 He was selected to be part of the jury for the University of Oklahoma's Neustadt International Prize for Literature (the only Romanian to enjoy this appointment), but the communist authorities' hostility prevented him from honoring the request.Iordan Chimet did not cease his contacts with Western writers, and generally appealed to clandestine mail in order to have his messages sent across.In 1977, he began corresponding with Michael Ende, who was living in West Germany.