
NORMAN — World Literature Today, the University of Oklahoma’s award-winning magazine of international literature and culture, announced late Thursday evening that Edwidge Danticat is the 25th laureate of the renowned Neustadt International Prize for Literature. Awarded in alternating years with the NSK Neustadt Prize for Children’s Literature, the Neustadt Prize recognizes outstanding literary merit in literature worldwide.
Danticat is the author of stories, essays, travel commentary, film scripts, YA novels, and four novels. In addition to a Pushcart Prize, a National Book Critics Circle Award, the BOCAS Prize, and the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction, Danticat won a MacArthur Fellowship and holds two honorary degrees.
Her debut novel Breath, Eyes, Memory (Soho, 1994; Vintage, 1998) was an Oprah’s Book Club selection in 1998.
Danticat experiments with form and structure and frequently references the literary history of Haiti and the Caribbean. She paints scenes of immigrant life in New York and Miami with fresh details and palpable familiarity.
Achy Obejas nominated Danticat and was one of eight jurors on the 2018 Neustadt Prize panel. In her nominating statement, Obejas comments that Danticat’s work “addresses how the specter of history haunts the unresolved present” and undermines the future unless people find a way to redeem it.
Robert Con Davis-Undiano, World Literature Today’s executive director, notes that Danticat is a “master writer whose newest work promises even greater heights.”
Highly respected within the literary community for its recognition of excellence, the Neustadt Prize is often referenced as the “American Nobel” for its reputation as a lead-up to the Swedish Academy’s annual selection. Any living author writing from anywhere in the world is eligible for the Neustadt prize. The jury is comprised of acclaimed international authors, and that fact helps to keep external pressure from booksellers, publishers, and others who may have interest in influencing the outcome.
The Neustadt Prize announcement was made at a reception at the University of Oklahoma on Nov. 9, 2017.
The Neustadt Prize is the first international literary award of this scope to originate in the United States and is one of the very few international prizes for which poets, novelists and playwrights are equally eligible. Winners are awarded $50,000, a replica of an eagle feather cast in silver and a certificate. A generous endowment from the Neustadt family of Dallas, Texas; Denver, Colorado; and Watertown, Massachusetts; ensures the award in perpetuity.
News Archives
2018
Feb 12, 2019 11:33 AM: A New Path in Diabetes Prevention for Native American Communities
Jan 21, 2019 9:24 AM: OU Classified as 2018 Carnegie Institution Top Tier Research Institution
Dec 13, 2018 1:54 PM: OU Meteorologist to Lead NASA Earth Venture Project Science Investigation
Dec 11, 2018 5:53 PM: OU Board of Regents Meets in Oklahoma City
Dec 5, 2018 2:54 PM: Harold Hamm Diabetes Center Announces Director
Dec 4, 2018 1:14 PM: OU Student Receives Marshall Scholarship
Nov 28, 2018 1:48 PM: OU's Holiday Lighting Celebration Set for Wednesday, Nov. 28
Nov 27, 2018 2:23 PM: OU Biologist and Director of Environmental Studies Elected AAAS Fellow
Nov 19, 2018 11:17 AM: Free Tuition and Average Fees for Qualifying Oklahoma Residents
Nov 13, 2018 1:55 PM: OU Cooperative Institute Celebrates 40 Years of Innovative Research
Nov 12, 2018 10:55 AM: The Harold Hamm Foundation Donates $34M to Harold Hamm Diabetes Center
Nov 12, 2018 10:54 AM: OU's K20 Center Receives $68M in GEAR UP Funding
Nov 1, 2018 3:36 PM: OU Hosts Benefit Gaming Marathon for Charity
Jun 28, 2018 11:31 AM: Three OU Students Receive 2018 Neustadt Design Awards
Oct 30, 2018 10:37 AM: Dr. Michele Eodice Receives IWCA’s Highest Award
Oct 29, 2018 2:36 PM: Holmberg Hall Celebration Scheduled at the University of Oklahoma
Oct 26, 2018 8:42 AM: OU Professors to Lead Global Research on Bluegreen Algae in Freshwaters
Oct 24, 2018 5:34 PM: NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine to Discuss Future of NASA on Oct. 31
Oct 24, 2018 11:59 AM: New Study Examines Attitudes toward LGT individuals
Oct 17, 2018 3:52 PM: Stephenson Cancer Center Receives $10.7 Million Federal Research Grant
Oct 11, 2018 3:13 PM: Civil Liberties Expert to Speak at OU Law
Oct 11, 2018 11:04 AM: OU Researcher Determines Catalytic Active Sites
Oct 9, 2018 8:02 AM: OU's Radar Team Developing Fastest, Most Advanced Radar in the Nation
Oct 3, 2018 3:30 PM: University of Oklahoma to Add Student IDs to Mobile Devices
Oct 8, 2018 3:12 PM: OU Radar Team Developing Mobile Radar Testbed for U.S. Navy
Oct 3, 2018 4:15 PM: University of Oklahoma Announces Scholarship Increases for Next Year
Sep 26, 2018 1:15 PM: OU SMART-R Team Data Reveals Threats During Hurricane Florence Landfall
Sep 24, 2018 2:51 PM: OU Medicine Setting the Standard in Modern-Day Surgery
Sep 24, 2018 8:03 AM: SMART RADAR RESULTS SHOW HURRICANE HARVEY CATEGORY 3, NOT CATEGORY 4
Sep 22, 2018 8:48 PM: OU Receives Transformative Gift in Support of ROTC Programs
Sep 22, 2018 8:19 PM: OU College of Public Health to Bear Hudson Name
Sep 22, 2018 8:19 PM: OU Hosts Native Nation Leaders at Historic Reception
Sep 22, 2018 8:19 PM: OU College of Public Health to Bear Hudson Name
Sep 22, 2018 8:19 PM: OU IT Team Receives NSF Instrumentation Grant for Research Data Archiving
Sep 20, 2018 7:55 AM: OU SMART Radar Team Departs for East Coast to Intercept Hurricane Florence
Sep 7, 2018 3:08 PM: OU Professor Selected for 2019 ASM Environmental Research Award
Sep 6, 2018 3:18 PM: OU Team to Develop New Methods to Track Bird Migration and Adaptability
Aug 27, 2018 2:26 PM: Oklahoma Women Impacting STEM and Entrepreneurship Conference
Aug 27, 2018 7:53 PM: OU College of Nursing Ranked No. 1 for Online RN-to-BSN Program
Aug 27, 2018 7:48 PM: Irungu Named OU Interim Assoc VP for University Community
Aug 27, 2018 4:41 PM: OK Catalyst Program Teaches Students How to Launch Business
Aug 27, 2018 4:37 PM: OU to Lead U.S. Stream Drying Study with $3 Million in NSF Grants
Aug 23, 2018 11:19 AM: OU Astrophysicists Discover Extragalactic Planets for First Time
Aug 20, 2018 1:10 PM: Climate Warming Affects Tallgrass Prairie Ecosystem
Aug 20, 2018 9:19 AM: Droegemeier Taking Leave of Absence Pending White House Appointment
Aug 14, 2018 1:16 PM: SCC Applies Cancer Research Tools to Unravel Alzheimer’s
Aug 13, 2018 6:02 PM: Inauguration Set for OU’S 14th President
Aug 10, 2018 2:05 PM: Stephenson Cancer Center Earns Designation
Aug 3, 2018 11:11 AM: OU College of Nursing Earns $1 Million Grant
Jul 27, 2018 1:50 PM: Camp Crimson Helps New Sooners Make Connections
Jul 18, 2018 10:24 AM: OU LAW DIRECTOR OF TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION NAMED TO FASTCASE 50
Jul 12, 2018 10:12 AM: Eight OU Students Receive Fulbright Awards
Jul 10, 2018 9:07 AM: OU Professor Receives Young Career Award from the U.S. Department of Energy
Jun 27, 2018 10:35 AM: OU Institute Awarded $3.9 Million Grant
Jun 28, 2018 11:59 AM: OU Research Team Identifies Genetic Structure of Painted Buntin
Jun 27, 2018 4:27 PM: OU Professor to Study New Possibilities in Quantum Networkin
Jun 20, 2018 3:43 PM: Historian, Author Named Dean of College of Arts and Sciences
Jun 14, 2018 1:43 PM: OU Board of Regents to Meet in Oklahoma City
Jun 5, 2018 11:25 AM: Sooner Rover Heads to Utah for University Rover Challenge
May 29, 2018 3:43 PM: OU Physicist Developing Quantum-Enhanced Sensors for Real-Life Applications
May 29, 2018 3:45 PM: OU Law Places Fifth in First-Ever ABA Competitions Championship
May 24, 2018 1:22 PM: OU Libraries Dedicates Zarrow Family Faculty and Graduate Student Center
May 8, 2018 4:19 PM: OU Students Receive Boren Award for International Study
May 7, 2018 10:36 AM: OU Announces College Convocations and Commencements
May 4, 2018 12:40 PM: OU Regents' Alumni Awards to be Presented to Fourteen Outstanding Individuals
May 2, 2018 8:25 AM: Stephenson Cancer Center to Make Historic Announcement
Apr 13, 2018 5:00 PM: OU Math Professors to Research Active Learning in Undergraduate Math Educatio
Apr 11, 2018 1:30 PM: OU Law Competition Students Win Third National Championship of 2018
Apr 11, 2018 12:37 PM: OU Faculty Member Selected for Prestigious Fellowship
Apr 6, 2018 4:26 PM: OU President David Boren to Deliver Commencement Address
Apr 6, 2018 3:23 PM: OU Graduate Students Earn NSF National Research Traineeship Program Fellowships
Apr 4, 2018 12:16 PM: Leading American Historian Timothy Snyder to Speak
Apr 2, 2018 11:34 AM: Allen King Named 2018 Otis Sullivant Award Winner
Apr 2, 2018 11:29 AM: OU Arbor Day Celebration 2018 to Include Picnic, Tree Planting
Mar 30, 2018 12:54 PM: OU Ranks No. 1 in Nation in Number of Freshman Nation Merit Scholars
Mar 29, 2018 2:43 PM: OU’s Newest SMART Radar Deploys to Louisiana as Part of STARR Project
Mar 23, 2018 2:13 PM: OU Educator Named Outstanding Woman in Higher Education
Mar 21, 2018 1:14 PM: OU Law Rises in U.S. & World News Report Rankings
Mar 14, 2018 4:38 PM: OU Norman Campus to Close for Maintenance March 19-20
Mar 13, 2018 2:04 PM: Academic Department Named in Honor of Civil Rights Leader Clara Luper
Mar 12, 2018 11:37 AM: OU Receives Major Gift in Support of Jeannine Rainbolt College of Education
Mar 7, 2018 11:29 AM: OU Dedicates James P. Pappas Administration Building
Mar 2, 2018 12:31 PM: University of Oklahoma Libraries Dean Rick Luce Announces Plans to Retire
Mar 1, 2018 4:02 PM: OU Board of Regents to Meet in Oklahoma City
Feb 14, 2018 11:32 AM: OU Law to Host 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
Feb 14, 2018 11:24 AM: OU Residential Colleges Recognized as Outstanding Development Project
Feb 7, 2018 11:19 AM: OU Law Students Win National Moot Court Competition
Jan 26, 2018 2:42 PM: Love Foundation Makes Gift in Support of Price College
Jan 10, 2018 1:52 PM: OU College Of Law Named Apple Distinguished School
Jan 3, 2018 12:04 PM: OU Named Top 50 Best College For Latino Students
For requests for past releases, please contact OU Public Affairs at (405) 325-1701 or publicaffairs@ou.edu.
2017 News Archives
January 2017
Civil Rights Activist and Award-Winning Artist Harry Belafonte to Speak at OU on Human Rights Causes
OU President David Boren Begins 50 Years of Public Service
Major Gift to Create the Alliance for Integrative Approaches to Extreme Environmental Events
Award-Winning Architect Hans Butzer Named Dean of the OU College of Architecture
Chief of Surgery at OU Named Interim Executive Dean of the OU College of Medicine
OU Board of Regents to Meet in Oklahoma City
OU Achieves U.S. News Top National Rankings
February 2017
OU Named Among Top 50 Big Data Degree Programs Nationwide
Pioneering Scientist Ralph DeFronzo Named 2017 Hamm Prize Laureate
OU Study Clarifies Risky Decision Making During A Heart Attack
OU Professor Awarded Highest Recognition by Society for Mined Land Reclamation Work
Isbell Elected as President of the In-plant Printing and Mailing Association
OU Psychology Professor Recipient of Early Career Impact Award
OU Receives Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Grant for Native American Arts Initiative
March 2017
OU Students Set Two Guinness World Records™ Titles on NBC's TODAY
OU Arbor Day Celebration 2017 to Include Picnic, Tree Planting
Notable Civic Leader and Education Advocate to Deliver OU Commencement Address
OU Psychology Student Wins 2017 ESPN Hackathon
OU Engineering Professor Receives National Science Foundation Early CAREER Award
OU's Institute for Quality Communities to Host Placemaking Conference: Placemakers
OU Board of Regents Elects Bennett, Humphreys as Officers
OU Board of Regents to Meet in Oklahoma City
OU Ranks No. 1 in Nation in Number of Freshman National Merit Scholars
April 2017
OU Assistant Athletic Bands Director Receives Apple Distinguished Educator Award
OU Regents' Alumni Awards to be Presented to Eleven Outstanding Individuals
OU Student Receives Boren Award for International Study
Honorary Degree Recipients to be Honored at OU Commencement Friday, May 12
OU Graduate Honored with Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans
Nicholas S. Hathaway Named 2017 Otis Sullivant Award Winner
OU Law Student Recipient of 2017 Udall Foundation Native American Congressional Internship
OU President David L. Boren Elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences
OU Student Named Goldwater Scholar
OU Professor Emeritus George Henderson to Receive Two Prestigious Oklahoma Awards
May 2017
OU Honored with 2017 Excellence in Service Award for Improving Lives of U.S. Veterans
OU Launches Financial Education Program for Incoming Students
Study Suggests Metals from Bolivian Mines Affect Crops and Pose Potential Health Risk
Phillips 66 Makes $1 Million Gift in Support of New Engineering Facility at OU
OU Announces College Convocations and Commencements
OU Board of Regents to Meet in Norman
OU Students Achieve Perfect Grade-Point Average
Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History Named Among Top 50 Most Impressive College Museums
OU Designated Big 12 Conference Champion in EPA's College and University Green Power Challenge
OU One of Three Colleges Honored for Excellence in Information Technology
June 2017
OU Awarded $161 Million NASA Contract for First-of-Its-Kind Earth Science Mission
Walden Elected Fellow of the American Society for Engineering Education
OU, Weathernews and Nanowave Technologies Announce Research Collaboration
Experienced Technology Leader Named Interim Chief Information Officer
OU College of Liberal Studies Given New Name
OU Receives Major Gift from Valero in Support of New Engineering Facility
OU Board of Regents to Meet in Oklahoma City
Julie and Glen Krutz Named Faculty-In-Residence for Headington Hall
Vogel Selected As Director of Oklahoma Water Survey
OU and Mercy Test New Models in Largest Breast Cancer Clinical Trial in Oklahoma
OU Names Wrobel Interim Dean of College of Arts and Sciences
OU Astrophysicist Identifies Composition of Earth-Size Planets in TRAPPIST-1System
July 2017
OU Student Receives National Security Education Program Award for International Study
OU Ranked among Top Three Universities for Student Happiness by The Princeton Review
OU Named Among Architectural Digest's Top 18 Stunning Libraries Around the World
Well-Designed Visual Aids Improve Risk Understanding
KGOU Wins Top Radio Award from Associated Press Broadcasters Association
OU Team Details Foreshock Activities Leading Up to Pawnee Earthquake
August 2017
Stoops To Be Honored During OU Homecoming Weekend
OU SMART Radar Team Deployed to Hurricane Harvey
OU Norman Campus Researchers Achieve $98.4 Million in Annual Research Expenditures
OU Honored with Second National Award for Diversity and Inclusion Efforts
OU Astrophysicist Predicts Detached Eclipsing White Dwarfs to Merge Into an Exotic Star
OU Welcomes Largest and Highest-Ranked Freshman Class
OU Board of Regents to Hold Special Meeting
OU Biologist Receives $1.2 Million NSF Grant in Support of Ecological Research at Continental Scales
September 2017
OU, OCAST Plan Statewide Initiative To Improve Oklahoma's Small Business Innovation Research Success
Boren Announces Plans to Retire as President of the University of Oklahoma
Sam Noble Museum Receives International Award for Oklahoma Native American Youth Language Fair
Gary L. Loving Named Interim Dean of Fran and Earl Ziegler College of Nursing
Jesus E. Medina Named President of OU Physicians
Randall Hewes Named Dean of OU Graduate College
Rainbolt Family Makes Leadership Gift to Name OU Graduate School of Business
OU Sets All-Time High Retention Record
OU Board of Regents to Meet in Tulsa
OU Ranked Among Top 50 Public Universities in Nation
OU SMART Radar Team Deploys to Hurricane IRMA
Nation's Leading Historians to Headline OU Teach-In on the Strength and Fragility of Constitutions
October 2017
Award-Winning Educator Douglas D. Gaffin Named Interim Dean of the OU Honors College
Cameron and OU Alumnus Receives Medal of Honor at White House
Sabatini to Receive International Service Award
Noted Art Historian, Speaker and Curator to Speak at OU Oct. 19
Kelly Named Corix Chair and Director of the Corix Plains Institute
OU Chrysanthemum Gardens in Full Bloom
Deaton Designated as Society of Research Administrators International Distinguished Faculty
KGOU to Expand Service in Western Oklahoma
OU to Dedicate OU Residential Colleges
OU Anthropologist Named to Science News' SN 10: Scientists to Watch
OU Research Team Receives $1.8 Million NSF Grant to Better Predict Heavy Rainfall Events
November 2017
OU’s Holiday Lighting Celebration to be Held Nov. 28 at David A. Burr Park
OU Researchers Harness Methane-Consuming Microbes
OU Dedicates Gene Rainbolt Graduate School Of Business
Edwidge Danticat is 2018 Winner of Prestigious Neustadt International Prize for Literature
For requests for past releases, please contact OU Public Affairs at (405) 325-1701 or publicaffairs@ou.edu.