PEN American Center announced on May 20 that it will partner with Barbara Kingsolver and assume administration of the PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction. Beginning in 2012, the $25,000 prize and publishing contract with Algonquin Books will be awarded biennially to the author of a previously unpublished novel embodying the founding principles of the prize.

The Bellwether Prize, established in 2000 and funded entirely by Barbara Kingsolver, recognizes fiction addressing social justice and the impact of politics and culture on human relationships. “I first created the Bellwether Prize because I believe North American writers, publishers, and readers could participate more fully in the international current of socially and politically relevant literature,” said Kingsolver. “The goals of PEN mesh perfectly with this vision.”

PEN will accept manuscripts from October 1, 2011 to December 31, 2011. More information may be found at www.pen.org/awards.