PEN/Faulkner Award 2006: Complete list of winners

E. L. Doctorow’s The March claimed the 2006 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, marking a significant recognition for one of America’s most celebrated historical novelists. The award, which celebrates the most outstanding works of fiction by American authors, has long served as a barometer for serious literary achievement—and Doctorow’s sweeping novel about Sherman’s Civil War campaign proved an inspired choice. The March exemplifies the kind of ambitious, meticulously researched historical fiction that the PEN/Faulkner Award has championed since its inception in 1987, rewarding writers who demonstrate exceptional craft and vision without the commercial pressures that sometimes influence other major literary prizes.

What makes Doctorow’s win particularly noteworthy is how The March reassesses a crucial moment in American history through a fragmented, modernist narrative structure. Rather than offering a straightforward military chronicle, the novel weaves together multiple perspectives and temporal layers, transforming the Civil War’s devastating human toll into a complex meditation on American identity and power. This year’s selection underscores the PEN/Faulkner Award’s reputation for honoring bold, intellectually rigorous fiction that challenges readers and expands the possibilities of the historical novel form.

Below, you’ll find the complete list of 2006 PEN/Faulkner Award honorees and finalists, a distinguished roster that reflects the breadth and depth of American fiction in the mid-2000s.

Fiction

• The March by E. L. Doctorow