Pankaj Mishra will receive the 2024 Weston International Award. The award recognizes the career achievement of an international nonfiction writer. Mishra, who is known for his writings on the Global South, Western imperialism in Asia, and contemporary spirituality, will receive $75,000. This award is a counterpart to the Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction, which is awarded annually to a Canadian author for a single nonfiction book.
To be considered for the award, authors must have published at least three books of outstanding literary quality in the non-fiction genre, written in English or available in a widely read translation. Mishra has written eight non-fiction books, including Age of Wrath, From the ruins of the empire And Butter Chicken in Ludhiana among others and two novels, The Romantics And Run and hide.
“With a compelling and seminal work that blends memoir, philosophy, history, sociology and criticism, Mishra proves himself a master at dissecting and addressing magmatic arguments and pressing questions about identity, nationalism and belonging,” the jury said of his writing.
Mishra was selected by an international advisory panel and a Canadian jury. The advisory panel includes UK-based broadcaster Mariella Frostrup, writer Pico Iyer and historian, biographer and journalist Sam Tanenhaus. The Canadian jury, meanwhile, included author and naturalist Trevor Herriot, author Helen Humphreys, author and environmental historian Jessica J Lee, writer Kyo Maclear and author, journalist and editor Harley Rustad.
Mishra will address an audience at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto on September 16 to discuss his career and work.
