Celebrating 20 Years of Bridging Peace Through Literature
20 Facts to Celebrate 20 Years of the Dayton Literary Peace Prize
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The Dayton Literary Peace Prize is the only literary award in the United States dedicated to spreading peace through the written word.
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In the past twenty years, we have had more than 100 authors representing 25 countries who have been honored.
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The sculpture given to our award-winning authors was created by Dayton artist Michael Bashaw, and visually embodies the word, the page, and the pen. The word “Peace” is translated in more than 100 languages on the bronze award and was designed to represent world peace and understanding.
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More than 400 publishers have been involved in nominations for the prize since its inception.
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DLPP’s lifetime achievement award is named after Ambassador Richard C. Holbrooke, who brokered and negotiated the end of the Bosnian War in 1995. When President Clinton named Holbrooke the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, he specifically cited Holbrooke’s “remarkable diplomacy” in Bosnia and the Dayton talks, saying, “the force of his determination was the key to securing peace, restoring hope and saving lives.”
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DLPP award-winning fiction and non-fiction books have been set in modern and historical times in 62 different countries around the globe.
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A dedicated group of people around the globe have become the prize’s “eyes and ears” over the past two decades, alerting us of those literary works that fit the criteria to be nominated. The DLPP Nominating Academy comprises publishers, former winners, first readers, the media, and other literary influencers.
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The Prize is both a peace prize and a literary prize. There is a rigorous judging process by our first readers who have diverse backgrounds from around the country. Their job is the most difficult – narrowing the field to the few best books sent on to the final judges. These first readers are asked to rank and rate the books using a systemic method that is autonomous and fair. We had more than 110 first readers in 2024.
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The six books highest ranked in fiction and non-fiction are sent to two final judges in each category to select each year’s winners.
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The number of books submitted continues to grow each year, with 2024 being our highest number to date at more than 200 submissions.
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Each year, one writer is selected to receive the Ambassador Richard C. Holbrooke Distinguished Achievement Award. The award honors an author who has produced an enduring body of writing on or connected to peace. Past winners have included: Elie Wiesel, Tim O’Brien, Louise Erdrich, John Irving, Margaret Atwood, and Geraldine Brooks to name a few.
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During the annual awards weekend, the Peace Prize hosts a conversation with the authors and a one-on-one interview with the Holbrooke recipient that is open to the public. This event averages between 600 to 800 attendees annually.
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The Prize initiated its National Impact Series in 2024 to take our message of peace through the written word on the road to new audiences and extend our message nationally and globally. Two successful events were held last year with author Sandra Cisneros at the Brooklyn Public Library, and with authors Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa at the Carter Presidential Library. We will continue to broaden this series with our authors in the years ahead.
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Our Student Author Series brings a past prize author back to Dayton for an in-person presentation to local high school students annually. Initiated in 2008, thousands of students have read DLPP books as part of their English curriculum and been able to interact with our authors. Returning authors consistently say this is a highlight for them to engage with thoughtful students interested in their works.
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Kati Martin, the widow of Ambassador Richard C. Holbrooke, supports and regularly attends our annual awards gala in honor of her husband. She said he was very proud to be affiliated with the mission of the prize and what the Holbrooke award in his honor represented.
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DLPP’s Fly with the Doves Book Circle is a fundraising program to provide award-winning books to schools and libraries. This is an opportunity for anyone to contribute, help educate, and share our award-winning authors’ messages of peace. Our first recipient, who received a complete set of books, was the National Library at Sarajevo’s City Hall in Bosnia. Since then, hundreds of books have been distributed to local libraries and high schools with the generosity of these donations to the Circle.
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Our partnerships with area college and university consortiums have extended the reach of our authors and their books. A major goal of the consortium is to engage higher education institutions around the country. This has taken a significant leap forward with our affiliation with the New American Colleges and Universities (NACU) under the guidance of DLPP board member and NACU president, Sean Creighton.
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Our message of peace reaches library patrons throughout our region thanks to the DLPP library consortium. Consisting of librarians from schools, universities, and public libraries, our nominating and winning books are shared. Area libraries hold events, have permanent collections of the winning books, ensure multiple copies of books are available to patrons, and are a cornerstone of our educational efforts.
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The founder of the Dayton Literary Peace Prize is Sharon Rab, whose dedication and commitment sparked the flame of the mission we uphold today, and we are grateful for her vision.
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