“We are so excited to announce that Deesha Philyaw – Writer‘s “The Secret Lives of Church Ladies” (West Virginia University Press) has been selected as the winner of the 2021 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction!”
“I’m deeply honored and thankful to receive the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. I wrote The Secret Lives of Church Ladies in hopes that Black women would see and hear themselves in my characters who are all, in some way, striving to get free. Winning this award during a time of unconscionable loss, grief, and injustice, I’m reminded just how tenuous our freedom is. I’m reminded of and encouraged by Toni Morrison’s words: ‘The function of freedom is to free someone else.’ On the other side of this time of reckoning and the fight ahead, may we all be free.” – Deesha Philyaw
Honor Deesha Philyaw, along with finalists Matthew Salesses, Rufi Thorpe, Robin Wasserman, and Steve Wiegenstein – Author, on May 10 at 8pm ET! They will be joined by our judges Charles Finch, Bernice L. McFadden, and Alexi Zentner (writer); our inaugural PEN/Faulkner Literary Champion LeVar Burton; and our Master of Ceremonies Ron Charles!
The 2021 PEN/Faulkner Award Celebration will also feature guest appearances by Stephen King, Francine Prose, Luis Alberto Urrea, Angie Thomas, and Jason Reynolds.
Get your ticket at bit.ly/penfaulkneraward. We can’t wait to be with you all!
~PEN/Faulkner Foundation
Philyaw grew up in Jacksonville and graduated from Stanton College Preparatory School. Her book was inspired by her memories of growing up in Jacksonville.
