Literary awards are nothing new for Philip Roth, but the latest in his bag is extremely special. Yes, he has been honored with the first ever PEN/Saul Bellow Award for Achievement in American Fiction, a $40,000 prize. The prize is named after the late Nobel laureate, Saul Bellow, who was also one of Roth’s closest friends.
The 74-year-old Roth is well known for novels such as Portnoy’s Complaint and American Pastoral. He has also won the Pulitzer Prize, National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle prize. He recently became the first three-time winner of the PEN/Faulkner prize, chosen for Everyman.
The new PEN award, established with collaboration from the Bellow estate, will be given every two years. It is made possible by a grant from the author and philanthropist Evelyn Stefansson Nef.“The initial selection of Philip Roth sets a very high standard and bodes well for the establishment of this prize as one of the pre-eminent awards of American literature,” Ron Chernow, historian and recent PEN American president said in a statement. Bellow’s widow, Janis Bellow, who was also one of this year’s judges and said in a statement, “My husband would have been greatly pleased to learn that Philip Roth is the recipient of the first Saul Bellow Award. I am, of course, delighted that PEN has seen fit to honor my husband by establishing this prize.”
