Poet & UC Prof Robert Hass Wins PEN Essay Award

UC Berkeley English Professor Robert Hass, a former U.S. Poet Laureate, has won the annual PEN America literary award for essays, the campus and PEN announced today, Wednesday.

Hass won for his 2012 book, What Light Can Do, described on the campus Department of English website as "an evocative and captivating collection of essays on writers, place, poetry, and photography."

It was the latest in a career of prestigious awards for Hass, author of many books of poetry. He has also received the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, a National Book Award and a MacArthur "Genius" Fellowship.

Hass will receive $10,000 as part of the PEN award, whose full name is "The PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay." 

The PEN organization, which defines itself as "the world’s leading literary and human rights organization,” announced literary awards in 16 categories, including fiction, poetry, nonfiction and drama. Cash prizes in each category range from $2,500 to $25,000.

The two runners-up in the essay division were Jill Lepore for The Story of America: Essays on Origins and Daniel Mendelsohn for Waiting for the Barbarians.
 
The annual PEN America Literary Awards are "the most comprehensive literary awards program in the country," the organization says. 

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