“Like Franz Kafka, Josef Škvorecký is a man who writes in a minor language and has become, in translation, the spokesman for the mind and soul of people in far greater numbers than the original language could have reached.” — Arnošt Lustig on the 1980 Neustadt Prize Laureate Josef Škvorecký
Octavio Paz Quote
“By approaching language through poetry and passion he deals with a universal fact—there is no culture without language, and language belongs to all of us—through feelings (sensuousness, sexual passion) that are also our common heritage.” — Manuel Durán on 1982 Neustadt Prize Laureate Octavio Paz
Paavo Haavikko Quote
“Finnish is not a language, it is a way of setting at the end of the bench with your fur cap pulled over your ears.” ― Paavo Haavikko, 1984 Neustadt Prize Laureate
Max Frisch Quote
“Time does not change us. It just unfolds us.” ― Max Frisch, 1986 Neustadt Prize Laureate
Raja Rao Quote
“[Raja Rao is] perhaps the most brilliant—and certainly the most interesting—writer of modern India.”—Santha Rama Rau on 1988 Neustadt Prize Laureate Raja Rao
Tomas Tranströmer Quote
“He has been able to breathe life into the most uninspiring realities of modern existence and in this way has significantly broadened the scope of our poetic vision of the world.” – Jaan Kaplinski on 1990 Neustadt Prize laureate Tomas Tranströmer
