PEN International has announced the top six texts longlisted for the 2015 New Voices Award selected by Judges: Zakariya Amataya, Juan Tomás Ávila Laurel, Edwige-Renée Dro, Drago Jančar, Yann Martel and Olga Tokarczuk. The shortlist of three will be released soon. The award will be presented on October 14 during the 81st PEN International Congress in Québec.
“The New Voices Award proves that secretly, deftly, in spite of everything, we continue to survive as a word-making species. The stories and poems received from all over the world are proof of the extraordinary resilience of the literary imagination.”
Alberto Manguel, 2014 New Voices judge
LONGLIST:
‘Likkewaan’ by Carien Smith (PEN Afrikaans)
‘Under the Jacaranda Tree’ by Nozizwe Dube (PEN Flanders)
‘Nichts kurz vor der Rue Saint-Blaise’ by Lea Sauer (German PEN)
‘Ailleurs’ by Sophie Prévost (PEN Québec)
‘Varshava’ by Ana Dontsu (PEN Romania)
‘Moon Dog’ by Rebecca F John (Wales PEN Cymru)
To read about the PEN International/New Voices Award, click here.
PEN International promotes literature and freedom of expression and is governed by the PEN Charter and the principles it embodies: unhampered transmission of thought within each nation and between all nations. Founded in 1921, PEN International connects an international community of writers from its Secretariat in London. It is a forum where writers meet freely to discuss their work; it is also a voice speaking out for writers silenced in their own countries. Through Centres in over 100 countries, PEN operates on five continents. PEN International is a non-political organisation which holds Special Consultative Status at the UN and Associate Status at UNESCO.