PEN/Hemingway Award 2015: Complete list of winners

The 2015 PEN/Hemingway Award celebrated the arrival of a striking new voice in American letters. Named after Ernest Hemingway and presented by PEN America, this prestigious honor recognizes outstanding debut fiction that demonstrates the economical, powerful prose style Hemingway himself exemplified. This year’s winner, Elegy on Kinderklavier by Arna Bontemps Hemenway, captures exactly what the award seeks to honor—a debut novel that announces its author as a major literary talent with distinctive vision and control.

Hemenway’s win marks an important moment in contemporary American fiction, joining a lineage of PEN/Hemingway Award recipients who have gone on to shape the literary landscape. The award, which has been spotlighting exceptional debut novels since its inception, continues to serve as a launching pad for writers working with precision and depth. Hemenway’s novel stood out among the year’s submissions for its unflinching exploration and restrained language, qualities that would have resonated with Hemingway’s own literary philosophy.

Below, you’ll find the complete details of this year’s PEN/Hemingway Award winner and what makes this debut novel a significant entry into the current literary conversation.

Debut Novel

• Elegy on Kinderklavier by Arna Bontemps Hemenway