Wilkinsburg author Deesha Philyaw is continuing to rack up literary accolades.
Philyaw’s “The Secret Lives of Church Ladies” was named to the longlist for the 2021 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, America’s largest peer-juried literary prize, on Tuesday.
In October, Philyaw’s story collection was named a finalist in the fiction category for the National Book Awards. Philyaw is writing the adaption of her book for HBO/HBO Max.
Philyaw appeared excited about Tuesday’s announcement in a Twitter post:
OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! https://t.co/FDqOkdzSt3
— Deesha Philyaw (@DeeshaPhilyaw) February 2, 2021
The other books to make the list:
- “Bestiary” by K-Ming Chang
- “Dear Ann” by Bobbie Ann Mason
- “Disappear Doppelgänger Disappear” by Matthew Salesses
- “The Knockout Queen” by Rufi Thorpe
- “Mother Daughter Widow Wife” by Robin Wasserman
- “Nine Shiny Objects” by Brian Castleberry
- “The Office of Historical Corrections” by Danielle Evans
- “Scattered Lights” by Steve Wiegenstein
- “Transcendent Kingdom” by Yaa Gyasi
“These extraordinary times have called forth extraordinary art,” said Louis Bayard, PEN/Faulkner’s Awards committee chair, “and the 10 titles chosen for our longlist are a powerful reminder that fiction is as essential as ever.”
This year’s judges — Charles Finch, Bernice L. McFadden, and Alexi Zentner — considered more than 400 novels and short story collections published in 2020. The judges will choose five finalists from the longlist in March, with the winner announced in April.
