PEN/Faulkner Award 2016: Complete list of winners

The 2016 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction went to James Hannaham for Delicious Foods, a startling and inventive novel that announces itself immediately as something different from the usual literary fare. Hannaham’s book—narrated in part by a sentient crack addiction—tackles the legacy of sharecropping and economic exploitation in America with a voice that is simultaneously grotesque, darkly funny, and deeply humane. It’s the kind of formally daring work that the PEN/Faulkner Foundation has long championed, rewarding writers who push against the boundaries of what fiction can do.

The PEN/Faulkner Award, one of the most prestigious honors for American fiction, has a particular mission: to recognize and honor the most distinguished fiction by living American writers. Unlike some awards that reward commercial success or mainstream appeal, the PEN/Faulkner Award tends to spotlight work that is intellectually rigorous, stylistically inventive, and unafraid to take risks. Hannaham’s win exemplifies this tradition perfectly. Delicious Foods is not an easy read, but it’s a necessary one—the kind of novel that expands your sense of what American literature can encompass.

Below, you’ll find complete information about this year’s winners and finalists.

Fiction

• Delicious Foods by James Hannaham