John Updike — difficulty 55/100, about 16 hours
• Elroy Nights by Frederick Barthelme — finalist
• Drinking Coffee Elsewhere by ZZ Packer — finalist
• A Distant Shore by Caryl Phillips — finalist
• Old School by Tobias Wolff — finalist

2003

• The Caprices by Sabina Murray — difficulty 54/100, about 3.7 hours
• The City of Your Final Destination by Peter Cameron — finalist
• Roscoe by William Kennedy — finalist
• The Ecstatic by Victor LaValle — finalist
• Little Casino by Gilbert Sorrentino — finalist

2002

• Bel Canto by Ann Patchett — difficulty 44/100, about 5.4 hours
• Sister Noon by Karen Joy Fowler — finalist
• The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen — finalist
• The Hunters by Claire Messud — finalist
• The Death of Vishnu by Manil Suri — finalist

2001

• The Human Stain by Philip Roth — difficulty 66/100, about 13 hours
• The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon — finalist
• Harry Gold by Millicent Dillon — finalist
• The Name of the World by Denis Johnson — finalist
• Off Keck Road by Mona Simpson — finalist

2000

• Waiting by Ha Jin — difficulty 54/100
• The Night Inspector by Frederick Busch — finalist
• Pu-239 and Other Russian Fantasies by Ken Kalfus — finalist
• Amy and Isabelle by Elizabeth Strout — finalist
• Siam, or the Woman Who Shot a Man by Lily Tuck — finalist

1999

• The Hours by Michael Cunningham — difficulty 66/100, about 5.1 hours
• Cloudsplitter by Russell Banks — finalist
• The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver — finalist
• Starting Out in the Evening by Brian Morton — finalist
• The Doctor Stories by Richard Selzer — finalist

1998

• The Bear Comes Home by Rafi Zabor — difficulty 57/100, about 9 hours
• The Hundred Brothers by Donald Antrim — finalist
• The Mercy Seat by Rilla Askew — finalist
• Because They Wanted To by Mary Gaitskill — finalist
• The Ordinary Seaman by Francisco Goldman — finalist

1997

• Women in Their Beds by Gina Berriault — difficulty 57/100, about 6.4 hours
• St. Burl's Obituary by Daniel Akst — finalist
• The Book of Mercy by Kathleen Cambor — finalist
• Atticus by Ron Hansen — finalist
• The Autobiography of My Mother by Jamaica Kincaid — finalist

1996

• Independence Day by Richard Ford — difficulty 49/100, about 12 hours
• The Tunnel by William H. Gass — finalist
• When the World Was Steady by Claire Messud — finalist
• All Souls' Rising by Madison Smartt Bell — finalist
• The Good Negress by A. J. Verdelle — finalist

1995

• Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson — difficulty 61/100, about 12 hours
• The Children in the Woods by Frederick Busch — finalist
• What I Lived For by Joyce Carol Oates — finalist
• Stones from the River by Ursula Hegi — finalist
• Various Antidotes by Joanna Scott — finalist

1994

• Operation Shylock by Philip Roth — difficulty 71/100, about 16 hours
• Van Gogh's Room at Arles by Stanley Elkin — finalist
• The Magic of Blood by Dagoberto Gilb — finalist
• Bone by Fae Myenne Ng — finalist
• Not Where I Started From by Kate Wheeler — finalist

1993

• Postcards by E. Annie Proulx — difficulty 55/100, about 7.8 hours
• The Long Night of White Chickens by Francisco Goldman — finalist
• Natural History by Maureen Howard — finalist
• A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain by Robert Olen Butler — finalist
• Talking to the Dead by Sylvia Watanabe — finalist

1992

• Mao II by Don DeLillo — difficulty 61/100, about 6.5 hours
• Frog by Stephen Dixon — finalist
• Extraordinary People by Paul Gervais — finalist
• White People by Allan Gurganus — finalist
• The Almanac Branch by Bradford Morrow — finalist

1991

• Philadelphia Fire by John Edgar Wideman — difficulty 72/100, about 8 hours
• The Music of Chance by Paul Auster — finalist
• A Gentleman's Guide to the Frontier by Joanne Meschery — finalist
• The Barnum Museum by Steven Millhauser — finalist
• Arrogance by Joanna Scott — finalist

1990

• Billy Bathgate by E. L. Doctorow — difficulty 71/100, about 13 hours
• Affliction by Russell Banks — finalist
• The Jump-Off Creek by Molly Gloss — finalist
• On the Island by Josephine Jacobsen — finalist
• Leaving Brooklyn by Lynne Sharon Schwartz — finalist

1989

• Dusk and Other Stories by James Salter
• Vanished by Mary McGarry Morris — finalist
• The Corner of Rife and Pacific by Thomas Savage — finalist
• The Death of Methuselah and Other Stories by Isaac Bashevis Singer — finalist

1988

• World's End by T. C. Boyle — difficulty 60/100, about 14 hours
• Spirits, and Other Stories by Richard Bausch — finalist
• That Night by Alice McDermott — finalist
• The Messiah of Stockholm by Cynthia Ozick — finalist
• Imagining Argentina by Lawrence Thornton — finalist

1987

• Soldiers in Hiding by Richard Wiley — difficulty 53/100, about 3.4 hours
• The Sportswriter by Richard Ford — finalist
• Expensive Habits by Maureen Howard — finalist
• The Sorcerer's Apprentice by Charles R. Johnson — finalist
• Collaborators by Janet Kauffman — finalist

1986

• The Old Forest and Other Stories by Peter Taylor
• Carpenter's Gothic by William Gaddis — finalist
• Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry — finalist
• The Tree of Life by Hugh Nissenson — finalist
• The Christmas Wife by Helen Norris — finalist
• Later the Same Day by Grace Paley — finalist

1985

• The Barracks Thief by Tobias Wolff — difficulty 66/100, about 2.2 hours
• Stones for Ibarra by Harriet Doerr — finalist
• The Dixie Association by Donald Hays — finalist
• Family Dancing by David Leavitt — finalist
• On Glory's Course by James Purdy — finalist

1984

• Sent for You Yesterday by John Edgar Wideman — difficulty 60/100, about 4.2 hours
• The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford by Ron Hansen — finalist
• Ironweed by William Kennedy — finalist
• At the Bottom of the River by Jamaica Kincaid — finalist
• The Stories by Bernard Malamud — finalist
• The Cannibal Galaxy by Cynthia Ozick — finalist

1983

• Seaview by Toby Olson — difficulty 53/100, about 4.3 hours
• Grace Abounding by Maureen Howard — finalist
• Shiloh and Other Stories by Bobbie Ann Mason — finalist
• The Portage to San Cristobal of A.H. by George Steiner — finalist
• Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant by Anne Tyler — finalist
• Birthplace by William S. Wilson — finalist

1982

• The Chaneysville Incident by David Bradley — difficulty 57/100, about 8.3 hours
• Sixty Stories by Donald Barthelme — finalist
• Take Me Back by Richard Bausch — finalist
• Ellis Island and Other Stories by Mark Helprin — finalist
• Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson — finalist
• A Flag for Sunrise by Robert Stone — finalist

1981

• How German Is It by Walter Abish — difficulty 62/100, about 5.4 hours
• The Transit of Venus by Shirley Hazzard — finalist
• The Second Coming by Walker Percy — finalist
• Aberration of Starlight by Gilbert Sorrentino — finalist
• A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole — finalist

Questions

Who won the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction in 2026?

Small Scale Sinners by Mahreen Sohail.

Which PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction winner should I read first?

For the gentlest start, Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue: the easiest of the 38 winners on ReadingRate to read, with a difficulty of 41/100 and about 6.4 hours of reading. For the quickest, The Barracks Thief by Tobias Wolff, about 2.2 hours.

Which PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction winner is the hardest to read?

Philadelphia Fire by John Edgar Wideman, with a difficulty of 72/100; it takes about 8 hours.

Who has won the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction more than once?

John Edgar Wideman (1984 and 1991), E. L. Doctorow (1990 and 2006), Philip Roth (1994, 2001 and 2007) and Ha Jin (2000 and 2005).

How long would it take to read every PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction winner?

About 270 hours at an average reading pace, for the 37 winners with a measured length.

Winners from Wikipedia, checked 2026-10-31.

Other prizes: Nobel Prize in Literature, Booker Prize, Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, International Booker Prize, National Book Award for Fiction, Women's Prize for Fiction, Hugo Award for Best Novel, Nebula Award for Best Novel, Prix Goncourt, Dublin Literary Award, National Book Award for Nonfiction, Costa Novel Award, Albert J. Beveridge Award, Goodreads Choice Award for Fiction. Every literary prize; every winner of 2026.