John Updike has been named the winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award in New York for his earlier compilation The Early Stories written between 1953 and 1975. The prize is US$15,000.

'Story after story has that moment of a deftly-rendered revelation, subtle and astonishing, that honest recognition of who we are,' PEN/Faulkner judge Elizabeth Strout said in a statement.

The prize is associated with the international writers’ organisation PEN (Poets, Playwrights, Editors, Essayists and Novelists) and named after Nobel winner, William Faulkner, who used his prize money to create an award for young writers. It is now the 'largest juried award for fiction in the United States.'

Previous winners of this award include Philip Roth, Don DeLillo and Tobias Wolff, who was also a runner-up this year for his novel Old School.

Salmon Rushdie, was recently named the president of the PEN America Centre.