April 04, 2017 - 7:22 AM
NEW YORK - A timely, and timeless, debut novel about immigration and the class divide has won the PEN/Faulkner Award for fiction.
Imbolo Mbue's "Behold the Dreamers" was chosen from hundreds of submitted works, the PEN/Faulkner Foundation announced Tuesday. The novel tells of immigrants from Cameroon, Mbue's native country, and their hopes and struggles to succeed in New York City.
Mbue will receive $15,000 in prize money. The four runners-up, including Louise Erdrich and Garth Greenwell, each will be given $5,000. Previous winners of the PEN/Faulkner Award include E.L. Doctorow, Ann Patchett and Sherman Alexie.
News from © The Associated Press, 2017