New York – Poet Yuseef Komison It is to receive an Anisfeld-Wolf award for life achievement. Komunyakaa, 77, is known by collections as “neon vernacular” and for exploring the race, music and its Vietnam’s war experiences.
Announced on Thursday, the Anisfeld-Wolf awards are presented by The Cleveland Foundation and honor literature that “confronts racism and celebrates diversity.”
“Komunayakaa has shaped contemporary poetry with a voice that is unwavering and deeply evocative,” says a statement from the Foundation.
Danzy Senna’s “colored television”, a satire about an author who tries to turn a failed novel into a television series, won by fiction. The non -fiction award was for “United States governed by six hundred thousand despots: a true history of slavery; a rediscovered narrative, with a complete biography”, and the poetry prize was awarded to the “Patio Show” by Janie Harrington. “Feeding Ghosts” by Tessa Hulls won the best memoirs.
The winners will be formally honored in a ceremony in September.
The awards were established in 1935 by the poet and philanthropist Edith Anisfeld Wolf. Previous recipients include Toni Morrison, EVRETT PERCIVAL and Jesmyn Ward.
