NORMAN, OKLAHOMA (June 5, 2024) –World Literature Today, the University of Oklahoma’s award-winning magazine of international literature and culture, has announced the names of the jury members who will select the finalists for the renowned NSK Neustadt Prize for Children’s and Young Adult Literature.
Awarded to a living writer or illustrator from anywhere in the world, the biennial NSK Prize recognizes significant achievement, either over a lifetime or in a single publication, as well as the laureate’s ongoing, positive impact on children’s literature.
The international jury is composed of esteemed authors and illustrators who select finalists based on literary merit alone; selections are not affected by book sales or publisher influence. The jury for the 2025 NSK Prize includes the following members:
- Nidhi Chanani
- Susan Fletcher
- Guadalupe García McCall
- Varian Johnson
- Magdalena Mora
- Kate Rafiq
- Danny Ramadan
- Sabaa Tahir
- Lauren Tamaki
The jurors’ full bios can be found on the Neustadt website. The list of 2025 NSK finalists will be announced on June 18, 2024, and the jury will convene to deliberate and vote during the 2024 Neustadt Lit Fest, set for Oct. 21–23.
The NSK Prize was first awarded in 2003 to Newberry Medal winner Mildred D. Taylor. Other notable winners include National Book Award recipients Katherine Paterson (2007) and Virginia Euwer Wolff (2011), Young People’s Poet Laureate Naomi Shihab Nye (2013), Frost Medal recipient Marilyn Nelson (2017), and Pura Belpré Medal winner Margarita Engle (2019). The 2023 NSK Prize was awarded to Gene Luen Yang. Recipients receive $35,000, a silver medallion, and a certificate.
The NSK Prize and the Neustadt International Prize for Literature are awarded in alternating years. The most recent Neustadt Prize winner, Mauritian writer Ananda Devi, will be recognized at the Neustadt Lit Fest in October 2024. Hosted on the OU Norman campus each fall, the Lit Fest is a three-day event featuring that year’s winning writer as well as roundtable discussions of literary trends and the author’s literary and cultural influences.
More information about both prizes can be found at neustadtprize.org. For accommodations at this year’s lit fest, contact Terri Stubblefield at [email protected] or call the WLT offices at 405-325-4531.
