The shortlists for the PEN Literary Awards have been announced. PEN awards recognize excellence in many different kinds of writing, including fiction, non-fiction, poetry, translation, and the literary essay. Finalists for the prize for outstanding essay collection include feminist writer Rebecca Solnit and cultural critic James Wolcott.

The list for the Pen/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award includes neuroscientist Carl Hart and physician/journalist Sherri Fink. Hart is shortlisted for his book on addiction, “High Price,” and Fink is shortlisted for “Five Days at Memorial,” an account of tragic events at a hospital cut off from the world after Hurricane Katrina.