FEATURED IMAGE: Screenshot/PBS News Hour
Pakistani writer Mohsin Hamid has won the inaugural Aspen Words Literary Prize for his novel Exit West, which portrays migrants as heroes amid ongoing anti-migrant rhetoric.
The Aspen Institute’s award honors a work of fiction that illuminates a “vital contemporary issue and demonstrates the transformative power of literature on thought and culture.”
Hamid is known international for books including Moth Smoke (2000), The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2007) and How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia (2013).
“The book is my attempt to write against this growing anti-migrant sentiment,” the Lahore-based author said in his acceptancce speechc.
The event took place at the historic Morgan Library in New York City and included a discussion on works of fiction.
“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
Photo: Courtesy Mohsin Hamid’s Official Facebook Page
“Mohsin Hamid’s sentences are exquisite, capable of jaw-dropping surprise, elegant emotional exploration, and bone-chilling horror within a few clauses,” the AWLP jury said. “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.”
The Aspen award has been endowed in perpetuity by an anonymous donor and brings $35,000 to the winner. It will be awarded annually to an influential work of fiction and will be open to authors of any nationality.
According to the Institute, the AWLP is one of few awards focused exclusively on fiction with a social impact.
Eligible works include novels or short story collections that address questions of violence, inequality, gender, the environment, immigration, religion, race, or other social issues, the Institute says.
The award program featured Linda Holmes, host of NPR’s “Pop Culture Happy Hour.” Michel Martin, weekend host of NPR’s “All Things Considered,” led a discussion.
The Institute’s 2018 finalists included Lesley Nneka Arimah (What It Means When A Man Falls From the Sky), Zinzi Clemmons (What We Lose), Samrat Upadhyay (Mad Country), and Jesmyn Ward (Sing, Unburied, Sing). The finalists and winner were selected by a five-member jury including Stephen Carter, Jessica Fullerton, Phil Klay, Alondra Nelson, and Akhil Sharma. In addition to the cash award, the winner of the AWLP received a unique trophy designed by sculptor Michael Lorsung of the Anderson Ranch Arts Center near Aspen, Colorado.
