Ananda Devi was declared the winner of the Neustadt International Prize for Literature 2024 on Tuesday, October 24, 2023.
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 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 made known at the Neustadt Lit Fest on Tuesday. Born in Mauritius, Devi has become one of the major literary voices 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 has received numerous literary prizes and decorations from Mauritius and also from France,
Robert Con Davis-Undiano, World Literature Today’s executive director, noted that “it is long overdue for Ananda Devi to receive an international honor of this magnitude. She is deserving, and I hope that this honor will be a springboard to more recognition for her amazing work.”
According to jurors Sholeh Wolpé and Jennifer Kwon Dobbs, the last round of deliberations and voting was excruciatingly difficult, choosing among three iconic writers: Devi, Shahrnush Parsipur, and Maxine Hong Kingston. The jury wanted to award all three the prize and, in some way, consider all three writers deserving.
She receives the $50,000 cash prize on offer.
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