NEW YORK — Prominent authors Sigrid Nunez, a National Book Award honoree, and Anne Enright, a Booker Prize laureate, have been named among the eight esteemed individuals to receive a distinguished literary prize accompanied by a substantial $175,000 cash award. The Windham-Campbell Prizes, awarded annually, celebrate literary accomplishments while empowering writers to pursue their work free from financial constraints.
In an announcement made on Tuesday, other accomplished recipients highlighted include legal expert Patricia Williams, dramatists Roy Williams and Matilda Feyi?ay? Ibini, poets Anthony V. Capildeo and Tongo Eisen-Martin, and essayist Rana Dasgupta.
Administered by Yale University, these prestigious awards were conceived in 2013 by author Donald Windham, leveraging assets inherited from the estate of his deceased friend, Sandy Campbell. Renowned past laureates of this program encompass names such as Percival Everett, Ling Ma, and Vivian Gornick.
Windham, who passed away in 2010, envisioned these prizes as a means to acknowledge exceptional literary talent while affording writers the liberty to innovate without financial worries. In a recent statement, prize director Michael Kelleher emphasized that, “It was the late Donald Windham’s wish in establishing these prizes to call attention to literary achievement and provide writers with time, space, and freedom.” He further articulated that the core mission of the Windham-Campbell Prizes continues to maintain its urgency, aiming to “recognize and support the crucial work and wisdom that writers share with us all,” especially in the current global context.