Anisfield-Wolf Book Award
HARD LOVE PROVINCE, Marilyn Chin’s latest book of poetry, won this prestigious award for Poetry in 2015, the first year the prize was awarded in the Poetry category.
Anisfield-Wolf is the National Prize for Literature that confronts racism and examines diversity. It includes Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X, Toni Morrison and Maxine Hong Kingston, Gwendolyn Brooks and Oprah Winfrey among its winners.
Dr. King received the award in 1959, for his first book, Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story, a historic account of the Montgomery Bus Boycott in Alabama.
Malcolm X received one in 1966 for his autobiography, coauthored with Alex Haley. Oprah Winfrey was was recognized in 2010 for her Lifetime Achievement.
Anisfield-Wolf Prize was established in 1935, to recognize books that increase our understanding of racism and cultural diversity. It is administered by the Cleveland Foundation, that hosted the Gala Awards ceremony on September 10th, 2015 in Cleveland, Ohio. Dr. Henry Gates, Jr. presided over the event, at which Marilyn Chin was lauded among the winners in various categories.
“In these sad and beautiful poems, a withering portrayal of our global ‘society’ emerges – from Buddha to Allah, Mongols to Bethesda boys, Humvee to war horse, Dachau to West Darfur, Irrawaddy River to San Diego,” points out Anisfield-Wolf juror Rita Dove, a Pulitzer Prize winner for Poetry.
