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PEN Oakland awards facts for kids

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The PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Literary Award is a special prize given to writers in the United States. It celebrates excellent books by authors from all different backgrounds and cultures. The award also helps people learn more about multicultural writing.

PEN Oakland started this award in 1991. It was named after a famous writer named Josephine Miles. PEN Oakland itself began in 1989. The New York Times newspaper once called this award the "Blue Collar PEN Award."

PEN Oakland also created other important awards. In 1997, they started the PEN Oakland/Gary Webb Anti-Censorship Award to speak out against censorship in the U.S. Later, in 2006, they added the PEN Oakland/Reginald Lockett Lifetime Achievement Award. This award honors writers for their long and important careers. The PEN Oakland/Adelle Foley Award began in 2016. It is given to a non-fiction or poetry work that has helped improve relationships between people in American society.

PEN Oakland tried to become a main PEN center in the USA, but it didn't quite happen. However, this effort led to PEN Oakland becoming a full chapter of the PEN Center USA. PEN Oakland also worked to get more fair media coverage for minority and ethnic groups. From 2001 to 2004, the group helped organize the Oakland Literature Expo. This was part of the City of Oakland’s Art & Soul Festival.

This award is one of many PEN awards given around the world. These awards are sponsored by International PEN groups in over 145 places.

What is the Josephine Miles Award?

This award celebrates great writing by authors from many different cultural and racial backgrounds. Here are some of the past winners:

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Fighting Censorship: The Gary Webb Award

This award was created to protest censorship. It honors people who stand up against efforts to limit what can be said or published.

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  • 2022 – Jefferson Morley
  • 2021 – Roxane Gay
  • 2020 – Omarosa Manigault Newman
  • 2019 – Kim Shuck
  • 2018 – The Honorable Libby Schaaf
  • 2016 – Museum of the African Diaspora
  • 2015 – Lincoln Bergman
  • 2014 – Abraham Bolden
  • 2013 – Chris Hedges
  • 2012 – Alexander Cockburn
  • 2011 – WikiLeaks & Carole Simpson
  • 2010 – Richard Prince
  • 2009 – Jefferson Morely
  • 2008 – Project Censored
  • 2007 – Greg Palast
  • 2006 – Bill Moyers
  • 2005 – Kitty Kelley
  • 2004 – George Julius Theodule
  • 2003 – Sam Hamill
  • 2002 – Barbara Lee
  • 2001 – William Mandel, Rabbi Michael Lerner, Daniel Hernandez
  • 2000 – Robert Parry
  • 1999 – Mumia Abu-Jamal, Gary Webb
  • 1998 – Gerald Nicosia
  • 1997 – Floyd Salas

Honoring Lifetime Achievements: The Reginald Lockett Award

This award celebrates writers who have had a long and important career. It recognizes their lasting contributions to literature.

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The Adelle Foley Award for Community Improvement

This award is given to a work that is not fiction or poetry. It honors books or writings that have done a lot to improve how people get along in American society.

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