Ananda Devi will headline the Neustadt Lit Fest 2024 to be held at the University of Oklahoma from October 21 – 23, 2024.
The Neustadt International Prize for Literature is a biennial award sponsored by the United States University of Oklahoma and its international literary publication, World Literature Today. The prize for adult literature is awarded to a living writer anywhere in any genre. A generous endowment from the Neustadt family of Dallas, Denver, and Watertown, Massachusetts, ensures the award in perpetuity. First given in 1970 to Italian poet Giuseppe Ungaretti, it has been won by among others Nuruddin Farah, Mia Couto, Edwige Danticat, and Boris Boubacar Diop. Aminatta Forna and Abdellatif Laâbi have been finalists.
The jury for 2024 included award-winning author William Alexander, award-winning illustrator Raúl Colón, comic book artist and writer Trung Le Nguyen, as well as authors Jessica Kim, Veera Hiranandani, Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich, Lawrence Schimel, Brenda Woods, and M. O. Yuksel. The shortlist was announced on May 25 before the winner Ananda Devi was revealed on Tuesday, October 24.
To celebrate the winner, the Neustadt Lit Fest, a literary and cultural festival, was established by World Literature Today in 2004. At the centre of this year’s celebrations will be the Mauritius-born Devi who has become a major literary voice of the Francophone world with over twenty-five books, including novels, collections of poetry, short stories, and essays. She has been translated into over a dozen languages and received numerous literary prizes and decorations from Mauritius and France.
There will be three days of activities including readings and a film before Devi is celebrated with an event. That event will include her receiving the $50,000 cash prize on offer.
For information on dates and schedules, we recommend the World Literature Today official website or their Instagram account.
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