The other winners are Andrew Solomon for Far From The Tree (Non-Fiction), Eugene Gloria for My Favorite Warlord (Poetry), Kevin Powers for The Yellow Birds (Fiction) and Laird Hunt for Kind One (Fiction).
This was the 78th edition of the award organised by The Root and sponsored by the Cleveland Foundation. Past winners include Derek Walcott, Toni Morrison, Nadine Gordimer and Wole Soyinka before they won the Nobel Prize.
Every year since 1935, the Anisfield-Wolf Awards have been honouring books and authors that “have made important contributions to our understanding of racism and our appreciation of the rich diversity of human culture.”
Cleveland poet and philanthropist Edith Anisfield Wolf established the book prizes in honour of her father, John Anisfield and husband, Eugene Wolf, to reflect her family’s passion for issues of social justice.