“This kind of list, of course, always provokes a lot of tea-leaf reading — as well as high-minded dismissals of its “problematic” nature. This year, one source of discussion is how many of the list’s 21 writers were raised abroad or are nonwhite. Are stories of transnational identity where the literary action is these days? (Some things seem never to change, though: More than half of the chosen writers live in New York City, and the only Southland writer is Maile Meloy, who lives in Los Angeles.)”