NSK Neustadt Prize for Children's Literature

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NSK Prize
NSK Prize silver medallion
CountryUnited States
Presented byWorld Literature Today and the University of Oklahoma
First awarded2003; 21 years ago (2003)
Websiteneustadtprize.org/the-nsk-prize

The NSK Neustadt Prize for Children's Literature is an international children's literary award founded in 2003 and given every odd-number year by World Literature Today. The prize is an offshoot of the Neustadt International Prize for Literature. Nancy Barcelo, Kathy Neustadt, and Susan Neustadt Schwartz, the daughters of Walter Jr. and Dolores Neustadt and the granddaughters of Walter Sr. and Doris Westheimer Neustadt, established the prize to “enhance the quality of children's literature by recognizing writing that contributes to the quality of children's lives.”[1][2]

It is one of few children's literature awards that is awarded for an author's entire body of work—the main criterion is the positive impact of a writer's work on the quality of children's literature and only living writers are eligible. To distinguish the prize from others such as the Newbery, Caldecott, and Hans Christian Andersen awards, the Neustadts decided there would be no limitations concerning age-range, genre, or media of the children's literature under consideration.[3]

Candidates for the award are nominated by a jury of children's literature writers, illustrators, and scholars, and the jury also selects the winner. The winner receives a check for $35,000, a silver medallion, and a certificate, in a public ceremony at the University of Oklahoma.[4]

Winners[edit]

To date, the winners of the NSK Neustadt Prize for Children's Literature include:

Year Name Country
2003 Mildred D. Taylor United States
2005 Brian Doyle Canada
2007 Katherine Paterson United States
2009 Vera B. Williams United States
2011 Virginia Euwer Wolff United States
2013 Naomi Shihab Nye United States
2015 Meshack Asare Ghana
2017 Marilyn Nelson United States
2019 Margarita Engle United States
2021 Cynthia Leitich Smith United States

References[edit]

  1. ^ Simon, Daniel (May 2004). "Introducing the NSK Neustadt Prize for Children's Literature". World Literature Today. 78 (2): 5–6. doi:10.2307/40158383. JSTOR 40158383.
  2. ^ Neustadt Hankin, Kathy (May 2008). "The First Five Years of the NSK Prize". World Literature Today. 82 (3): 26–27. JSTOR 40159725.
  3. ^ Simon, Daniel (May 2004). "Introducing the NSK Neustadt Prize for Children's Literature". World Literature Today. 78 (2): 5–6. doi:10.2307/40158383. JSTOR 40158383.
  4. ^ "NSK Neustadt Prize for Children's Literature". World Literature Today. 2013-07-26.