Neustadt Prizes

The Neustadt and NSK Prizes for Literature

2025 NSK Finalists

A photo of Samira Ahmed Samira Ahmed is the bestselling author of Love, Hate & Other Filters, Internment, Mad, Bad & Dangerous to Know, Hollow Fires, and the Amira & Hamza middle-grade duology, as well as a Ms. Marvel comic book miniseries. Her poetry, essays, and short stories have appeared in numerous publications and anthologies including the New York Times, Take the Mic, Color Outside the Lines, Vampires Never Get Old, and A Universe of Wishes. She was born in Bombay, India, and grew up in Batavia, Illinois, in a house that smelled like fried onions, spices, and potpourri. A graduate of the University of Chicago, Samira has taught high school English in both the suburbs of Chicago and New York City, worked in education nonprofits, and spent time on the road for political campaigns. Samira currently lives in the Midwest. When she’s not reading or writing, she can be found on her lifelong quest for the perfect pastry. (Photo by Erielle Bakkum) / Representative text: Hollow Fires 
A photograph of Hatem Aly Hatem Aly is an Egyptian-born illustrator who has illustrated many books for young people that earned multiple starred reviews and positions on the New York Times bestseller list including The Proudest Blue with Ibtihaj Muhammad and S. K. Ali, In My Mosque with M. O. Yuksel, the Newbery Honor winner The Inquisitor’s Tale with Adam Gidwitz, The Unicorn Rescue Society series also with Adam Gidwitz and several amazing coauthors, The Yasmin series with Saadia Faruqi, Raj’s Rule (for the Bathroom at School) with Lana Button, How to Feed Your Parents with Ryan Miller, Takshira (Frown) with Naseeba Alozaibi, You Are a Star, Jane Goodall with Dean Robbins, Ethan and the Strays with John Sullivan, Egyptian Lullaby with Zeena Pliska, and Salat in Secret with Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow. He has more upcoming books and projects in the works. Hatem currently lives in New Brunswick, Canada, with his wife, son, and more pets than people. You can find him online @metahatem. / Representative text: The Proudest Blue 
A photograph of Lulu Delacre Three-time Pura Belpré Award honoree Lulu Delacre has been writing and illustrating children’s books since 1980. The New York Times bestselling artist was born and raised in Puerto Rico to Argentinean parents. Her many titles include Arroz con Leche: Popular Songs and Rhymes from Latin America, a Horn Book Fanfare Book in print for over thirty years. Her bilingual picture book ¡Olinguito, de la A a la Z! Descubriendo el bosque nublado / Olinguito, from A to Z! Unveiling the Cloud Forest and her story collection Us, in Progress: Short Stories about Young Latinos have received multiple starred reviews and awards. Among her latest works are the art of Turning Pages, by Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Cool Green: Amazing, Remarkable Trees, and Veo, Veo, I See You. Delacre has lectured internationally and served as a juror for the National Book Awards. She has exhibited at the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, the Original Art Show at the Society of Illustrators in New York, the Museum of Art of Puerto Rico, and the Zimmerli Art Museum, among other venues. Reading is Fundamental honored her with a Champion of Children’s Literacy Award. / Representative text: Us, in Progress 
A photograph of Cherie Dimaline Cherie Dimaline is an internationally bestselling author. Her 2017 book The Marrow Thieves was named one of the Best YA Books of All Time by Time magazine and won the Governor General’s Award and the Kirkus Prize. Her novel Empire of Wild became an instant Canadian bestseller, was named Indigo’s 2019 Best Book, and is being adapted into an opera. Hunting by Stars was a 2022 American Indian Library Association Honor Book, and her new novel, Venco, debuted at #1 on Canadian bestseller lists. Other 2023 titles include Funeral Songs for Dying Girls, Anthology of Monsters, and Into the Bright Open. Cherie lives in her Georgian Bay Métis Community and writes/produces for screen and stage. / Representative text: The Marrow Thieves 
A photograph of Hena Khan Hena Khan has been publishing books for children, including many that center Pakistani American and Muslim characters, for over two decades. She writes award-winning books in a multitude of formats, including picture books, middle–grade fiction, pick-your-path adventures, and graphic novels. Her stories are often centered around her culture, community, friendship, and family, and draw from her own experiences. Hena’s bestselling novels include Amina’s Voice and More to the Story. She is also the author of the Zayd Saleem Chasing the Dream, Zara’s Rules, and Super You! series. Hena’s acclaimed picture books include Golden Domes and Silver Lanterns, Under My Hijab, and It’s Ramadan, Curious George. She holds an MA in international affairs from the George Washington University, has served on the board of We Need Diverse Books, and is a member of the Children’s Book Guild of DC. Hena lives in her hometown of Rockville, Maryland. (Photo by Zoshia Mento) / Representative text: Drawing Deena 
A photograph of Martine Leavitt Martine Leavitt has published ten novels for young adults, most recently Calvin, which won the Governor General’s Literary Award of Canada. My Book of Life by Angel was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and winner of the Canadian Library Association Young Adult Book of the Year. Other titles by Leavitt include Keturah and Lord Death, a finalist for the National Book Award; Tom Finder, winner of the Mr. Christie Award; and Heck Superhero, a finalist for the Governor General’s Award. Her novels have been published in Japan, Korea, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, and the Netherlands. She lives in High River, Alberta. (Bio courtesy of VCFA) / Representative text: Calvin 
A photograph of Malinda Lo Malinda Lo is the New York Times bestselling author of seven novels, including most recently A Scatter of Light. Her novel Last Night at the Telegraph Club won the National Book Award, the Stonewall Book Award, the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature, a Michael L. Printz Honor, and was an LA Times Book Prize finalist. Her books have received fifteen starred reviews and have been finalists for multiple awards, including the Andre Norton Award and the Lambda Literary Award. She has been honored by the Carnegie Corporation as a Great Immigrant. Malinda’s short fiction and nonfiction have been published by the New York Times, NPR, Autostraddle, The Horn Book, and multiple anthologies. She lives in Massachusetts with her wife and their dog. (Photo by Sharona Jacobs) / Representative text: Last Night at the Telegraph Club 
A photograph of Kyo Maclear Kyo Maclear is an essayist, editor, novelist, and children’s author. Her books have been translated into eighteen languages, published in over twenty-five countries, and garnered nominations from the Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction, the Governor General’s Literary Awards, the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Awards, the Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards, the Amazon.ca First Novel Award, and the National Magazine Awards. Her nonfiction books include the hybrid memoir Birds Art Life (2017), a finalist for the Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction and winner of the Trillium Book Award, and Unearthing: A Story of Tangled Love and Family Secrets (2023), winner of the Governor General’s Literary Award for Nonfiction. Her work has appeared in Orion Magazine, Brick, Border Crossings, The Millions, LitHub, The Volta, Prefix Photo, Resilience, The Guardian, Lion’s Roar, Azure, the Globe & Mail, and elsewhere. She has been a national arts reviewer for Canadian Art and a monthly arts columnist for Toronto Life. She holds a doctorate in environmental humanities and teaches writing at the University of Guelph Creative Writing MFA and Humber School for Writers. She is an editor-at-large with Tundra Books/Penguin Random House Canada and recipient of the 2023 Vicky Metcalf Award for Young People for her body of work. She lives in Tkaronto/Toronto on the traditional territories of the Mississaugas of the New Credit, the Haudenosaunee, Métis, and the Huron-Wendat. / Representative text: Virginia Wolf 
A photograph of Aida Salazar Aida Salazar is an award-winning author, arts activist, and translator whose writings for adults and children explore issues of identity and social justice. She is the author of the critically acclaimed middle grade verse novels The Moon Within (International Latino Book Award Winner); Land of the Cranes (Américas Award, California Library Association Beatty Award, Northern CA Book Award, NCTE Charlotte Huck Honor, Jane Addams Peace Honor, International Latino Book Award Honor); as well as A Seed in the Sun (Tomás Rivera Children’s Book Award, ALA RISE Feminist Book Project Top 10 Book, NCTE Notable Poetry/Verse Novel Honor, Jane Addams Peace Award Finalist). Her other works include the picture book anthology In the Spirit of a Dream: 13 Stories of Immigrants of Color; the bio picture book Jovita Wore Pants: The Story of a Mexican Freedom Fighter (Caldecott Honor, International Latino Book Award); and the anthology Calling the Moon: Period Stories by BIPOC Authors. Her story, By the Light of the Moon was adapted into a ballet production by the Sonoma Conservatory of Dance and is the first Xicana-themed ballet in history. She lives with her family of artists in Oakland, California. (Photo by Lluvia Higuera) / Representative text: Ultraviolet