SR columnist Shawn Vestal wins PEN/Bingham Prize

NEW YORK — Spokesman-Review columnist Shawn Vestal is the winner of the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for debut fiction for his story collection “Godforsaken Idaho.” The award comes with a $25,000 prize. He received the award Monday at a New York ceremony organized by the PEN American Center, the literary and human rights organization. “This is fantastic,” he said Monday by phone. “I was very certain, and I didn’t feel that I was going to win. I didn’t even prepare a speech.” He said the award “stunned” him, and that he’d use the winnings to help finish a novel he’s been working on. He was headed to a reception Monday evening, then back home to teach a writing course at Eastern Washington University. Onstage, he was given the Bingham Prize by Louise Erdrich, who recently won the PEN/Saul Bellow Award for lifetime achievement. PEN judges in their citation praised Vestal for his blend of genres from fantasy to historical fiction and his ability to bring new energy to “the well-trodden arena of the hapless male.” Vestal is an Idaho native. He also has written a short memoir, “A.K.A. Charles Abbott.”