The PEN Center USA West Literary Awards honor the superb literary contributions of authors living west of the Mississippi River. Founded in 1990, the Literary Awards are presented annually to writers whose works were published or produced the preceding year.

PEN Center USA West

With a membership of more than 1,000 professional writers in the western United States, PEN West is the third largest center of international PEN in the world and one of two centers in the United States. The Literary Awards Festival is PENs premier fund-raising event.

What is PEN?

PEN is an international association of poets, playwrights, essayists, editors, novelists, screenwriters, historians, critics, journalists, and translators with centers in Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and the Americas. PEN's mission is to stimulate interest in the written word and to defend freedom of expression for writers throughout the world.