Nation’s only endowed juried prize for books on race and diversity recognizes groundbreaking authors
2025 Anisfield-Wolf Book Award winners
Four literary works have been named winners of the 2025 Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards, the nation’s only endowed juried prize dedicated to literature that deepens our understanding of race and diversity.
The Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards jury, chaired by Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Natasha Trethewey, selected this year’s winners:
FICTION
Colored Television by Danzy Senna
NONFICTION
The United States Governed By Six Hundred Thousand Despots: A True Story of Slavery… by John Swanson Jacobs, edited by Jonathan D. S. Schroeder
MEMOIR
Feeding Ghosts by Tessa Hulls
POETRY
Yard Show by Janice N. Harrington
Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Yusef Komunyakaa will also receive the Lifetime Achievement Award, recognizing his profound impact on American literature. Known for his lyrical explorations of war, memory, and race, Komunyakaa has shaped contemporary poetry with a voice that is both unflinching and deeply evocative.
Founded in 1935 by poet and philanthropist Edith Anisfield Wolf, the Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards remain a critical force in the literary world. Past winners include Zora Neal Hurston, Langston Hughes, Ralph J. Bunche, Toni Morrison, James Baldwin, Isabel Wilkerson, Jesmyn Ward, and Gunnar Myrdal — writers whose work has shaped discourse on race and identity in America.
"For 90 years, the Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards have championed fearless, groundbreaking literature that challenges the status quo, ignites dialogue, and shapes a more just and inclusive world," said Lillian Kuri, president and CEO of the Cleveland Foundation. "This year’s winners unearth buried histories, redefine cultural narratives, and demand our attention — at a moment when these voices are more vital than ever."
Notable among this year’s winners is the award for Feeding Ghosts, the first time in its 90-year history the AWBA has honored a graphic memoir. The book traces the author's family's "multigenerational journey from China to America, confronting trauma, migration, and resilience in a format that redefines the boundaries of memoir."
“This year’s winners add new dimensions to the Anisfield-Wolf legacy,” said jury chair Trethewey. “From a rediscovered first-person slave narrative to a searing portrait of modern racial identity, these books demand to be read and discussed.”
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. The awards are managed by The Cleveland Foundation, pursuant to a bequest from founder Anisfield Wolf, who died in 1963. remains the only American book prize specifically focusing on works that make important contributions to our understanding of racism and human diversity. The first award was given to Harold F. Gosnell in 1936 for Negro Politicians.
Trethewey is joined on the jury by AWBA-winning novelist Peter Ho Davies; bestselling AWBA-winning writer and scholar Charles King; AWBA-winning writer and American historian Tiya Miles; and critically acclaimed author and National Book Awards finalist Deesha Philyaw.
The Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards recognize books that have made important contributions to our understanding of racism and human diversity. 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. Presented by the Cleveland Foundation, it remains the only American book prize focusing on works that address racism and diversity.
This year's wards ceremony will take place September 19 in Cleveland — honoring the winners in a celebration of literature’s power to confront the past and shape the future. This event will be part of a multi-week celebration of books, literature and writing in Cleveland with other local literary partners. Additional details will be forthcoming.
• • •• • •
