PEN/Hemingway Award 1987: Complete list of winners

The PEN/Hemingway Award has long served as one of the literary world’s most prestigious honors for debut fiction, and the 1987 PEN Hemingway Award proved no exception in recognizing emerging talent with remarkable promise. Named after Ernest Hemingway and awarded by PEN America, this annual prize spotlights first novels that demonstrate exceptional craft and vision, helping launch careers that might otherwise languish in obscurity. The 1987 winner would become a testament to the award’s mission of championing fresh voices and compelling storytelling from writers making their literary debut.

That year’s honoree was Mary Ward Brown’s Tongues of Flame, a striking first novel that captured the attention of judges and established Brown as a significant new literary voice. The novel’s selection underscored the PEN/Hemingway Award’s commitment to recognizing serious fiction that combines stylistic excellence with emotional depth—hallmarks of Hemingway’s own influence on American letters. Brown’s achievement that year reflected the kind of debut fiction the prize has consistently championed: work that announces an author of substance and sophistication from the outset.

Below you’ll find more details about the 1987 winner and what made this year’s selection noteworthy for the PEN/Hemingway Award:

Debut Novel

• Tongues of Flame by Mary Ward Brown