This week, the Cleveland Foundation announced the ten finalists for the 2025 Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards, which honor “books that have made important contributions to our understanding of racism and our appreciation of the rich diversity of human cultures.” This is the 90th year of the awards, which are the only national endowed juried prize specifically for books engaged with racism and diversity, and 2025 marks the first time that a shortlist has been announced; typically only the winners are revealed.
“Every year, the hardest part of our job as judges is choosing the winners from a finalist pool of incredible and compelling books,” said Natasha Trethewey, Pulitzer-Prize winning author and jury chair, in a statement. “The decision to share the finalists allows us to lift up the important works of more of these talented authors to a broader audience.”
Trethewey is joined on the jury by Peter Ho Davies, Charles King, Tiya Miles, and Deesha Philyaw.
“This year’s finalists embody the Anisfield-Wolf legacy of fearless writing that compels us to reckon with history and reimagine the future,” Trethewey added. “These books are urgent, profound and necessary.”
Here’s the shortlist:
Janice Harrington, Yard Show
Tessa Hulls, Feeding Ghosts
John Swanson Jacobs, ed. Jonathan D. S. Schroeder, The United States Governed by Six Hundred Thousand Despots: A True Story of Slavery; A Rediscovered Narrative, with a Full Biography
Sarah Lewis, The Unseen Truth: When Race Changed Sight in America
Susan Muaddi Darraj, Behind You Is the Sea
Emily Raboteau, Lessons for Survival: Mothering Against “the Apocalypse”
Kiley Reid, Come and Get It
Danzy Senna, Colored Television
Adam Shatz, The Rebel’s Clinic: The Revolutionary Lives of Frantz Fanon
Danez Smith, Bluff
The winners of the 2025 Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards will be announced on April 10.
