Yale to announce winners of $150,000 global literary prizes

The first recipients of the Donald Windham-Sandy M. Campbell Literature Prizes at Yale will be announced at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library on Monday, March 4, at 10 a.m. The announcement will be made by Peter Salovey, president-elect of Yale University, and will be live-streamed on the Yale YouTube channel.

The Windham Campbell Prizes support writers across the globe in the practice of their art and celebrate their literary accomplishments. The prizes recognize English-language writers at all stages of their careers for outstanding achievement in the fields of fiction, non-fiction, and drama.

“Yale is a place that hopes to inspire and recognize greatness in every field. The Windham Campbell Prizes allow us to fulfill that ambition in the field of world literature in ways we are only beginning to understand,” said Salovey.

Established with a gift from the estate of Donald Windham, the prizes are administered by the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, which also houses the late writer’s papers. The awards add to the roster of esteemed literary prizes, such as the Bollingen Prize and the Yale Series of Younger Poets, already conferred by Yale.

Writers do not apply for the prizes themselves. Experts in the fields are asked to submit names for consideration. The three-tiered selection process takes about nine months to complete.

In the last phase of the process, a selection committee meets at Yale to name up to nine writers to receive prizes. In addition to a citation and a prize diploma, recipients are each awarded $150,000 to support their writing.

Winners must receive their awards in person at a ceremony at Yale in September and take part in a three-day literary festival celebrating their work. The Windham Campbell literary festival will take place Sept. 10-13 in New Haven, CT.

“I look forward to the dialogue the winners will inspire on the Yale campus and around the world; we will learn much from our prize-winners, particularly in these first years of awarding the prize,” said Salovey.