Winners have been announced for the Dayton Literary Peace Prizes, which celebrate "writers whose work demonstrates the power of the written word to foster peace, social justice, and global understanding." Sponsored by the Dayton Literary Peace Prize Foundation, which marks its 20th anniversary this year, the prizes will be presented on November 9 at the Dayton Awards Gala.
Salman Rushdie is the 2025 recipient of the Ambassador Richard C. Holbrooke Distinguished Achievement Award. The Award will be presented by Joshua Carter, grandson of late President Jimmy Carter, who accepted the award on behalf of his grandfather last year.
Nicholas A. Raines, executive director of the Dayton Literary Peace Prize Foundation, said, "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. 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."
Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar (Random House) won the 2025 Dayton Literary Peace Prize for Fiction. Judges called the book "a haunting debut novel that follows Cyrus Shams, a queer Iranian-American poet grappling with grief and addiction. As he navigates the aftermath of his mother's tragic death and his own unraveling, Akbar delivers a lyrical exploration of identity, faith, and the search for meaning.
Black Butterflies by Priscilla Morris (Knopf) was the runner-up in the fiction category. Judges called Black Butterflies "a powerful debut novel set during the Siege of Sarajevo. Each night, nationalist gangs erect barricades, splitting the city into ethnic enclaves. Each morning, the locals--whether Bosniak, Croat, or Serb--push them aside. When violence finally erupts, Zora, an artist and teacher, sends her family away to safety. She stays behind, reluctant to believe that hostilities will last. As the city falls under siege, her home is laid to waste, yet Zora finds ways to rebuild."
The Burning Earth: A History by Sunil Amrith (W.W. Norton) won the 2025 Dayton Literary Peace Prize for Nonfiction. Judges said, "The Burning Earth offers a sweeping global history of how humanity has shaped the planet and vice versa. Amrith, a historian and 2017 MacArthur Fellow, delves into the intersections of climate, migration, and inequality, providing a compelling narrative that challenges our understanding of the modern world."
A Map of Future Ruins: On Borders and Belonging by Lauren Markham (Random House) was the runner-up in the nonfiction category. Judges called A Map of Future Ruins "a poignant exploration of migration, identity, and the human cost of borders. In 2021, journalist Markham went to Greece in search of her heritage and to cover the aftermath of a fire that destroyed the largest refugee camp in Europe, for which six young Afghan refugees had been arrested. Markham soon saw that she was tracing a broader narrative: in this trailblazing synthesis of reporting, history, myth, memoir, and essay, she helps us see that the stories we tell about migration don't just explain what happened. They predict the future."
The fiction and nonfiction winners each receive $10,000, and the fiction and nonfiction runners-up each receive $5,000.