Nine renowned
writers – including Edwidge Danticat, Amitav Ghosh, Mohsin Hamid and Jamaica
Kincaid – are the finalists for the 2018 Neustadt International Prize for Literature,
announced by the magazine World Literature Today.
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| Indian writer Amitav Ghosh, a finalist. |
The nominees
represent the Caribbean, India, Pakistan, France, the United States and other
areas and are recognized for their global contributions to literature.
The prize, a
$50,000 biennial award sponsored by the University of Oklahoma and its
international literature and culture magazine, may boost efforts to achieve
more diversity in publishing, at a time when there are concerns the industry
excludes some voices.
“We are ecstatic to have such a diverse and
powerful group of writers representing the Neustadt Prize this year,” said
Roberto Con Davis-Undiano, executive director of World Literature Today.
“This truly
international slate of finalists – with diverse voices from the United States
and as far away as Pakistan and Russia – reminds us that important literature
knows no borders,” he added.
According to
the magazine, the Neustadt Prize charter stipulates that the award “be given in
recognition of outstanding achievement in poetry, fiction, or drama and that it
be conferred solely on the basis of literary merit”.
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| A recent cover of World Literature Today. |
Any living
author writing in any language is eligible, “provided only that at least a
representative portion of his or her work is available in English, the language
used during the jury deliberations”, the sponsors say.
The
prestigious prize (sometimes referred to as “the American Nobel”) may serve to
crown a writer’s lifetime achievement or to direct attention to an important
body of work that is still developing.
The award is
not open to application; authors are nominated by a jury of “outstanding
writers”. The jury will announce the 2018 winner on Nov. 9 during the 2017
Neustadt Festival of International Literature & Culture, hosted by World
Literature Today and the University of Oklahoma.
The festival
will also honour American writer Marilyn Nelson, who will receive a separate
2017 NSK Neustadt Prize for Children’s Literature, and it will feature jury
members reading their own work. The university will hold a ceremony next year
for the winner of the 2018 Neustadt Prize
In an email
interview, Davis-Undiano answered questions about the prize and its
significance to international literature and publishing.
Q: The nine
finalists selected for the 2018 Neustadt Prize reflect the rich diversity of
world-class literature. Is this one of the aims of the prize – to highlight
such diversity – and, if so, why?
Davis-
Undiano: Yes, the Neustadt Prize planners have always wanted to promote world
literature and global understanding of diverse cultures around the world. The founders of the prize long ago realized
that most places in the world are provincial – whether it is the south of France
or the south of Oklahoma – and need access to a broader view of what other
cultures and literatures are like. When
those goals are even partially reached, the world becomes a better and richer
place.
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| Robert Con Davis-Undiano, executive director of World Literature Today. |
Q: With the
general lack of diversity in publishing being a concern in countries such as the
United Kingdom, can the Neustadt Prize have an impact on publishers’ choices?
If so, in what way?
D-U: Yes, it
can. The Neustadt Prize is one of the
gatekeepers of world lit. Recognition received from this prize routinely affects other prizes,
even the Nobel. The Nobel committee has
even gone on record explaining that the Neustadt Prize influences the choices
that they make.
Q: Related to
this, how significant is a magazine such as World Literature Today in helping
to achieve change?
D-U: WLT,
too, is one of the gatekeepers of world literature. The magazine often recognizes and discusses
trends before anyone else can comment on them. In this way, WLT is frequently in the role of introducing great
literature, often from under-appreciated regions, to the rest of the world.
Q: What are
some of the most important considerations for Neustadt jurors in making their
choice?
D-U: The
jurors are bound by the Neustadt charter to isolate literary impact and quality
as much as possible from other factors. In practice, they often choose young
writers on their way up in terms of importance and recognition. The jurors can
serve only once.
Q: What are
the requirements to be a Neustadt juror?
D-U: The
Neustadt jurors are generally writers of the same calibre as the nominees. It is just understood that a writers helping
to choose the next Neustadt laureate should be someone at the same level in
terms of achievements and brilliance.
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| One of Danticat's notable books. |
Q: The award
is described as “one of the very few international prizes for which poets,
novelists, screenwriters, and playwrights are equally eligible”. Do you think
there should be more multi-genre awards like this, and, if so, why?
D-U: We like
the Neustadt Prize having this unique status. The sponsors of an award often have their own interests to serve in
terms of what is being judged to give the prize. The Neustadt Prize, like the Nobel, is simply
trying to identify writers who are having an impact and will likely have more.
Q: Two
Caribbean-born writers (Edwidge Danticat and Jamaica Kincaid) are among the
finalists. Following a number of international awards for writers from the
region, how do you see “Caribbean literature” on the global literary scene?
D-U: I think
that the world is gradually opening to the culture and literature of the
Americas, from the Caribbean to the southern cone. There is still a tendency toward “amnesia”
about the history and the cultures of the Americas, and I want to see as much
cultural recovery happening to highlight the Caribbean and the full expanse of
the Americas.
(The nine finalists are: Emmanuel Carrère (France), Edwidge Danticat (Haiti/US), Amitav Ghosh (India), Aracelis Girmay (US), Mohsin Hamid (Pakistan), Jamaica Kincaid (Antigua/US), Yusef Komunyakaa (US), Patricia Smith (US), and Ludmila Ulitskaya (Russia).
