Stories of race and immigration among PEN/Faulkner nominees

NEW YORK (AP) -- This year’s list of finalists for the PEN/Faulkner Award features stories of war, race and immigration.

Nominees announced Tuesday for the $15,000 fiction prize include Viet Thanh Nguyen’s novel about a former spy for North Vietnam, “The Sympathizer”; Julie Iromuanya’s novel about a Nigerian in the U.S. who lies about his profession to his family back home, “Mr. and Mrs. Doctor”; and James Hannaham’s book on race and class, “Delicious Foods.”

Two story collections also are finalists: Luis Alberto Urrea’s “The Water Museum” and Elizabeth Tallent’s “Mendocino Fire.”

The winner will be announced April 5. Previous recipients of the award, established in 1981, include Philip Roth, Sherman Alexie and Ann Patchett.