PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for Biography

The PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award is awarded by the PEN American Center to honor a "distinguished biography possessing notable literary merit which has been published in the United States during the previous calendar year." ^[1] The award carries a $5,000 prize.

The award was established by Rodman L. Drake. Previous judges include Brad Gooch, Benjamin Taylor, and Amanda Vaill.

The award is one of many PEN awards sponsored by International PEN affiliates in over 145 PEN centers around the world. The PEN American Center awards have been characterized as being among the "major" American literary prizes.^[2]

Award winners

2008

• Winner: Janet Malcolm, Two Lives: Gertrude and Alice ^[3]

2009

• Winner: Richard Brody, Everything Is Cinema: The Working Life of Jean-Luc Godard ^[4]
• Runner-up: Jeffrey Meyers, Samuel Johnson: The Struggle
• Runner-up: Stanley Plumly, Posthumous Keats: A Personal Biography

2010

• Winner: Michael Scammell, Koestler: The Literary and Political Odyssey of a Twentieth-Century Skeptic ^[5]

2011

• Winner: Stacy Schiff, Cleopatra: A Life^[6]

2012

• Winner: Robert K. Massie, Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman
• Runner-up: Janny Scott, A Singular Woman: The Untold Story of Barack Obama's Mother

2013 ^[7]

• Winner: Tom Reiss, The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, and the Real Count of Monte Cristo
• Runner-up: Gordon Bowker, James Joyce

2014 ^[8][9]

• Winner: Linda Leavell, Holding On Upside Down: The Life and Work of Marianne Moore

2015 ^[10][11]

• Winner: Anna Whitelock, The Queen's Bed: An Intimate History of Elizabeth's Court

2016^[12][13]

• Winner: Nancy Princenthal, Agnes Martin: Her Life and Art

References

1. PEN American Center Literary Awards
2. Alfred Bendixen (2005). "Literary Prizes and Awards". The Continuum Encyclopedia of American Literature. Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 689.
3. "Our Critic’s Tip Sheet on Current Reading: Kingsley Amis Drinks; Bill Bryson Admonishes; and PEN Bestows Prizes". The New York Observer. May 19, 2008. Retrieved August 11, 2012.
4. "Page-Turner: Congratulations". The New Yorker. May 5, 2009. Retrieved August 11, 2012.
5. "Writing Professor Michael Scammell at Cafe Arts Dec. 6". Columbia University. December 2010. Retrieved August 11, 2012.
6. "Jacket Copy: PEN American Center's 2011 award winners". LA Times. August 11, 2011. Retrieved August 11, 2012.
7. Carolyn Kellogg (August 14, 2013). "Jacket Copy: PEN announces winners of its 2013 awards". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 14, 2013.
8. Ron Charles (July 30, 2014). "Winners of the 2014 PEN Literary Awards". Washington Post. Retrieved August 1, 2014.
9. "2014 PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for Biography". pen.org. Retrieved August 1, 2014.
10. Carolyn Kellogg (May 13, 2015). "PEN announces award-winners and shortlists". LA Times. Retrieved May 14, 2015.
11. "2015 PEN Literary Award Winners". pen.org. Retrieved May 14, 2015.
12. Maggie Galehouse (March 1, 2016). "PEN Literary Award winners announced". Chron. Retrieved March 2, 2016.
13. "2016 PEN Literary Award Winners". PEN. March 1, 2016. Retrieved March 2, 2016.

External links

• PEN American Center
• PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award