PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay

The PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay is awarded by the PEN America (formerly PEN American Center) to an author for a book of original collected essays.^[1] The award was founded by PEN Member and author Barbaralee Diamonstein and Carl Spielvogel,^[2] former New York Times columnist, "to preserve the dignity and esteem that the essay form imparts to literature."^[3] The winner receives a cash award of $10,000.^[1]

The award was on hiatus from 2005 to 2010.^[1]

The award is one of many PEN awards sponsored by International PEN affiliates in over 145 PEN centres around the world. The PEN American Center awards have been characterized as being among the "major" American literary prizes.^[4]

Award winners

PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay winners

Year	Author	Title	Result	Ref.
1990	Bernard Knox	Essays Ancient and Modern	Winner
1991	Martha Nussbaum	Love's Knowledge	Winner
1992	David Morris	The Culture of Pain	Winner
1993	Frederick Crews	The Critics Bear It Away: American Fiction and the Academy	Winner
1994	Stanley Fish	There's No Such Thing as Free Speech, and it's a Good Thing, Too	Winner
1995	John Brinckerhoff Jackson	A Sense of Place, A Sense of Time	Winner
1996	Thomas Nagel	Other Minds	Winner
1997	Cynthia Ozick	Fame and Folly	Winner
1998	Adam Hochschild	Finding the Trapdoor	Winner
1999	Marilynne Robinson	The Death of Adam	Winner
2000	Annie Dillard	For the Time Being	Winner
2001	David Quammen	The Boilerplate Rhino	Winner
2002	David Bromwich	Skeptical Music	Winner
2003	William H. Gass	Test of Time	Winner
2004	Stewart Justman	Seeds of Mortality	Winner
2011	Mark Slouka	Essays from the Nick of Time	Winner	[5]
2012	Christopher Hitchens	Arguably	Winner	[6][7]
2013	Robert Hass	What Light Can Do	Winner	[8][9]
	Jill Lepore	The Story of America	Shortlist	[10][11]
	Daniel Mendelsohn	Waiting for the Barbarians	Shortlist	[10][11]
2014	James Wolcott	Critical Mass	Winner	[12][13][14]
	Rebecca Solnit	The Faraway Nearby	Shortlist	[15]
	David Sedaris	Let's Explore Diabetes With Owls	Shortlist	[15]
	Janet Malcolm	Forty-One False Starts	Shortlist	[15]
2015	Ian Buruma	Theater of Cruelty: Art, Film, and the Shadow of War	Winner	[16][17]
	David Bromwich	Moral Imagination	Shortlist	[18]
	Charles D’Ambrosio	Loitering	Shortlist	[18]
	Leslie Jamison	The Empathy Exams	Shortlist	[18]
	Angela Pelster	Limber	Shortlist	[18]
2016	Ta-Nehisi Coates	Between the World and Me	Winner	[19][20][21]
	Renata Adler	After the Tall Timber: Collected Non-Fiction	Shortlist	[22]
	Susan Howe	The Quarry	Shortlist	[22][23]
	Marilynne Robinson	The Givenness of Things: Essays	Shortlist	[22]
	David L. Ulin	Sidewalking: Coming to Terms with Los Angeles	Shortlist	[22]
2017	Angela Morales	The Girls In My Town: Essays	Winner	[24][25][26]
2018	Ursula K. Le Guin	No Time to Spare: Thinking About What Matters	Winner	[27][28][29][30]
2019	Michelle Tea	Against Memoir	Winner	[31][32][33]
2020	Deborah Fleming	Resurrection of the Wild	Winner	[34][35]
	Eve Babitz	I Used to Be Charming: The Rest of Eve Babitz	Shortlist	[36]
	Leslie Jamison	Make It Scream, Make It Burn: Essays	Shortlist	[36]
	Emily Nussbaum	I Like To Watch: Arguing My Way Through the TV Revolution	Shortlist	[36]
	Jia Tolentino	Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion	Shortlist	[36]
2021	Barbara Ehrenreich	Had I Known: Collected Essays	Winner	[37][38]
2022	Margaret Renkl	Graceland, at Last: Notes on Hope and Heartache from the American South	Winner	[39][40][41]
	Hanif Abdurraqib	A Little Devil in America: Notes in Praise of Black Performance	Shortlist	[42][43]
	André Aciman	Homo Irrealis: Essays	Shortlist	[42][43]
	Teju Cole	Black Paper: Writing in a Dark Time	Shortlist	[42][43]
	Ann Patchett	These Precious Days: Essays	Shortlist	[42][43]
2023	Judith Thurman	A Left-Handed Woman	Winner	[44]
	Jhumpa Lahiri	Translating Myself and Others	Shortlist	[45]
	Peter Orner	Still No Word From You	Shortlist	[45]
	David Sedaris	Happy-Go-Lucky	Shortlist	[45]
	Alison Townsend	The Green Hour: A Natural History of Home	Shortlist	[45]

References

1. Writer's Chronicle, "PEN Revives Essay Award", February 2011 issue. Google cache.
2. Lordina Ash, Avenue, "Record (Setting) Collectors", May 2011, pg. 61
3. PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay Archived 2018-07-23 at the Wayback Machine, official website.
4. Alfred Bendixen (2005). "Literary Prizes and Awards". The Continuum Encyclopedia of American Literature. Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 689. ISBN 9780826417770. Archived from the original on 2023-02-24. Retrieved 2016-10-23.
5. Lisa (2012-11-16). "2011 Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay". PEN America. Archived from the original on 2022-08-17. Retrieved 2023-02-25.
6. Lisa (2012-11-16). "2012 PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award". PEN America. Archived from the original on 2022-06-28. Retrieved 2023-02-25.
7. "Awards: PEN Literary". Shelf Awareness. August 30, 2012. Archived from the original on 2023-02-03. Retrieved 2023-02-25.
8. Carolyn Kellogg (August 14, 2013). "Jacket Copy: PEN announces winners of its 2013 awards". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on August 16, 2013. Retrieved August 14, 2013.
9. "Awards: PEN Literary". Shelf Awareness. August 15, 2013. Archived from the original on 2022-11-27. Retrieved 2023-02-25.
10. "PEN American Center 2013 Literary Awards Shortlists". Publishers Weekly. 2013-07-11. Archived from the original on 2022-01-16. Retrieved 2023-02-25.
11. "Shortlists Announced for the 2013 PEN Literary Awards". PEN America. 2013-07-10. Archived from the original on 2022-12-16. Retrieved 2023-02-25.
12. Williams, John (July 30, 2014). "James Wolcott and Frank Bidart Among 2014 PEN American Winners". New York Times. Archived from the original on August 1, 2014. Retrieved August 1, 2014.
13. "2014 PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay". PEN America. 2014-04-16. Archived from the original on 2022-12-06. Retrieved 2023-02-25.
14. "Awards: PEN Literary". Shelf Awareness. July 31, 2014. Archived from the original on 2020-08-15. Retrieved 2023-02-25.
15. "Shortlists Announced for the 2014 PEN Literary Awards". PEN America. 2014-06-18. Archived from the original on 2022-10-02. Retrieved 2023-02-25.
16. "Awards: PEN; Frank O'Connor; CWA Dagger". Shelf Awareness. June 9, 2015. Archived from the original on 2021-05-09. Retrieved 2023-02-25.
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18. "2015 PEN Literary Awards Shortlist". PEN America. 2015-04-10. Archived from the original on 2022-12-06. Retrieved 2023-02-25.
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23. "Awards: Frost Medal; Friedrich Ulfers Prize". Shelf Awareness. January 26, 2017. Archived from the original on 2022-08-18. Retrieved 2023-02-25.
24. Tubb, Nathaniel (2017-03-27). "2017 PEN/DIAMONSTEIN-SPIELVOGEL AWARD FOR THE ART OF THE ESSAY". PEN America. Archived from the original on 2022-10-03. Retrieved 2023-02-25.
25. "Awards: PEN Literary; BTBA Longlists; Christophers". Shelf Awareness. March 29, 2017. Archived from the original on 2022-12-24. Retrieved 2023-02-25.
26. Maher, John (2017-03-27). "At PEN Awards, A Scaled-Up Atmosphere and Political Bent". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on 2022-12-06. Retrieved 2023-02-25.
27. John Maher (February 21, 2018). "Long Soldier, Zhang, Le Guin Win At 2018 PEN Literary Awards". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on February 22, 2018. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
28. "Awards: PEN America Literary; L.A. Times Book Finalists". Shelf Awareness. February 22, 2018. Archived from the original on 2022-10-01. Retrieved 2023-02-25.
29. "The 2018 PEN America Literary Awards Winners". PEN America. February 20, 2018. Archived from the original on February 21, 2018. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
30. Porter Anderson (January 31, 2018). "Industry Notes: PEN America's Finalists". Publishing Perspectives. Archived from the original on February 22, 2018. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
31. "Michelle Tea wins PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay". Feminist Press. Archived from the original on 2021-09-12. Retrieved 2023-02-25.
32. Maher, John (2019-02-27). "'Daring Works' Fêted at 2019 PEN America Literary Awards". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on 2022-09-24. Retrieved 2023-02-25.
33. "PEN America Literary Award Winners Honored". Shelf Awareness. February 27, 2019. Archived from the original on 2022-12-26. Retrieved 2023-02-25.
34. Tidwell, Christy (March 9, 2020). "DEBORAH FLEMING'S RESURRECTION OF THE WILD WINS PEN/DIAMONSTEIN-SPIELVOGEL AWARD FOR THE ART OF THE ESSAY". asle.org. Archived from the original on July 6, 2022. Retrieved December 13, 2020.
35. "PEN America Literary Award Winners Honored". Shelf Awareness. March 4, 2020. Archived from the original on 2022-08-19. Retrieved 2023-02-25.
36. "PEN America 2020 Awards Shortlists Announced". Publishers Weekly. 2020-01-29. Archived from the original on 2022-07-03. Retrieved 2023-02-25.
37. "Barbara Ehrenreich among winners of PEN literary awards". AP News. April 9, 2021. Archived from the original on May 18, 2021. Retrieved May 18, 2021.
38. "PEN America Literary Award Winners Honored". Shelf Awareness. April 9, 2021. Archived from the original on 2022-12-25. Retrieved 2023-02-25.
39. Smith, Eliza (March 1, 2022). "Here are the winners of the 2022 PEN America Literary Awards". Literary Hub. Archived from the original on March 3, 2022. Retrieved March 4, 2022.
40. Stewart, Sophia (2022-03-01). "Hernández, Choi, Renkl, Peters, and Miles Win 2022 PEN Lit Awards". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on 2022-11-30. Retrieved 2023-02-25.
41. "PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay". PEN America. 2020-06-10. Archived from the original on 2022-12-05. Retrieved 2023-02-25.
42. Stewart, Sophia (2022-01-26). "PEN America Announces Finalists for 2022 Literary Awards". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on 2022-12-05. Retrieved 2023-02-25.
43. "Announcing the 2022 PEN America Literary Awards Finalists". PEN America. 2022-01-26. Archived from the original on 2022-10-10. Retrieved 2023-02-25.
44. "PEN America Literary Award Winners Celebrated". Shelf Awareness. 2023-03-06. Retrieved 2023-03-07.
45. "Announcing the 2023 PEN America Literary Awards Finalists". PEN America. 2023-02-15. Archived from the original on 2023-02-20. Retrieved 2023-02-25.

External links

• PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay
• MBA Essay Writing