“This year the boldface names belong to writers and musicians: Junot Díaz, 43, the writer and professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Chris Thile, 31, a mandolinist and composer in New York City; David Finkel 56, a Washington Postreporter; Dinaw Mengestu, 34, a novelist and journalist in Washington; and Claire Chase, 34, a flutist and arts entrepreneur in Brooklyn.”