PEN/Faulkner Award 1993: Complete list of winners

The 1993 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction went to E. Annie Proulx for her sweeping debut novel Postcards, a work that immediately established her as a major voice in contemporary American literature. The PEN/Faulkner Award, one of the most prestigious honors for literary fiction, recognizes the year’s best book-length work of fiction by an American writer, and Proulx’s multigenerational saga of a family scattered across the continent proved to be a standout choice. Postcards unfolds through a series of correspondences that trace the life of its protagonist, Loyal Blood, from his roots in rural Vermont through decades of restless wandering, capturing the texture of American life across the twentieth century with remarkable specificity and emotional depth.

What made Proulx’s win particularly significant was the recognition it gave to a writer who had only recently turned to fiction after years working as a journalist and magazine editor. At an age when many writers have already established their reputations, Proulx arrived fully formed, bringing the keen observational eye and narrative control she’d honed in nonfiction to bear on a sprawling fictional landscape. Her meticulous attention to regional detail, precise language, and the connections between place and character would become hallmarks of her career. The 1993 PEN/Faulkner Award winners demonstrated the award’s commitment to recognizing transformative debuts and fresh perspectives in American letters.

Fiction

• Postcards by E. Annie Proulx