Cherie Dimaline to Headline 2025 Neustadt Lit Fest at OU

World Literature Today, the University of Oklahoma’s award-winning magazine of international literature and culture, will confer the 2025 NSK Neustadt Prize for Children’s and Young Adult Literature on the Georgian Bay Métis writer Cherie Dimaline during the Neustadt Lit Fest, scheduled Oct. 20–22. Dimaline will receive the $35,000 prize, the Neustadt silver medallion, and a certificate at a ceremony at the University of Oklahoma.

The public is invited to the festival in Dimaline’s honor on the OU Norman campus, where Dimaline and other participating writers, artists and scholars will give presentations about Native literature and culture, and the OU School of Dance will premiere an original performance based on Dimaline’s work.

Robert Con Davis-Undiano, WLT’s executive director, commented that “Cherie Dimaline brings immense talent and commitment to everything she writes, hence putting her in the ranks of the best of the best.”

Kathy Neustadt will announce the winner of the 2026 Neustadt International Prize for Literature at a reception scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 21 in Beaird Lounge of the Oklahoma Memorial Union, 900 Asp Ave. This year’s Neustadt jury will also present readings of their work at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 21 in the union’s Scholars Room (OMU 315).

All events are free and open to the public. The complete schedule and additional details can be found on the Neustadt website. For interested attendees who cannot participate in person, archived videos of the entire lit fest will be posted on WLT’s YouTube channel.

Established in 1927, the World Literature Today organization serves the international, state and university communities by achieving excellence as a literary publication, a sponsor of literary prizes and a humanities center for students. For questions about the prize, the 2025 Lit Fest, or WLT, contact Terri Stubblefield ([email protected]) or RC Davis-Undiano ([email protected]). For accommodations, please call 405-325-4531.