Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards

Winners previously include Zora Neale Hurston (1943), Langston Hughes (1954), Martin Luther King Jr. (1959), Maxine Hong Kingston (1978), Wole Soyinka (1983), Nadine Gordimer (1988), Toni Morrison (1988), Ralph Ellison (1992), Edward Said (2000), and Derek Walcott (2004). The jury has been composed of prominent American writers and scholars since 1991, when long-time jury chairman Ashley Montagu, a renowned anthropologist, asked poet Rita Dove and scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. To help him judge the large number of books submitted annually by publishers across the disciplines. When Montagu retired in 1996, Gates assumed the chair position. In 1996, evolutionary biologist Stephen Jay Gould, writer Joyce Carol Oates, and historian Simon Schama (all of whom retired before the 2024 awards) joined. After Gould died in 2002, psychologist Steven Pinker replaced him on the jury. At the 2024 awards, Pinker and Dove retired. The current jury is Natasha Trethewey (jury chair), Peter Ho Davies, Tiya Miles, Charles King, Deesha Philyaw, and Luis Alberto Urrea.

Fiction winners • Year — Author — Title • 1945 — Gwethalyn — Earth and High Heaven • 1947 — Sholem — East River • 1948 — Worth Tuttle • 1949 — Alan — Cry, the Beloved Country • 1951 — John — The Wall • 1954 — Langston — Simple Takes a Wife • 1962 — Gina — ' • 1969 — Gwendolyn — In the Mecca • 1985 — Breyten — Mouroir: Mirrornotes of a Novel • 1988 — Nadine • Toni — Beloved • 1990 — Dolores — ' • 1993 — Sandra — Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories • 1994 — Judith Ortiz • 1995 — Reginald — Sweetbitter: A Novel • 1996 — Madison — All Souls' Rising • 1997 — Jamaica — Autobiography of My Mother • 1998 — Walter — Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned • 1999 — Russell — Cloudsplitter • 2000 — Chang-Rae • 2002 — Colson — John Henry Days • 2003 — Stephen L. • Reetika — World Hotel • 2004 — Edward P. • 2005 — Edwidge • 2006 — Zadie — On Beauty • 2007 — Chimamanda Ngozi — Half of a Yellow Sun • Martha — Blue Front • 2008 — Junot • Mohsin • 2009 — Louise • Nam • 2010 — Kamila — Burnt Shadows • 2011 — Mary Helen • Nicole — Great House • 2012 — Esi — Half-Blood Blues • 2013 — Laird — Kind One • Kevin • 2014 — Anthony • 2015 — Marlon • 2016 — Mary • 2017 — Peter Ho • Karan • 2018 — Jesmyn — Sing, Unburied, Sing • 2019 — Tommy — There There • 2020 — Namwali • 2021 — James — Deacon King Kong • 2022 — Percival • 2023 — Lan Samantha • Geraldine — Horse • 2024 — Teju — Tremor • 2025 — Danzy — Colored Television • 2026 — Carrie R. — Make Your Way Home

Poetry winners • Year — Author — Title • 2013 — Eugene — My Favorite Warlord • 2014 — Adrian • 2015 — Jericho • Marilyn — Hard Love Province • 2016 — Rowan Ricardo — Heaven • 2017 — Tyehimba — Olio • 2018 — Shane — In the Language of My Captor • 2019 — Tracy K. — Wade in the Water • 2020 — Ilya — Deaf Republic • 2021 — Victoria — Obit • 2022 — Donika • 2023 — Saeed • 2024 — Monica — From From • 2025 — Janice N. — Yard Show • 2026 — Gbenga — Death Does Not End at the Sea

Memoir/Autobiography winners • Year — Author — Title • 2025 — Tessa — Feeding Ghosts • 2026 — Sarah — '

Nonfiction winners • Year — Author — Title • 1936 — Harold — Negro Politicians: Rise of Negro Politics in Chicago • 1937 — Julian and A. C. Haddon — We Europeans: A Survey of "Racial" Problems • 1939 — Ralph J. — ' • Charles S. — ' • 1940 — Edward Franklin • 1941 — Louis — From Many Lands • 1942 — James G. • Leopold — Quest: An Autobiography • 1943 — Zora Neale — Dust Tracks on a Road: An Autobiography • 1944 — Roi — New World A-Coming • Maurice — ' • 1945 — Gunnar — ' • 1946 — St. Clair and Horace Cayton — Black Metropolis: A Study of Negro Life in a Northern City • Wallace and the editors of Look — One Nation • 1947 — Pauline R. — Latin Americans in Texas • 1948 — John — ' • 1949 — J.C. — Anatomy of Paradise • 1950 — S. Andhil — Punishment Without Crime • Shirley — Your Most Humble Servant • 1951 — Henry — Twilight in South Africa • 1952 — Laurens — Venture to the Interior • Brewton — Race Relations • 1953 — Farley — People of the Deer • Han — ' • 1954 — Vernon — Struggle for Africa • 1955 — Oden — Report on Africa • Lyle — Cultural Differences and Medical Care • 1956 — John P. and Alex Rosen — ' • George W. — They Wait in Darkness • 1957 — Father Trevor — Naught for Your Comfort • Gilberto — The Masters and the Slaves: A Study in the Development of Brazilian Civilization • 1958 — South African Institute of Race Relations — Handbook on Race Relations • Jessie B. — White Mother • 1959 — Martin Luther — Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story • George and J. Milton Yinger — Racial and Cultural Minorities: An Analysis of Prejudice and Discrimination • 1960 — John Haynes — I Speak for Myself • Basil — ' • 1961 — E. R. — To Sir, With Love • Louis E. — ' • 1962 — Dwight L. — Antislavery: The Crusade for Freedom in America • John Howard — Black Like Me • 1963 — Theodosius — Mankind Evolving • 1964 — Harold R. — ' • Bernard E. — Faith and Prejudice • Nathan and Daniel P. Moynihan — Beyond the Melting Pot: The Negroes, Puerto Ricans, Jews, Italians, and Irish of New York City • 1965 — Milton M. — Assimilation in American Life: The Role of Race, Religion and National Origins • James M. — ' • Abram L. — A History of the Jews, Revised Edition • James W. — Mississippi: The Closed Society • 1966 — H. C. — ' • Claude — Manchild in the Promised Land • Malcolm and Alex Haley — ' • Amram — Your Heredity and Environment • 1967 — David Brion — ' • Oscar — La Vida • 1968 — Norman Rufus Colin — Warrant for Genocide: The Myth of the Jewish World Conspiracy and the Protocols of the Elders of Zion • Robert — Children of Crisis: A Study of Courage and Fear • Raul — ' • Erich — ' • 1969 — E. Earl and W. Grant Dahlstrom — Negro and White Children: A Psychological Study in the Rural South • Leonard — ' • Stuart and Nancy O. Lurie — ' • 1970 — Dan T. — Scottsboro: A Tragedy of the American South • Vine — Custer Died for Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto • Florestan — ' • Audrie and Anne Loftis — ' • 1971 — Robert William — A History of the African People • Carleton — Black Freedom: The Nonviolent Abolitionists from 1830 through the Civil War • Stan — La Raza: The Mexican Americans • Anthony — ' • 1972 — George M. — ' • John S. — Outcasts from Evolution: Scientific Attitudes of Racial Inferiority, 1859–1900 • Donald L. — Slavery in the Structure of American Politics, 1765–1820 • David — ' • Naboth — ' • 1973 — Pat — ' • Betty — Men & Brothers • Lee — Behind Ghetto Walls: Black Family Life in a Federal Slum • 1974 — Louis Leo — ' • Charles — Doctor and the Aborigines • Michel Fabre — ' • Albie — Justice in South Africa • 1975 — Eugene D. — Roll, Jordan, Roll: The World the Slaves Made • Leon — ' • 1976 — Lucy S. — ' • Thomas — ' • Raphael and Jennifer P. Wing — ' • 1977 — Richard — Simple Justice: A History of Brown v. Board of Education & Black America's Struggle for Equality • Michi — Years of Infamy: The Untold Story of America's Concentration Camps • 1978 — Maxine Hong — ' • Allan Chase — ' • 1979 — Phillip V. — ' • 1980 — Richard Borshay — ' • Urie — ' • 1981 — Carol and Tepilit Ole Saitoti — Maasai • Jamake — Song from the Earth: American Indian painting • 1982 — Geoffrey G. — Evangelist of Race: The Germanic Vision of Houston Stewart Chamberlain • Peter J. — People of the Sacred Mountain • 1983 — Richard — Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodriguez • Wole — Aké: The Years of Childhood • 1984 — Jose Alcina — Pre-Columbian Art • Humbert S. — From Immigrants to Ethnics: The Italian Americans • 1985 — David S. — ' • 1986 — Donald Alexander — Nazis in Skokie: Freedom, Community and the First Amendment • James — Freedom Rising • Barton and Clifford Bahnimptewa — Kachinas: A Hopi Artist's Documentary • 1987 — Arnold — ' • Gail — Spirit of Survival • 1988 — Jeffrey Jay and Walter F. Morris Jr. — Living Maya • Abigail M. — Whose Votes Count?: Affirmative Action and Minority Voting Rights • 1989 — Henry Louis — ' • Taylor — Parting the Waters: America in the King Years • George — ' • Peter — Dreamings: The Art of Aboriginal Australia • 1990 — Hugh — ' • 1991 — Walter A. — Gunnar Myrdal and America's Conscience: Social Engineering and Racial Liberalism, 1938–1987 • Forrest G. — ' • Carol, Angela Fisher, and Graham Hancock — African Ark: People and Ancient Cultures of Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa • 1992 — Melissa Fay — Praying for Sheetrock: A Work of Nonfiction • Peter — Lessons and Legacies I: The Meaning of the Holocaust in a Changing World • Elaine and Harry Mensh — ' • Marilyn — ' • 1993 — Kwame Anthony — In My Father's House: Africa in the Philosophy of Culture • Marija Alseikaite — ' • 1994 — David — W. E. B. Du Bois: A Reader • Ronald — ' • 1995 — William H. — ' • Brent — Parallel Time: Growing Up in Black and White • 1996 — Jonathan — Amazing Grace: The Lives of Children and the Conscience of a Nation • 1997 — James — ' • 1998 — Toi — ' • 1999 — John and Michael D'Orso — Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement (about the American Civil Rights Movement) • 2000 — Edward W. — Out of Place: A Memoir • 2001 — David — W. E. B. Du Bois: The Fight for Equality and the American Century, 1919–1963 • F. X. — Rope Burns: Stories from the Corner • 2002 — Vernon E. and Annette Gordon-Reed — Vernon Can Read!: A Memoir • Quincy — Q: The Autobiography of Quincy Jones • 2003 — Samantha — ' • 2004 — Adrian Nicole — Random Family: Love, Drugs, Trouble, and Coming of Age in the Bronx • Ira — Generations of Captivity: A History of African-American Slaves • 2005 — A. — Macnolia: Poems • Geoffrey C. — Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson • 2006 — Jill — New York Burning: Liberty, Slavery, and Conspiracy in Eighteenth-Century Manhattan • 2007 — Scott — Steel Drivin' Man: John Henry: The Untold Story of an American Legend • 2008 — Ayaan Hirsi — Infidel: My Life • 2009 — Annette — ' • 2011 — David and David Richardson — Atlas of the Transatlantic Slave Trade • Isabel — ' • 2012 — David — Less Than Human: Why We Demean, Enslave, and Exterminate Others • David — American Oracle: The Civil War in the Civil Rights Era • 2013 — Andrew — Far from the Tree: Parents, Children, and the Search for Identity • 2014 — Ari — My Promised Land: The Triumph and Tragedy of Israel • 2015 — Richard S. — ' • 2016 — Lillian — ' • Brian — What the Eye Hears: A History of Tap Dancing • 2017 — Margot Lee — Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Who Helped Win the Space Race • 2018 — Kevin — Bunk: The Rise of Hoaxes, Humbug, Plagiarists, Phonies, Post-Facts, and Fake News • 2019 — Andrew — ' • 2020 — Charles — Gods of the Upper Air: How a Circle of Renegade Anthropologists Reinvented Race, Sex, and Gender in the Twentieth Century • 2021 — Vincent — Tacky’s Revolt: The Story of an Atlantic Slave War • Natasha — Memorial Drive: A Daughter's Memoir • 2022 — Tiya — All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley's Sack, a Black Family Keepsake • George — Of Fear and Strangers: A History of Xenophobia • 2023 — Matthew F. — Half American: The Epic Story of African Americans Fighting World War II at Home and Abroad • 2024 — Ned — ' • 2025 — Jonathan D. S. — ' • 2026 — Bench — Born in Flames: The Business of Arson and the Remaking of the American City

Lifetime achievement recipients • Year — Recipient • 1996 — Dorothy • 1997 — Albert L. • 1998 — Gordon • 1999 — John Hope • 2000 — Ernest • 2001 — Lucille • 2002 — Jay • 2003 — Adrienne • 2004 — Derek • 2005 — August • 2006 — William • 2007 — Taylor • 2008 — William Melvin • 2009 — Paule • 2010 — Elizabeth • 2010 — William Julius • 2010 — Oprah • 2011 — John Edgar • 2012 — Wole • 2012 — Arnold • 2013 — Wole • 2014 • George • 2015 — David Brion • 2016 — Orlando • 2017 — Isabel • 2018 — N. Scott • 2019 — Sonia • 2020 — Eric • 2021 — Samuel R. • 2022 — Ishmael • 2023 — Charlayne • 2024 — Maxine Hong • 2025 — Yusef Komunyakaa