Announcing a New Contest Judged by Nobel Prizewinner J. M. Coetzee

Tell us about a writer who deserves to be better known in the Anglophone world.

We’re thrilled to announce that none other than Nobel Prizewinner J. M. Coetzee (pictured above) will be helping us ring in our 9th anniversary in a special way—by helping us award up to $1,000 in prizes through an essay contest.

Open to translators and non-translators alike, this competition “invites essays introducing a writer working in a language other than English whose oeuvre deserves more attention than it currently receives from the English-speaking world.”

After checking out the two Writers on Writers essays—introducing Samanta Schweblin and Wang Shuo—from our latest issue, get cracking on your own essay (full guidelines can be found here). As long as you enter by October 1st, you stand a chance of winning a share of the prize money and publication in our special Winter 2020 edition. If you frequent an English university department or cool bookstores or cafes, help spread the word by printing and putting up this poster below! 

2019AsymptoteContestbloga

Thank you so very much! We can’t wait to read the essays that you submit!

Photo credit: Bert Nienhaus