Two playwrights, two poets, three short story writers and two novelists are the most recent recipients of the Whiting Writers Awards, $40,000 prizes given to “emerging writers of exceptional talent and promise.” AP’s Hillel Italie focuses on one of the winners, Yiyun Li, who is keeping up her battle to become a permanent resident of the United States. Last year, Li was turned down for permanent residency by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and rejected again upon appeal. The author had applied based on “exceptional ability” in the arts.
But better news awaits: she told AP recently she had filed a new petition “and the first step of it was approved in June.” She says the process could take two to three years. Meanwhile, she is “working on a novel, which is also taking quite a while, though hopefully not as long as the residency.” I’m still surprised by how things have developed for Li, but that’s also because things turned out rather different in my case.