1st Latino to Win PEN/Faulkner Award: Homeboy From US-Mexico Border

From Latina Lista

In a prestigious literary competition where more than 350 novels and short-story collections by American authors published in the U.S. in 2012 were evaluated by a three-judge panel, a 58-year-old former priest walked away with the $15,000 prize — he’s also the first Latino to win the honored award in the 32-year history of the contest.

New Mexico-born Benjamin Alire Sáenz was announced as this year’s recipient of thePEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction for his collection of stories in “Everything Begins and Ends at the Kentucky Club,” published by El Paso-based independent book publisher Cinco Puntos Press.

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