“War Dances” by novelist Sherman Alexie has won the 2010 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, the organizers announced Tuesday.
The prestigious annual award, presented by the Washington-based PEN/Faulkner Foundation, was given to Alexie because of his book’s breadth of topics and innovative style, judges said. “War Dances” consists of short stories interspersed with poems.
“That book was the one we all liked immediately,” said Kyoko Mori, one of the three judges. “There was something special about the range of characters. It was like watching a dance. I liked how some of the characters were unlikable but compelling.”
The other finalists were Barbara Kingsolver, Lorraine M. Lopez, Lorrie Moore and Colson Whitehead.