Discover their stories.
-
1998 Nonfiction
The Black Notebooks
-
1959 Nonfiction
Racial and Cultural Minorities
-
2003 Lifetime Achievement
Adrienne Kennedy
-
1954 Fiction
Simple Takes a Wife
-
2013 Fiction
My Favorite Warlord
-
2004 Fiction
The Known World
-
2007 Fiction
Half of a Yellow Sun
-
1944 Nonfiction
New World A-Coming
-
1940 Nonfiction
The Negro Family in the United States
-
2018 Lifetime Achievement
N. Scott Momaday
-
1976 Nonfiction
The Arabs
-
1947 Fiction
East River
-
1994 Nonfiction
W.E.B. Du Bois
-
1986 Nonfiction
Freedom Rising
-
1968 Nonfiction
The Jews Among the Nations
-
1954 Nonfiction
Struggle for Africa
-
1946 Nonfiction
Black Metropolis
-
1973 Nonfiction
Men & Brothers
-
1989 Nonfiction
Parting the Waters
-
1954 Nonfiction
Struggle for Africa
-
1939 Nonfiction
Non-European Peoples of South Africa
-
2015 Nonfiction
A Tale of Two Plantations
-
1976 Nonfiction
The War Against the Jews
-
2014 Lifetime Achievement
George Lamming
-
1984 Nonfiction
Pre-Columbian Art
-
1956 Nonfiction
They Wait in Darkness
-
1991 Nonfiction
Gunnar Myrdal and America’s Conscience
-
1942 Nonfiction
Quest
-
1960 Nonfiction
I Speak for Myself
-
1962 Nonfiction
Antislavery
-
1958 Nonfiction
White Mother
-
2015 Poetry
Hard Love Province
-
1987 Nonfiction
Spirit of Survival
-
1936 Nonfiction
Negro Politicians
-
1992 Landmark Achievement
Ralph Ellison
-
1968 Nonfiction
Children of Crisis
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 85 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-
Bill To Create “Toni Morrison Day” Headed To Vote In Ohio State Senate
November 25, 2020
“Quiet as it is kept, there were no marigolds in the fall of 1941 . . . Not even the…
-
Rita Dove Featured On New Podcast By Akron Symphony Orchestra
November 19, 2020
Fans of Rita Dove’s 2009 poetry collection “Sonata Mulattica” can dive into the story behind the poems in a new podcast produced…
-
Our 2020 Cleveland Book Week In Review
October 12, 2020
Our slate of virtual programming during this year’s Cleveland Book Week means you have continued access, including our collaborations with…
-
Virtual Cleveland Book Week Kicks Off September 29
August 26, 2020
The fifth annual literary celebration returns this year from Sept. 29-Oct. 4, and will celebrate our 2020 Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards…
-
John Lewis Hopes To Encourage “Good Trouble” In New Documentary
July 16, 2020
One of the most surprising things about “Good Trouble,” a new documentary on Georgia Congressman John Lewis’ six decades in…
Educational Resources
View all resources-
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
-
“Why Black, Not Blue?”: Redefining the Color Black in Children’s Picture Books
Level: Young Adult
Support the Cleveland community by purchasing your Anisfield-Wolf books at these local sellers
Appletree Books, an independent bookstore established in Cleveland Heights, offers an eclectic, well-curated selection of new book titles in multiple genres for both children and adults.
Loganberry Books is an independently owned and operated bookstore in the historic Larchmere neighborhood, featuring a carefully curated collection of new, used and rare books.
Mac’s Backs is an independent bookstore located in the Coventry neighborhood, and home to three floors of new and used classics, mysteries, science fiction, contemporary fiction and non-fiction books and magazines.
Visible Voice is a bookstore with that lost independent feel in the Tremont neighborhood—a relaxed, inviting environment conducive to discovery, where the books marginalized by commercial concerns have a home.
Join the conversation on Twitter
@AnisfieldWolf“I don’t think I could face the world if I did not write about the things I witness and go through. I’m a fairly quiet person. I carry a lot inside. I get it all out through writing.” — @ablackpoet03 https://t.co/m0qKLDVhIt
Congratulations @namwalien (“Stranger Faces”) + @Isabelwilkerson (“Caste”) for your NBCC nods! https://t.co/qJoF0dbyoP
The 10 Best Political Books of 2020 by Black Women – The Atlantic https://t.co/yR6Qezwstd
Poet laureate Amanda Gorman joins a club of 6 when she recites her poem at the Biden-Harries inauguration today: https://t.co/CfmRa7Fslb
