Get Involved – Dayton Literary Peace Prize

Fly with the Doves Annual Book Circle Membership

You can help advance peace through the written word — the driving mission of the Dayton Literary Peace Prize — when you join DLPP’s
Fly with the Doves Book Circle Annual Membership Program.

DLPP shares winning and nominated books with local schools and universities so educators can incorporate them into their curricula with students, as well as into their libraries — but we can only do so much without funding. DLPP wants this program to soar locally, nationally, and internationally, and when you join, you can help us reach more people with these powerful works of literature.

The first recipient of books funded by your membership contribution was the National Library at Sarajevo’s City Hall in Bosnia. This library, fire-bombed during the Bosnian War was restored to its original glory in 2014 and we provided a complete set of DLPP awarding-winning and continue to donate books each year. All Ohio libraries (public, private, college/university and school libraries) may apply annually for a $1000 grant to purchase current and past DLPP winning books through the Ohio Library Association.

Each year, we donate books to high schools participating in our Author Series program. We have donated class sets of Wil Haygood’s Tigerland, David Wood’s What Have We Done and Yaa Gyassi’s Homegoing to schools throughout the Miami Valley. For every $25 dollars you contribute when you join each year, a book will be donated. Plus, as a member, your name will be listed as one of our Doves in the virtual “Fly with the Doves Book Circle” on the DLPP website and in the event program.

Like the Prize itself, this program acknowledges that every voice matters and encourages every person to participate. Your continuing support will ensure that the Dayton Literary Peace Prize continues to advance words of peace in the years ahead.

Please join today with either an annual or continuing donation at DaytonLiteraryPeacePrize.org/dove-members.

All memberships may be tax deductible.

Dayton City Commissioner Matt Joseph delivering books to Sarajevo Library.

See Our Current Dove Members

Please click this button to see the current members of our Fly with the Doves Book Circle!

We appreciate your support — it will ensure that the Dayton Literary Peace Prize continues to spread words of peace in the years ahead.

If you have any questions about this program, please contact our program administrator via email.

Thank you!

Levels of Giving

Platinum Patron—$25,000

Priority guest seating for 10 to attend the Dayton Literary Peace Prize Awards at the Schuster Performing Arts Center on Sunday evening
Category exclusivity (if applicable)
Priority guest seating for 10 to attend the Conversation with the Authors panel at the Victoria Theatre on Saturday evening
Invitation for 2 to the VIP Dinner with the Authors on Saturday
One set of signed copies of winning books
Name recognition and logo placement in promotional media campaign including T.V., print, on-site donor signage, and the DLPP website as applicable
Name listing in program

Gold Patron—$10,000

Priority guest seating for 10 to attend the Dayton Literary Peace Prize Awards at the Schuster Performing Arts Center on Sunday evening
Category exclusivity (if applicable)
Priority guest seating for 10 to attend the Conversation with the Authors panel at the Victoria Theatre on Saturday evening
Invitation for 2 to the VIP Dinner with the Authors on Saturday
One set of signed copies of winning books
Name recognition and logo placement in promotional media campaign includes T.V., print, on-site donor signage, and the DLPP website
Name listing in program

Silver Patron—$5,000

Priority guest seating for 10 to attend the Dayton Literary Peace Prize Awards at the Schuster Performing Arts Center on Sunday evening
Orchestra level tickets for 10 to attend the Conversation with the Authors panel at the Victoria Theatre on Saturday evening
One set of signed copies of winning books
Name recognition and logo placement in on-site donor signage and the DLPP website
Name listing in program

Olive Branch Patron—$1,500

Guest seats for 4 to attend the Dayton Literary Peace Prize Awards at the Schuster Performing Arts Center on Sunday evening
Orchestra level tickets for 4 to attend the Conversation with the Authors panel at the Victoria Theatre on Saturday evening
One set of signed copies of winning books
Name recognition and logo placement in on-site donor signage and the DLPP website
Name listing in program

Patron—$750

Guest seats for 2 to attend Sunday’s Peace Prize Awards at the Schuster Preforming Arts Center on Sunday evening
Orchestral level tickets for 2 to attend the Conversation with the Authors panel at the Victoria Theatre on Saturday evening
One set of signed copies of winning books
Name listing in program

Supporter—$300 per person

For Sunday’s Dayton Literary Peace Prize Awards at the Schuster Performing Arts Center on Sunday evening

An Annual Giving Society

The purpose of The Holbrooke Society of the Dayton Literary Peace Prize Foundation is to contribute to the long-term sustainability of the DLPP and to foster growth of new initiatives and programs that spread peace internationally through the written word. This involves the financial support of individuals most committed to being advocates of the mission of the DLPP. Members making an annual gift of $5,000 and above will receive a number of exclusive benefits offered only to our most generous supporters.

Since the DLPP’s inception as the only international literary peace prize in the United States 13 years ago, we have had award winning books set in 53 different countries, 65 award-winning authors representing 19 countries around the globe, more than 23,000 students actively engaged with the prize and 16 Ohio colleges and universities offering programming associated with DLPP. As an organization and community, we have accomplished much and know with the introduction of The Holbrooke Society that the DLPP will extend its reach and secure its future.

The Accords Circle
$5,000 – $9,999 Level of Giving

Invitation to the DLPP Saturday Evening Dinner with the Authors
Two tickets to the authors panel discussion
Two tickets to the annual DLPP Awards Gala
A set of prize-winning books
Invitation to a special reception/dinner associated with the annual Authors’ Series
Recognition in the annual Gala Commemorative Program
Invitation to private receptions for additional DLPP events throughout the year

The Laureate Circle
$10,000 and Above Level of Giving

All of the benefts of above plus additional exclusive events with prize-winning authors and signifcant writers associated with the DLPP throughout the year.

Donation Instructions

If you would like to join the Holbrooke Society, please click the button below to pay via PayPal. (You do not need a PayPal account to pay with any major credit card.)

(If you would like to make your donation in honor of or in memory of someone else
or if you would like to remain anonymous in any recognition announcements, please type
your request in the area labeled “Comments to the Foundation” on the PayPal page.)

To pay by check, make your check payable to the Dayton Literary Peace Prize Foundation and mail it to:

Dayton Literary Peace Prize Foundation
P.O. Box 461
Wright Brothers Branch
Dayton, Ohio 45409-0461

If you have any questions, please click here to send us an email message.

Thank you!

Events

These programs are supported in part by a Dayton Region Arts Renewal grant funded by the National Endowment for the Arts and administered by Culture Works.

We are happy to host a DLPP favorite — Wil Haygood, DLPP’s 2022 Ambassador Richard C. Holbrooke Lifetime Achievement Award Winner, as he discusses his new book The War Within a War: The Black Struggle in Vietnam and at Home.

Moderating the evening’s discussion will be Retired USAF Lt. Gen. Richard V. Reynolds, who was the Vice Commander of Air Force Materiel Command at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.

During their talk, Wil will explore how the Vietnam War became a mirror for the struggle of Black Americans — fighting for freedom abroad while demanding equality at home — and a powerful lens through which to understand the racial and political divides that continue to shape American life.

“With this book, Wil Haygood has become the preeminent chronicler of the Black experience in America.”
—Richard Rhodes, Pulitzer Laureate for The Making of the Atomic Bomb

Drawing on the lives of soldiers and officers, doctors and nurses, journalists and activists, artists, and politicians, Haygood illuminates a generation caught between two battles: one on the front lines in Vietnam and another for justice and dignity in America.

Among those at the heart of the story are Air Force pilot Fred Cherry, the first Black officer captured by the North Vietnamese and a hero to millions back home; Dr. Elbert Nelson, a doctor who came to Vietnam after watching TV footage of the Watts riots in Los Angeles and soon found himself amid rising Black soldier protests overseas; Wallace Terry, a groundbreaking Black reporter determined to expose the dynamics of race and war to the American public and Philippa Schuyler, a biracial concert pianist who traveled to Vietnam to rescue mixed-race orphans, many fathered by Black soldiers, and died trying to bring them to safety.

Surrounding their experiences are the cultural and political forces of the era, including Martin Luther King Jr., Marvin Gaye, Berry Gordy, and Lyndon Johnson, whose voices and actions shaped a decade of turbulence and transformation.

“In these masterful pages, Haygood reframes both the Vietnam War and the United States’ unfinished struggle for equality.”
—Mitchell Zuckoff, New York Times bestselling author of 13 Hours and Lost in Shangri-La

Please join the Dayton Literary Peace Prize Foundation for a literary event to celebrate the 2025 winning authors. On Saturday, November 8, the Victoria Theatre stage will host national and international authors whose works are recognized as advancing the cause of peace and social justice through the written word. DLPP and Pulitzer Prize winning author Gilbert King will moderate the panel.

Dayton Literary Peace Prize Foundation
A Conversation with the Authors
Saturday, November 8
Victoria Theatre – Doors open at 3 p.m.

We are happy to host a DLPP favorite— Susan Southard won the Dayton Literary Peace Prize in Nonfiction in 2016 for her book Nagasaki: Life After Nuclear War.

Southard will take us on a journey through the days—and decades—following the nuclear attack, seen through eyes of those who survived.

Nagasaki is essential reading and relevant conversation in our ever increasing geopolitical climate.

Southard spent twelve years interviewing survivors, atomic bomb historians, physicians, psychologists, social workers, educators, and archivists to illuminate the neglected story of the enduring effects of nuclear war.

Far beyond a reductionist argument about the decision to use these weapons against Japan, this is a profound inquiry into extremes of human violence, and what it does to both victim and victimizer.

Virtual Book Club

Instituted because we wanted a way to connect with our readers during COVID-19, the book club has become so successful that it will remain a feature of the Dayton Literary Peace Prize even after we can gather safely in person. It has allowed readers from throughout the area and in other states to join in a conversation about books that advance peace.

Ron Rollins, recently retired as the Issues and Voices Editor of The Dayton Daily News, has been gracious in accepting the role of host and discussion moderator for the club. Since May 2020, we have read books by winners, the Holbrooke winners and finalists, an array of choices that gives us numerous options.

If this will be your first time attending the DLPP Virtual Book Club, please contact our Program Manager Emily Kretzer [email protected] and you will be placed on our contact list. Our membership includes readers from throughout Ohio and extends to readers from coast to coast.