Mackenzie Andersen Makes Finalist in Pen Literary Rewards for Public Private Relationships and the New Owners of the means of Production

QUOTE FROM PEN AMERICA WEBSITE

The combination of our New York and Los Angeles offices and membership strongholds will provide tent poles on each coast, enabling us to accelerate efforts to build a truly national organization. Our goal is to build a national constituency of writers and readers who are energized to defend open discourse; foster the exchange of ideas across political, geographic and ideological bounds; amplify unheard voices; and stand with writers and creators who face persecution. Over the last year, PEN America has taken new steps to engage and mobilize members across the country through events, activities and leadership development in more than a dozen cities including Tulsa, Tucson, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Detroit, and New Orleans.

The timing of this union is no coincidence as we face potent challenges to free speech, press freedom, the right to dissent, and the open flow of information here in the United States. Never have the voices of writers and their allies been so essential. Members of the writing community have a vital role to play in shaping public discourse, resisting encroachments on treasured freedoms, and standing with those on the front lines to safeguard the values at the heart of PEN’s mission. These treacherous times have prompted a far-reaching discussion about how PEN’s manifold efforts could be fortified. It became obvious that rather than toiling separately, we should marshal our energies, resources, and ideas in order to maximize our collective impact in the United States and around the world.

Last Summer I entered my ongoing project Public Private Relationships and the New Owners of the Means of Production in the Oral History category of the Pen Literary awards .It is the first writing competition which I have entered and so to make it as far as the finalists is very encouraging.


 The entry confirmation said this:

Dear Susan Andersen, 

Thank you for submitting Public Private Relationships and the New Owners of the Means of Production for the 2018 PEN/Jean Stein Grant for Literary Oral History. We are writing to confirm that we received your application, and if we should require any additional information, we’ll be sure to be in touch. 

Applicants will be notified immediately when/if their project is no longer under consideration. If you should have any questions in the meantime, please write to awards@pen.org. 

Please visit PEN.org/awards for updates regarding the timing for the announcement of the winner of the award. 

Thank you! 
PEN Literary Awards


Then I didn't hear back until I received this: 

Dear Susan Andersen, 

Thank you for submitting Public Private Relationships and the New Owners of the Means of Production for the 2018 PEN/Jean Stein Grant for Literary Oral History. The overall quality of this year's applications was quite high, making for some very difficult decisions for our judges. The judges have made their final selections, and I regret to inform you that your project has not been chosen as the winner. 

We are tremendously grateful for your submission to this award, and we hope that you will consider submitting another project of yours for this award in the future. Submissions for the 2019 Awards Cycle will open in the late spring. 

Please note that due to the large volume of applications that our judges review, they are unable to offer feedback or recommendations on any particular project. 

We know this isn’t the update you were hoping for, but we would nevertheless like to take this opportunity to wish you the best of success with your work. 

Best regards, 
The PEN America Literary Awards Department 

PEN AMERICA 
588 Broadway Suite 303, New York, NY 10012, USA 
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The Freedom to Write

You can go here to view the submission:
https://pen.submittable.com/user/submissions/8350532