PEN/Hemingway Award 1995: Complete list of winners

The PEN/Hemingway Award has long served as a prestigious launching pad for debut novelists, and the 1995 edition proved no exception in recognizing fresh literary talent. Established to honor the best debut fiction published in the United States, this award carries particular weight in the literary world—it’s the kind of recognition that can reshape a writer’s career trajectory overnight. The 1995 PEN/Hemingway Award winner, Susan Power’s The Grass Dancer, exemplified exactly the kind of groundbreaking work the award aims to celebrate: a debut novel that arrived fully formed with its own distinctive voice and cultural significance.

The Grass Dancer marked Power’s stunning entrance into American literature, introducing readers to her gift for weaving together Lakota traditions, family history, and contemporary Native American experience. The novel’s win that year reflected an important moment in publishing history when indigenous voices were beginning to receive greater recognition at major literary awards. Power’s debut demonstrated that the PEN/Hemingway Award, often searched as “PEN Hemingway Award” or simply “Hemingway Award,” remained committed to identifying truly original work regardless of the author’s background or publishing connections—a mission that continues to define the honor today.

Below, you’ll find the complete details of the 1995 winners and what made this year’s selections significant for the literary community:

Debut Novel

• The Grass Dancer by Susan Power