Lin Oliver & Henry Winkler Among Those to Be Honored by PEN USA

PEN USA, the West Coast center for International PEN, will salute the winners of its 2010 Literary Awards at its 20th Annual Literary Awards Festival next Wednesday, November 17th, at the Beverly Hills Hotel.

Among this year's honorees are SCBWI's own Lin Oliver and her writing partner Henry Winkler! Lin and Henry will receive an Award of Merit. PEN will also offer awards for outstanding work by writers in 11 separate genres.

“Henry Winkler and I feel honored that our HANK ZIPZER  books have received the Award of Merit from PEN," says Lin. "The books are essentially about a boy who is different because he has learning challenges, and how he develops the humor, acceptance and resourcefulness to realize his dreams in the world. In this time, when so many kids who are different are being bullied, we’re happy that our books have made a contribution to the literature of acceptance and inclusion--virtues we all need to practice.”

Paul Fleischman will take home the Children's/Young Adult Literature award for his book THE DUNDERHEADS (Candlewick). And none other than Hugh Hefner will receive an Award of Honor & First Amendment Award. (I'm sure he'll bring a date.)

Congratulations to Lin & Henry for this award for their wonderful contribution to children's literature. I wish we could all attend the ceremony!