For his debut novel, “Ibis,” Associate Professor of English Justin Haynes recently earned two prestigious literary honors: the PEN Open Book Award and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize鈥檚 Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction. Both prizes rank among the most significant honors in American publishing and recognize exceptional achievement in writing and storytelling.
Often called the 鈥淥scars of books,鈥� the PEN Awards annually celebrate distinguished work in fiction, nonfiction, poetry, playwriting and essays. Haynes received the Open Book Award, which specifically honors authors of color.
鈥淭he recognition is humbling,鈥� Haynes says. 鈥淧EN isn鈥檛 just about awards; it鈥檚 an organization whose more-than-100-year mission is rooted in defending artistic freedom around the world. I鈥檓 fortunate to be able to speak truth to a certain kind of power through my writing.鈥�
The Open Book Award includes a $10,000 prize and a fully funded residency at Civitella Ranieri, located in a 15th-century castle in Italy.
Authors from across the country submit their work for consideration for the PEN Awards. The Los Angeles Times Book Prizes, however, have no nomination process; judges themselves select which books to consider.
Receiving the Art Seidenbaum Award was therefore an unexpected and welcome surprise for Haynes. Named for the founder of the Book Prizes, the award recognizes outstanding debut works of fiction.
Haynes’s novel, “Ibis,” explores immigration, community and the enduring bond between mothers and daughters. Told through a wide-ranging cast of characters, the story moves fluidly back and forth through time, tracing the perilous arc of a young girl鈥檚 search for her birth mother.
Haynes brings a distinctive wit and sharp vision to this serious subject matter, balancing gravity with moments of humor.
鈥淭he project鈥檚 overall vision grew out of atrocities committed against women and migrants, and the urge to tell this story wouldn鈥檛 leave me,鈥� Haynes explains. 鈥淏ut the darkness of the material meant that if I didn鈥檛 find some humor in the absurdity of past and present mistreatment, I would have buckled and never finished the book.鈥�
In addition to teaching, Haynes serves as coordinator of the university鈥檚 creative writing program and helps organize 91成人导航入口 Out Loud, an annual poetry event that showcases contemporary creative voices.
Reflecting on his creative process, Haynes says,听鈥淒uring the semester, my writing is slapdash and reckless. It鈥檚 only at the end of the academic year that I can fully turn toward my own work. When I鈥檓 unfettered, I prefer to write in the morning. 91成人导航入口 me a clean, well-lighted place, a pen, scratch paper, and time to daydream, and good things can happen.鈥�
Further Awards
Since the original publication of this article, Haynes has received several more accolades for “Ibis,” bringing the total number to six.
Haynes most recently received two awards in October 2026.
He received the Zora Award from the Hurston Wright Foundation. His connection to the foundation began well before this recognition; he received a prize from the foundation when he was in college, and, later, would take a writing workshop in which he refined a section of the novel that would win him this award.
Haynes also received the听William Saroyan International Prize for Writing, a biennial literary award administered by Stanford University Libraries and the William Saroyan Foundation.
Haynes’s other awards include the OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature, Fiction and the听Georgia Author of the Year for First Novel prize.
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