Discover their stories.
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2021 Poetry
Obit
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2021 Nonfiction
Memorial Drive
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2021 Fiction
Deacon King Kong
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2021 Nonfiction
Tacky’s Revolt
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2021 Lifetime Achievement
Samuel R. Delany
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2020 Poetry
Deaf Republic
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2020 Nonfiction
Gods of the Upper Air
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2020 Fiction
The Old Drift
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2020 Lifetime Achievement
Eric Foner
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2019 Fiction
There There
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2019 Poetry
Wade in the Water
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2019 Lifetime Achievement
Sonia Sanchez
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2019 Nonfiction
The War Before the War
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2018 Fiction
Sing, Unburied, Sing
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2018 Nonfiction
Bunk
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2018 Lifetime Achievement
N. Scott Momaday
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2018 Poetry
In the Language of My Captor
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2017 Fiction
The Association of Small Bombs
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2017 Nonfiction
Hidden Figures
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2017 Fiction
The Fortunes
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2017 Poetry
Olio
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2017 Lifetime Achievement
Isabel Allende
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2016 Poetry
Heaven
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2016 Lifetime Achievement
Orlando Patterson
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2016 Nonfiction
The Gay Revolution
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2016 Fiction
The Jazz Palace
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2016 Nonfiction
What the Eye Hears
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2015 Poetry
Hard Love Province
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2015 Poetry
The New Testament
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2015 Lifetime Achievement
David Brion Davis
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2015 Nonfiction
A Tale of Two Plantations
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2015 Fiction
A Brief History of Seven Killings
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2014 Nonfiction
My Promised Land
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2014 Lifetime Achievement
Wilson Harris
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2014 Lifetime Achievement
George Lamming
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2014 Fiction
A Constellation of Vital Phenomena
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2014 Fiction
The Big Smoke
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2013 Lifetime Achievement
Wole Soyinka
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2013 Nonfiction
Far From the Tree
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2013 Fiction
My Favorite Warlord
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2013 Fiction
The Yellow Birds
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2013 Fiction
Kind One
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2012 Nonfiction
American Oracle
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2012 Nonfiction
Less Than Human
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2012 Lifetime Achievement
Arnold Rampersad
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2012 Fiction
Half-Blood Blues
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2011 Nonfiction
Atlas of the Transatlantic Slave Trade
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2011 Fiction
Great House
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2011 Fiction
The Cailiffs of Baghdad, Georgia
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2011 Lifetime Achievement
John Edgar Wideman
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2011 Nonfiction
The Warmth of Other Suns
Our Mission
The only juried American book prize focusing on works that address racism and diversity.
The Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards recognize books that have made important contributions to our understanding of racism and human diversity. For 86 years, the distinguished books earning Anisfield-Wolf prizes have opened and challenged our minds. Cleveland poet and philanthropist Edith Anisfield Wolf established the book awards in 1935, in honor of her father, John Anisfield, and husband, Eugene Wolf, to reflect her family’s passion for social justice.
Proudly presented by the Cleveland Foundation
Recent News
View all news-
A Poetic Tribute To MacNolia Cox, Who Paved The Way For Spelling Champion Zaila Avant-garde
July 14, 2021
Two girls, African American eighth graders, separated by geography and time, made a splash at the Scripps National Spelling Bee. …
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With “On Juneteenth,” Annette Gordon-Reed Makes The Holiday And Its Texas Origins Personal
June 16, 2021
The holiday of Juneteenth is deepening its mark on American history. The U.S. Senate voted unanimously this week to make…
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A Foundational Friendship between Edith Anisfield Wolf and Amy Loveman Created and Nurtured the Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards
May 28, 2021
By Lisa Nielson Almost 90 years ago, two women quietly cooked up what is to this day the only juried…
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“Landfall” Puts Spotlight on Puerto Rico Residents’ Leadership In The Aftermath of Hurricane Maria
April 8, 2021
Hurricane Maria scythed more than 3,000 souls on Puerto Rico, according to the official death toll. Among that number was…
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Introducing Our Class of 2021
April 5, 2021
The Cleveland Foundation today unveiled the winners of its 86th Annual Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards. The 2021 recipients of the only…
Educational Resources
View all resources-
The Music of Tommy Orange’s There There
Book: There There
Level: Child -
Teaching Kevin Young’s Bunk: The Rise of Hoaxes, Humbug, Plagiarists, Phonies, Post-Facts, and Fake News
Book: Bunk
Level: Young Adult -
Teaching Diversity in the Eras of Plague and Pandemic
Book: Far From the Tree
Level: Young Adult -
Reading Anisfield-Wolf Winners’ Picture Books
Level: Child
Join the conversation on Twitter
@AnisfieldWolfI can’t wait for this tonight. Two of the smartest writers I’ve ever read. Join us! https://t.co/SUyOrjpBvD
Samuel R. Delany is our 2021 lifetime achievement winner. Hear AW jury chair @HenryLouisGates salute the science fiction pioneer: https://t.co/vwCtS0SDL1
If you want to learn LGBT history, chances are you’re going to have to engage with @LillianFaderman‘s work. Hear from the historian in episode 6: https://t.co/nbZDancnMe https://t.co/6yLvkQhZQn
September 30.
Playhouse Square.
Right in the middle of #ClevelandBookWeek.
We’ll see you for our 2021 awards ceremony.
Get on our email list as we unveil the full lineup: https://t.co/fn24m9CMvk https://t.co/xD1dQgZmkf
#CommonGroundCLE has events on aging, food, motherhood and more. Join the conversation by finding an topic near and dear to you: https://t.co/0ayMj2XfxO
