Another accolade for Mohsin, another accolade for Pakistan. Exit West,
Mohsin's latest novel, wins the first ever Aspen Words Literary Prize!
Source: AspenInstitute
Contact: Caroline Tory
Program Manager | Aspen Words
New York, NY, April 10, 2018 ––Tonight, Mohsin Hamid was awarded the inaugural $35,000 Aspen Words Literary Prize (AWLP) for his novel “Exit West.” The award, which is one of the largest literary prizes in the United States, was established by the Aspen Institute to honor a work of fiction “that illuminates a vital contemporary issue and demonstrates the transformative power of literature on thought and culture.”
New York, NY, April 10, 2018 ––Tonight, Mohsin Hamid was awarded the inaugural $35,000 Aspen Words Literary Prize (AWLP) for his novel “Exit West.” The award, which is one of the largest literary prizes in the United States, was established by the Aspen Institute to honor a work of fiction “that illuminates a vital contemporary issue and demonstrates the transformative power of literature on thought and culture.”
“The book is my attempt to write against this growing anti-migrant sentiment,” said Hamid. “I wanted to portray migrants as heroes, not criminals. But more than that, I wanted to show that everyone is a migrant, even those who never move geographically, because moving through time, aging, is itself a form of migration.”
“Mohsin Hamid’s sentences are exquisite, capable of jaw-dropping surprise, elegant emotional exploration, and bone-chilling horror within a few clauses,” said the AWLP jury. “And by bringing the contemporary refugee crisis into countries that have mostly ignored the suffering beyond their borders, he forces us to ask ourselves how we are reacting to the crisis, and what potential we have to do better. In a world with 50 million displaced people, this is a novel that affects us all.”
