The Dayton Literary Peace Prize is an annual United States literary award "recognizing the power of the written word to promote peace" that was first awarded in 2006.[1] Awards are given for adult fiction and non-fiction books published at some point within the immediate past year that have led readers to a better understanding of other peoples, cultures, religions, and political views, with the winner in each category receiving a cash prize of $10,000.[1] The award is an offshoot of the Dayton Peace Prize, which grew out of the 1995 peace accords ending the Bosnian War.[2] In 2011, the former "Lifetime Achievement Award" was renamed the Richard C. Holbrooke Distinguished Achievement Award with a $10,000 honorarium.
In 2008, Martin Luther King Jr. biographer Taylor Branch joined Studs Terkel and Elie Wiesel as a recipient of the Dayton Literary Peace Prize's Lifetime Achievement Award,[3] which was presented to him by special guest Edwin C. Moses.[4] The 2008 ceremony was held in Dayton, Ohio, on September 28, 2008.[3] Nick Clooney, who hosted the ceremony in 2007,[5] again served as the evening's host in 2008[6] and 2009.[7]
The 2009 ceremony was held in Dayton, Ohio, on November 8, 2009,[7] at which married authors and journalists Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn received the Dayton Literary Peace Prize's 2009 Lifetime Achievement Award.[8]