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.
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.
For more context, read Women's Prize for Fiction Goes to Virginia Evans.
For more context, read booker prize 2026.
For more context, read Pulitzer Prize for Fiction Goes to Daniel Kraus.