Top row (left to right): Bao Phi, Daniel Nayeri, Elisa Stone Leahy; middle row: Hannah V. Sawyerr, Cynthia Levinson, Lola M. Schaefer; bottom row: Kyle Lukoff, Phil Bildner, Kavita Ramchandran

World Literature Today, the University of Oklahoma’s award-winning magazine of international literature and culture, has announced the names of the jury members who will select the finalists for the renowned NSK Neustadt Prize for Children’s and Young Adult Literature.

Awarded to a living writer or illustrator from anywhere in the world, the biennial NSK Prize recognizes significant achievement, either over a lifetime or in a single publication, as well as the laureate’s ongoing, positive impact on children’s literature. The jury’s selections are not affected by book sales or publisher influence.

The international jury is composed of esteemed authors and illustrators who select finalists based on literary merit alone. The jurors for the 2027 NSK Prize are:

• Phil Bildner

• Cynthia Levinson

• Kyle Lukoff

• Daniel Nayeri

• Bao Phi

• Kavita Ramchandran

• Hannah V. Sawyerr

• Lola M. Schaefer

• Elisa Stone Leahy

The jurors’ full bios can be found on the Neustadt website. The list of 2027 NSK finalists will be announced in June, and the jury will convene to deliberate and vote during the 2026 Neustadt Lit Fest, set for Sept. 28–30.

The NSK Neustadt Prize was first awarded in 2003 to Newbery Medal winner Mildred D. Taylor. Other winners include National Book Award recipients Katherine Paterson (2007) and Virginia Euwer Wolff (2011), Young People’s Poet Laureate Naomi Shihab Nye (2013), Frost Medal recipient Marilyn Nelson (2017), and Pura Belpré Medal winner Margarita Engle (2019). The 2025 NSK Prize was awarded to Cherie Dimaline. Recipients receive a check, a silver medallion, and a certificate. As of 2027, the award amount will increase from $35,000 to $50,000.

The NSK Neustadt Prize and the Neustadt International Prize for Literature are awarded in alternating years. The most recent Neustadt Prize winner, Ibrahim Nasrallah, will be recognized at the Neustadt Lit Fest in September. Hosted on the OU Norman campus each fall, the Lit Fest is a three-day event featuring that year’s winning writer as well as roundtable discussions of literary trends and the author’s literary and cultural influences.

More information about both prizes can be found at neustadtprize.org. For accommodations at this year’s lit fest, contact Terri Stubblefield at [email protected] or call the WLT offices at 405-325-4531.