The 2020 PEN America Literary Awards Ceremony will celebrate exceptional voices in literature across genres. Hosted by “Late Night” host, comedian, and “influential recommender of books” (The New York Times), Seth Meyers, the Ceremony will honor writers with live book award announcements in the categories of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, drama, translation, and more.

The night will feature a moving tribute to Mike Nichols by Cynthia Nixon and Christine Baranski, and Kenneth Lonnergan will present the PEN/Mike Nichols Writing for Performance Award to Tom Stoppard.

Poet Rigoberto González will read a selected portion of his own work and actors Kerry Butler, André Holland, and Eisa Davis will perform a scene from The Call by Tanya Barfield, winner of the PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater Award. Novelist and poet M. NourbeSe Philip will accept the PEN/Nabokov Award for Achievement in International Literature.  

For over five decades, PEN America's Literary Awards Ceremony has not only honored the work of established writers -- it has allowed new and emerging voices to break through, specifically elevating a record-breaking number of women and writers of color. This year's Ceremony will be the largest in PEN America's history, taking place at the landmark Town Hall venue, an integral part of New York City's cultural fabric for nearly a century.

This year, PEN America will confer nearly $330,000 to writers and translators. You can learn more about the 2020 Literary Awards Judges here (https://pen.org/meet-the-2020-literary-awards-judges/) and view the 2020 Finalists here (https://pen.org/2020-pen-america-literary-awards-finalists/).
We welcome all members of the literary community and the general public to join us for an evening of writers celebrating writers, in what has become one of the defining literary events of the year. Cocktail attire.