Living Canon

PEN/Faulkner Award 2021: Complete list of winners

The 2021 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction went to Deesha Philyaw for her debut collection The Secret Lives of Church Ladies, a striking achievement that signals the award’s continued commitment to elevating voices that explore the interior lives of Black women and the complexities of faith, desire, and community. The PEN/Faulkner Award, one of the largest peer-juried literary prizes in the United States, has long served as a bellwether for literary merit independent of commercial success, and Philyaw’s win reflects a literary moment increasingly attentive to short story collections and narratives centered on Black female experience. Her collection—consisting of interconnected stories that examine the secret desires and hidden identities of women within church communities—marks a significant recognition for a debut author at a major awards stage.

Philyaw’s selection underscores a broader trend in recent years of the PEN/Faulkner Award recognizing works that blend literary sophistication with unflinching social observation. The Secret Lives of Church Ladies doesn’t shy away from sexuality, hypocrisy, and the gap between public persona and private truth, themes that resonate deeply within contemporary conversations about identity and institutional power. The award, established in 1986 to honor excellence in American fiction and to increase the literary community’s awareness of and appreciation for short fiction, continues to champion the kind of nuanced, character-driven storytelling that defines Philyaw’s work.

Below, you’ll find complete details about this year’s PEN/Faulkner honoree and what made this recognition significant within the landscape of 2021 literary awards.

Fiction