“It is a prize in the mythical Oklahoma of Kafka’s dreams and the land of the unique rose rock, and has been awarded to a writer from a remote and mysterious country in Latin America nominated by a great writer from far-off Iceland. These circumstances suffice to make of the Books Abroad / Neustadt International Prize […]
Giuseppe Ungaretti
“M’Illumino D’Immenso – I flood myself with the light of the immense.” ― Giuseppe Ungaretti, 1970 Neustadt Prize Laureate
Gabriel García Márquez Quote
“What matters in life is not what happens to you but what you remember and how you remember it.” ― Gabriel García Márquez, 1972 Neustadt Prize Laureate
Francis Ponge Quote
“Verbal humor is one of the more obvious features of Ponge’s style. It runs the whole gamut of word play, down to the outrageous sort of pun customarily greeted with a groan. In part, this carries on the systematic surrealist destruction of conventional literature.” — Micheal Riffaterre on 1974 Neustadt Prize Laureate Francis Ponge
Elizabeth Bishop Quote
“If after I read a poem the world looks like that poem for 24 hours or so I’m sure it’s a good one—and the same goes for paintings. ” ― Elizabeth Bishop, 1976 Neustadt Prize Laureate
Czesław Miłosz Quote
“In a room where / people unanimously maintain / a conspiracy of silence, / one word of truth / sounds like a pistol shot.” ― Czesław Miłosz, 1978 Neustadt Prize Laureate
