Who will win this year's PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction

A panel of judges for the PEN/Faulkner Foundation announced Wednesday the five finalists for the 2011 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, and this year’s slate of finalists includes several well-known authors.

This year’s finalists include:

- Jennifer Egan for “A Visit From the Goon Squad”
- Deborah Eisenberg for “The Collected Stories of Deborah Eisenberg”
- Jaimy Gordon for “Lord of Misrule”
- Eric Puchner for “Model Home”
- Brad Watson for “Aliens in The Prime of Their Lives”

These finalists were selected from among 320 novels and short story collections written by living American writers published in the US during the 2010 calendar year. The winner will be announced on March 15 and will receive $15,000.

The PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, now in its 31st year, is America’s largest peer-juried prize for fiction. As you might imagine, a host of prestigious authors have won the PEN/Faulkner Award over the years. What follows is a complete list of the all-time winners.

2010 – Sherman Alexie for “War Dances”
2009 – Joseph O’Neill for “Netherland”
2008 – Kate Christensen for “The Great Man”
2007 – Philip Roth for “Everyman”
2006 – E.L. Doctorow for “The March”
2005 – Ha Jin for “War Trash”
2004 – John Updike for “The Early Stories: 1953-1975”
2003 – Sabina Murray for “The Caprices”
2002 – Ann Patchett for “Bel Canto”
2001 – Philip Roth for “The Human Stain”

2000 – Ha Jin for “Waiting”
1999 – Michael Cunningham for “The Hours”
1998 – Rafi Zabor for “The Bear Comes Home”
1997 – Gina Berriault for “Women in Their Beds”
1996 – Richard Ford for “Independence Day”
1995 – David Guterson for “Snow Falling on Cedars”
1994 – Philip Roth for “Operation Shylock”
1993 – E. Annie Proulx for “Postcards”
1992 – Don DeLillo for “Mao II”
1991 – John Edgar Wideman for “Philadelphia Fire”

1990 – E.L. Doctorow for “Billy Bathgate”
1989 – James Salter for “Dusk and Other Stories”
1988 – T. Coraghessan Boyle for “World’s End”
1987 – Richard Wiley for “Soldiers in Hiding”
1986 – Peter Taylor for “The Old Forest”
1985 – Tobias Wolff for “The Barracks Thief”
1984 – John Edgar Wideman for “Sent for You Yesterday”
1983 – Toby Olson for “Seaview”
1982 – David Bradley for “The Chaneysville Incident”
1981 – Walter Abish for “How German Is It”

How many of these books have you had a chance to read? What did you think about them? Which did you like, dislike? Which would you recommend and why? Let us know in the comments section below.

For more information about the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, visit www.penfaulkner.org.