Inaugural Aspen Words Literary Prize Announced

The inaugural Aspen Words Literary Prize, which was announced tonight during a ceremony in New York, was awarded to Mohsin Hamid‘s Exit West. The award, which was established this year by Aspen Words, is an annual $35,000 prize for “an influential work of fiction that illuminates a vital contemporary issue and demonstrates the transformative power of literature on thought and culture.” In a recorded acceptance speech, Hamid said “Exit West is a novel about migration and how the world is changing — and could change — and how we are all migrants, and how we can find an optimistic future together.” (Make sure you read our review of Hamid’s award-winning novel).