Panova held a place among the top Soviet writers. At the Writer's Congresses of 1954 and 1959 she was elected as a member of the Presidium of the Union of Soviet Writers. She was twice awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labour (1955, 1965). As an established writer she was allowed to travel to England, Scotland, and Italy, and in 1960 she toured the United States. Her published travel notes and articles, and an epilogue to the Russian translation of "The Catcher in the Rye", by J.D. Salinger, show her affinity for Western life and culture.