The PEN/Faulkner Foundation announced on April 6, 2026, per the foundation, that Mahreen Sohail has won the 2026 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction for Small Scale Sinners, published by A Public Space. The finalists, revealed on March 2, 2026, were Addie E. Citchens and Quiara Alegría Hudes.
Small Scale Sinners appears on A Public Space, an independent literary publisher. The PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction is one of the major annual American prizes for fiction, and its 2026 cycle ran from the March 2 finalist announcement to the April 6 winner.
Two further honors were confirmed in the same April 6, 2026 announcement. Virginia Evans won the PEN/Hemingway Award, given for a debut novel, for The Correspondent, published by Crown. Elizabeth McCracken received the PEN/Malamud Award, which recognizes the short story. books news coverage.
The April 6, 2026 results, per the PEN/Faulkner Foundation:
- PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction — Mahreen Sohail, Small Scale Sinners (A Public Space)
- Finalists — Addie E. Citchens and Quiara Alegría Hudes, named March 2, 2026
- PEN/Hemingway Award for a debut novel — Virginia Evans, The Correspondent (Crown)
- PEN/Malamud Award for the short story — Elizabeth McCracken
Prize season continues across the spring literary calendar, with arts desks such as BBC Culture following the announcements.
Why it matters
A top American fiction prize going to a book from a small independent press is a signal to readers and booksellers alike: Small Scale Sinners becomes an immediate candidate for year-end reading lists, and the PEN/Hemingway result puts Virginia Evans's debut on the 2026 awards map before the summer season begins.
