Submit Now: 2011 Lit Awards
PEN USA is currently accepting submissions for its 29th Annual Literary Awards

PEN Center USA’s Annual Literary Awards, established in 1982, are a unique, regional competition that recognizes literary excellence in ten categories: fiction, creative nonfiction, research nonfiction, poetry, children’s literature, translation, journalism, drama, teleplay, and screenplay. Past award winners include:

Woody Allen
Rudolfo Anaya    
Paul Thomas Anderson
Ray Bradbury
T.C. Boyle
Sandra Cisneros
George Clooney
Cameron Crowe
Ariel & Will Durant
Carrie Fisher
Betty Friedan
Matt Groening
Vaclav Havel
Charlie Kaufman
Barbara Kingsolver
Maxine Hong Kingston
Ursula K. Le Guin
Dan Savage
Neil Simon
Oliver Stone
Michael Tolkin
Gus Van Sant
Gore Vidal
Alice Walker
Billy Wilder
Steven Zaillian

PEN USA is accepting submissions of work produced or published in 2010 by writers living west of the Mississippi River. Entries in the ten categories are reviewed and judged by panels of distinguished writers, critics and editors. Winners are announced in late summer. Each receives a $1,000 cash prize, a year of PEN membership, and will be PEN’s guest at the Annual Literary Awards Festival in Los Angeles.

The Festival is held at the Beverly Hills Hotel and features a dinner, the awards ceremony, and a silent auction or raffle. This gala draws over 500 prominent writers, editors, publishers, actors, and directors.

Download the 2011 Lit Awards Book Submission Form here.