2013 Neustadt Festival Celebrates World-Class Literature, with a Spotlight on the Middle East
The 2013 Neustadt Festival of International Literature & Culture—featuring twenty poets, novelists, musicians, filmmakers, translators, and scholars from around the globe—will take place on the University of Oklahoma campus October 29 through November 1.
The festival’s marquee author, Palestinian American writer Naomi Shihab Nye, will receive the 2013 NSK Neustadt Prize for Children’s Literature at a ceremony on the OU campus, and the week will include nine public events that celebrate world literature and Middle Eastern culture. The festival is hosted by OU’s award-winning magazine, World Literature Today, which also sponsors the $25,000 NSK Prize and the $50,000 Neustadt International Prize for Literature.
That same week, nine of the visiting writers will convene as jurors to select the winner of the 2014 Neustadt Prize. Each of the authors will give readings from and sign copies of their work, and the festival will also feature an opening-night celebration of poetry, a book launch and film screenings, a roundtable on Middle Eastern culture and politics, performances of Arab music and Ethiopian storytelling, and several public appearances by Naomi Shihab Nye.
Biographical information about all the visiting writers and artists, plus a complete schedule of events, can be found on the festival website, neustadtprize.org. Festival attendees will have numerous opportunities to interact with the writers, and press passes can be obtained by registering on the festival website. None of the public events require reservations or tickets, but seating is limited. For special requests or accommodations on the basis of disability, call the offices of World Literature Today at (405) 325-4531.
