Michael X. Wang wins prestigious PEN America Literary Award!

Autumn House Press is elated to announce that Michael X. Wang’s collection, Further New of Defeat, won the 2021 PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Short Story Collection. We cannot fully express our gratitude for PEN America and this year’s judges, Ben Marcus, Elizabeth McCracken, and Ingrid Rojas Contreras. We would also like to congratulate the fellow finalists, Dima Alzayat, Miriam Cohen, Mary South, and Shruti Swamy.

Of Michael’s work, the judges said:

Michael X. Wang’s stories travel from the countryside to the city and back, from China to America, through time and space thrillingly; they are hilarious and tragic, political and domestic, beautiful and brutal, not in turn but miraculously at the same time. On every page technically nervy and beautifully written and startling—in language, character, telling detail—Further News of Defeat is intensely interested in the questions and sorrows and strange jokes of being a human being in the world.

To read the official release as well as the full list of prizewinners, visit PEN America’s website. Congratulations, Michael!