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PEN Center USA, based here, announced its annual awards for books, journalism, poetry and drama by writers living in the West. In addition to the winners below, the finalists in journalism included LA Observed contributor Deanne Stillman for "The Great Mohave Manhunt" in Rolling Stone and Ben Ehrenreich for "The Human Fence" in The Believer. Local authors Greg Critser (Generation Rx: How Prescription Drugs Are Altering American Lives, Minds, and Bodies) and Jared Diamond (Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed) and playwright Suzan-Lori Parks for the teleplay of "Their Eyes Were Watching God" also are finalists. Now selected winners:
- Fiction: Percival Everett - Wounded
- Creative Non-fiction: Michael Chorost - Rebuilt: How Becoming Part Computer Made Me More Human
- Research Nonfiction: Adam Hochschild - Bury the Chains: Prophets and Rebels in the Fight to Free and Empire's Slaves
- Journalism: Heidi Benson, San Francisco Chronicle - "Historian Iris Chang Won Many Battles, The War She Lost Raged Within"
- Drama: Donald Freed - Devil's Advocate
- Teleplay: Alex Tse - "Sucker Free City"
- Screenplay: George Clooney and Grant Heslov - Good Night and Good Luck
Full list of winners and finalists. It's the second year in a row that an SF Chronicle journalist won; I know that since I was a judge in the journalism category last year.