PEN/Phyllis Naylor Working Writer Fellowship facts for kids
The PEN/Phyllis Naylor Working Writer Fellowship is awarded by the PEN America (formerly PEN American Center) annually to a writer of children's or young-adult fiction of high literary caliber "at a crucial moment in his or her career to complete a book-length work-in-progress." The author receives $5,000 and was made possible by PEN member Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, the Newbery Medal winner of such books as Sang Spell and Shiloh.
The author must be nominated by an editor or a fellow writer and must have published "at least two novels for children or young adults which have been warmly received by literary critics, but have not generated sufficient income to support the author."
The award is one of many PEN awards sponsored by International PEN affiliates in over 145 PEN centers around the world. The PEN America awards have been characterized as being among the "major" American literary prizes.
Award winners
- 2001 Graham McNamee
- 2002 Lori Aurelia Williams
- 2003 Franny Billingsley
- 2004 Deborah Wiles,
- 2005 Amanda Jenkins, Night Road
- 2006 Barbara Shoup, Everything You Want
- 2007 Diane Les Becquets, Genesis
- 2008 Theresa Nelson, Julia Delany: The American Version
- 2009 Carol Lynch Williams, A Glimpse Is All I Can Stand
- 2010 Pat Schmatz, Bluefish
- 2011 Lucy Frank, Two Girls Staring at the Ceiling
- 2012 Sarah Dooley, Free Verse
- 2013 Amy Goldman Koss, The Intake Office
- 2014 Linda Oatman High, "The Taste of Elephant Tears"
- 2015 Stephanie Kuehn, The Pragmatist
- 2016 Ash Parsons, A Chemical Distance
- 2017 Philippe Diederich, Finding a Home at the End of the World
