Here are the winners of the 2026 Dayton Literary Peace Prize.
Today, the Dayton Literary Peace Prize Foundation, which celebrates “writers whose work demonstrates the power of the written word to foster peace,” announced the winners of the 2026 Dayton Literary Peace Prize (for books published in 2025). For fiction, the
The Dayton Literary Peace Prize Foundation has revealed the winners of the 2026 award, recognizing authors whose works promote peace through literature. For fiction, Sam Wachman's "The Sunflower Boys" emerged as the winner, with Charlotte McConaghy's "Wild Dark Shore" as the runner-up. In nonfiction, Kevin Sack's "Mother Emanuel: Two Centuries of Race, Resistance, and Forgiveness in One Charleston Church" secured the top spot, while Eve L. Ewing's "Original Sins: The (Mis)education of Black and Native Children and the Construction of American Racism" was named the runner-up.
Each of the winners will receive a cash prize of $10,000, with the runners-up taking home $5,000. Additionally, author Ann Patchett has been honored with the Ambassador Richard C. Holbrooke Distinguished Achievement Award, bestowed upon a writer whose body of work aligns with the Prize's mission of fostering peace, social justice, and global understanding.
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