Finalists have been released for the 2026 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. The winner, who will receive $15,000, will be named in early April, with the remaining four finalists each receiving $5,000. All five authors will be honored on May 6 at the 46th Anniversary PEN/Faulkner Award Celebration in Washington, D.C. This year's finalists are:
Dominion by Addie E. Citchens (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
The White Hot by Quiara Alegría Hudes (One World)
The Sisters by Jonas Hassen Khemiri (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
Heart the Lover by Lily King (Grove Press)
Small Scale Sinners by Mahreen Sohail (A Public Space Books)
The judges said: "The five vital, brilliant books on our shortlist draw us into humanity's complex core of beauty, violence, joy, intelligence, and imagination. Families spin; nature embraces life; connections whisper or shout; hearts break then grow while human truths emerge. These books--outstretched hands--verify that the small can consistently counter mighty power structures endangering our earth and that art always stands resilient, emancipating, and essential."