Ladan Osman Interviewed by The Prairie Schooner

Along with Mahtem Shiferraw, 2014 Sillerman Prize winner Ladan Osman was also featured recently on The Prairie Schooner blog. Osman discusses the awkward way in which she found out about winning the prize, her desire to work with an editor like Kwame Dawes, and how she restructured her manuscript into a prize-winning book.

“I wish I’d known that there were readers ready for my work, readers who would demand my rigor. Many times, I doubted my aesthetic inclinations, and wasn’t sure where the work belonged. If I’d known the APBF would exist, I would’ve had an entity to aim for, a clear community to try and join. That pointed focus would’ve been very encouraging.”

Click here to read the entire interview, which is part of an ongoing series promoting the current Sillerman Prize submission period.