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NEW
YORK (AP) — Poet Yusef Komunyakaa is to receive an Anisfeld-Wolf
Award for lifetime achievement. Komunyakaa, 77, is known for
such collections as “Neon Vernacular” and for exploring race,
music and his Vietnam War experiences.
Announced Thursday, the Anisfeld-Wolf prizes are presented by
the Cleveland Foundation and honor literature that “confronts
racism and celebrates diversity.”
“Komunyakaa has shaped contemporary poetry with a voice that is
both unflinching and deeply evocative,” reads a statement from
the foundation.
Danzy Senna's “Colored Television,” a satire about an author
attempting to turn a failed novel into a TV series, won for
fiction. The nonfiction prize went to John Swanson Jacobs' “The
United States Governed By Six Hundred Thousand Despots: A True
Story of Slavery; A Rediscovered Narrative, with a Full
Biography,” and the poetry award was given to Janie Harrington's
“Yard Show.” Tessa Hulls' “Feeding Ghosts” won for best memoir.
The winners will be formally honored at a ceremony in September.
The awards were established in 1935 by poet and philanthropist
Edith Anisfeld Wolf. Previous recipients include Toni Morrison,
Percival Everett and Jesmyn Ward.
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