The 2015 Anisfield-Wolf Award Ceremony

10 September 2015 saw the annual Anisfield-Wolf ceremony to recognize books that have made important contributions to our understanding of racism and human diversity. Cleveland poet and philanthropist Edith Anisfield Wolf established the book awards in 1935, in honor of her father, unnamedJohn Anisfield, and husband, Eugene Wolf, to reflect her family’s passion for social justice. Presented by the Cleveland Foundation, it remains the only American book prize focusing on works that address racism and diversity.
This year, Jericho Brown, Marlon James, Marilyn Chin, David Brion Davis and Richard S. Dunn were honored at a sold-out ceremony at the Ohio Theatre in Playhouse Square.
The students joined the celebration after the ceremony. Poetry winner Marilyn Chin’s performance inspired students from Dr. Nielson’s class to meet her and have books signed. Three of the students, Sunny, Andrea and Kaitlin, were from Dr. Nielson’s inaugural Anisfield-Wolf SAGES First Seminar, Reading Social Justice, first taught in fall, 2013. This was their third time attending the Anisfield-Wolf ceremony.
Pictured are students from Dr. Kaysha Corinealdi’s SAGES seminar USSY 291P, Social Justice Literature and Dr. Lisa Nielson’s First Seminar FSSY 171, Gender and Seclusion. Dr. Corinealdi and Dr. Nielson are the Anisfield-Wolf SAGES fellows at CWRU. This is the largest group of students to attend the ceremony since CWRU began its collaboration with the awards in 2011.