PEN/Faulkner Award 2008: Complete list of winners

The PEN/Faulkner Award has long stood as one of American literature’s most prestigious honors, celebrating outstanding fiction by living writers. The 2008 ceremony proved no exception, recognizing work that exemplified the literary excellence the award has championed since its inception. Kate Christensen’s The Great Man claimed the fiction prize that year, a novel that would go on to become a defining work in her acclaimed career. Her win highlighted the award’s commitment to honoring nuanced, character-driven narratives that resonate with both critics and discerning readers.

Christensen’s victory at the PEN Faulkner Awards was particularly noteworthy for a novel that explores ambition, mortality, and the reimagining of a life in retrospect. The award itself remains one of the most competitive recognitions in American letters, judged by an esteemed panel of writers and presented annually to the author of the best published fiction by a living American writer. The 2008 PEN/Faulkner Award winners continued a tradition of identifying essential voices in contemporary American literature, ensuring that serious fiction receives the recognition it deserves in an increasingly crowded literary marketplace.

Below you’ll find complete details about this year’s honorees and what made their work stand out to the judging panel.

Fiction

• The Great Man by Kate Christensen