Junot Diaz awarded major prize

Junot Diaz has been awarded a US$500,000 MacArthur Genius Grant along with another 22 people announced by the MacArthur Foundation yesterday, Monday 1 October.

According to the Foundation, the fellows were all chosen "for their creativity, originality and potential to make important contributions in the future".

Diaz, said the Foundation, offers "a powerful insight into the realities of the Caribbean Diaspora, American assimilation, and lives lived between cultures" in his novel The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao and two short story collections, Drown and This is How You Lose Her.

Diaz said the grant, which came out of the blue, would be 'transformational'. "It allows you to focus on your art with very little other concerns. It's kind of like a big blast of privilege".

Diaz is the second Dominican to have won the award. Last year, Francisco Nunez was awarded the same award for his work to bring choir singing to young people while directing the Young People's Chorus of New York City.

www.macfound.org/fellows/864/

More...