Sigrid Nunez and Anne Enright are among the winners of a $175,000 literary prize

Based at Yale University, the prizes were established in 2013 by the writer Donald Windham, who drew upon family stocks inherited from his late friend Sandy Campbell. Previous winners include Percival Everett, Ling Ma and Vivian Gornick.

Windham died in 2010.

“It was the late Donald Windham’s wish in establishing these prizes to call attention to literary achievement and provide writers with time, space and freedom,” prize director Michael Kelleher said in a statement. "This mission remains at the heart of the Windham-Campbell Prizes, and in today’s world it is more vital than ever to recognize and support the crucial work and wisdom that writers share with us all.”