Sunday night’s award ceremony in Dayton, Ohio celebrated winning writers whose work demonstrates the power of the written word to foster peace, social justice, and global understanding.

By Erin L. Cox, Publisher | @erinlcox

Salman Rushdie is the 2025 recipient of the Ambassador Richard C. Holbrooke Distinguished Achievement Award.

Over the weekend, the Dayton Literary Peace Prize hosted their award ceremony where they honored this year’s prize winners: Kaveh Akbar won the fiction prize for his novel Martyr!, Sunil Amrith won the nonfiction prize for his book Burning Earth: A History. 

The award, which is celebrating its 20th year, also celebrated writer Salman Rushdie with the Richard C. Holbrooke Distinguished Achievement Award.

“In a moment when our world finds itself ensnared in perpetual conflict, Salman Rushdie’s persistent and courageous efforts to guide readers through experiences they often aren’t equipped to understand on their own, has never been more important,” said Nicholas A. Raines, Executive Director of the Dayton Literary Peace Prize Foundation.

“Mr. Rushdie’s example of resilience and forgiveness, even in the face of violence, makes him a beacon of light within our ranks. His voice is indispensable to all who fight for peace.”

The prize, which is supported by the Dayton Literary Peace Prize Foundation, is the only literary peace prize awarded in the United States. The Dayton Literary Peace Prize awards a $10,000 cash prize each year to one fiction and one nonfiction author whose work advances peace as a solution to conflict and leads readers to a better understanding of other cultures, peoples, religions, and political points of view.

With conflict continuing around the world, Sunday’s ceremony highlighted the importance of the work these writers were doing.

In his acceptance speech, Akbar highlighted the absurdity of continued casualties and lack of humanitarian aid despite a ceasefire and how it should embolden writers to continue their work.

“It is central to my belief in fiction’s role towards revolutionary action. Empire uses the abstraction of data, a firehose of meaningless language to cudgel us into idleness and cynicism. Literature opposes this; asks us to slow down our metabolization of language. Become aware of its bond and density.”

Salman Rushdie was introduced by Joshua Carter, who accepted the Holbrooke Award last year for his grandfather President Jimmy Carter, in absentia.

Rushdie echoed Akbar’s belief in the power of literature during times of conflict.

“We live in a time of massacre, unbelievable, inexcusable violence. To talk about peace at this time seems like a fairy tale. A book cannot stop a bullet. A poem cannot intercept a bomb. So what can writers do? What we can do is to tell the truth.”

For more information about the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, please visit the website here.

 

Subscribe here for our daily email newsletter highlighting international publishing news.