Hosted by Seth Meyers, the 2022 PEN America Literary Awards were held at Town Hall in New York City February 28. The event honored Elaine May, Jackie Sibblies Drury, and Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o.
The ceremony included performances from The Ulysses Owens Jr. Band, joined by guest vocalists Jenn Colella, Bobby Conte, and Kyle Taylor Parker. Parker paid tribute to Broadway's return and the recipient of the 2017 PEN/Allen Foundation Literary Service Award, the late Stephen Sondheim.
Jenn Colella
Jackie Sibblies Drury
Lileana Blain-Cruz and Sarah Benson
Quincy Tyler Bernstine
Seth Meyers
Candice Bergen
Elaine May
Mũkoma wa Ngũgĩ, Wanjikũ wa Ngũgĩ, and Ndũcũ wa Ngũgĩ
Suzanne Nossel
Kyle Taylor Parker
Daisy Hernández
Bobby Conte
Suzanne Nossel
Seth Meyers and Suzanne Nossel
Mũkoma wa Ngũgĩ, Wanjikũ wa Ngũgĩ, and Ndũcũ wa Ngũgĩ
Sarah Benson, Jackie Sibblies Drury, and Lileana Blain-Cruz
Jackie Sibblies Drury
Catherine Raven
Seth Meyers and Jennifer Egan
Daisy Hernández
Clint Smith
Cathy Park Hong
Sarah Schulman
Rigoberto González
Emmy-winning actress Candice Bergen presented May with the honorary PEN/Mike Nichols Writing for Performance Award. Bergen made her Broadway debut in 1984 in the Mike Nichols-directed production of Hurlyburly. May began her career with Nichols, for whom the award is named, as the comedy duo Nichols and May.
Honored by directors Sarah Benson (Fairview) and Lileana Blain-Cruz (Marys Seacole), Jackie Sibblies Drury was this year's winner of the PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater Award. Quincy Tyler Bernstine, who appeared in the world premiere production of Marys Seacole, performed an excerpt from the work.
Mukoma wa Ngugi—acclaimed writer of works including The Rise of the African Novel: Politics of Language, Identity, and Ownership and Mrs. Shaw, and son of Kenyan author, playwright, and scholar Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o—recognized his father with the PEN/Nabokov Award for Achievement in International Literature.
