PEN/Hemingway Award 2025: Complete list of winners

The PEN/Hemingway Award has long celebrated the kind of spare, muscular prose that Ernest Hemingway himself championed—writing that cuts through excess to reveal something true about the human condition. This year, the 2025 PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel honors Early Sobrieties by Michael Deagler, a striking first work that exemplifies the award’s commitment to recognizing emerging voices who write with precision and unflinching honesty. Founded in 1976, the PEN/Hemingway Award remains one of the most prestigious honors for debut fiction writers, drawing attention to authors whose first books demonstrate exceptional literary merit and the kind of economical storytelling the award’s namesake would have recognized.

Deagler’s win marks a meaningful moment in contemporary debut fiction, where intimate, character-driven narratives continue to resonate with both critics and readers navigating our current literary landscape. The PEN/Hemingway Award selection process is notoriously rigorous, making each winner a genuine achievement within the competitive field of first novels published each year. This recognition positions Deagler among a distinguished lineage of debut authors who’ve gone on to shape American letters, from established names to emerging talents who’ve used this platform to build substantial careers.

Here’s the complete list of 2025 winners:

Debut Novel

• Early Sobrieties by Michael Deagler