21st Century Literature discussion

Don't have time to flesh this out right now, but was writing another note a few minutes ago and discovered the 2020 Neustadt finalists were announced July 21. If the announcement has already been covered here, mea culpa.

"Hmm – Internet browsing for another reason turned up this group of writers selected as jurors for the 2020 Neustadt:
https://www.worldliteraturetoday.org/...

And the nominees themselves:
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/harr...

Thanks Lily. The only one I've read is Mourning.

The nominees and their books:
.
-
Emmanuel Carrère (France), The Adversary: A True Story of Monstrous Deception

Jorie Graham (United States), Fast: Poems

Jessica Hagedorn (Philippines / United States), Dogeaters

Eduardo Halfon (Guatemala), Mourning

Ismail Kadare (Albania), Broken April

Sahar Khalifeh (Palestine), Wild Thorns

Abdellatif Laâbi (Morocco), Beyond the Barbed Wire: Selected Poems

Lee Maracle (Canada), Celia's Song

Hoa Nguyen (Vietnam / United States), Red Juice: Poems 1998-2008

The judges:

Anna Badkhen, Russian-born literary nonfiction writer

Kapka Kassabova, a native of Bulgaria and a writer of journeys and geographies

Joseph O. Legaspi, Philippine American poet

Philip Metres, poet, translator and essayist

Dunya Mikhail, an Iraqi American poet and essayist

André Naffis-Sahely, poet and translator

Vi Khi Nao, whose work includes poetry, fiction, and film

Felipe Restrepo Pombo, a Colombian journalist, editor and author

Katherena Vermette, a Métis poet and writer of adult and children’s literature.

Thanks Lily. The only one of those nominees I have read anything by is Kadare.

Hugh wrote: "Thanks Lily. The only one of those nominees I have read anything by is Kadare."

Interesting to see so much poetry. Wonder if that reflects the judges or if there was a broader discussion about the role of poetry in literature. It is a form that is demanding about words, ideas, language.

I think Kadare is the only author whose name I recognize (although this is not unusual for me and the Neustadt list). Thanks for posting, Lily.

Kadare is also the only one I recognize. I've read one of his books--The Pyramid.