Dayton Literary Peace Prize – Fiction · 2025 · Winner
Martyr!
Kaveh AkbarMartyr! by Kaveh Akbar won the Dayton Literary Peace Prize for Fiction in 2025.
Dayton Literary Peace Prize – Fiction
2025 Winner
Complete History
2020s
About the Dayton Literary Peace Prize – Fiction
The Dayton Literary Peace Prize – Fiction is awarded annually to the best work of fiction that uses the power of literature to foster peace, understanding, and reconciliation. The prize was founded in 2006 in Dayton, Ohio—the city that hosted the 1995 Dayton Accords that ended the Bosnian War—giving the award a uniquely resonant origin in the pursuit of real-world peace. Administered by the Dayton Literary Peace Prize Foundation, the award recognises fiction that honestly and humanely addresses conflict, injustice, war, cultural division, and the possibility of human reconciliation. It stands apart from other literary prizes in foregrounding the social and moral dimensions of storytelling, asking not just whether a book is artistically excellent but whether it contributes meaningfully to the cause of peace and mutual understanding. Past fiction winners include Viet Thanh Nguyen's The Sympathizer (2016), Jesmyn Ward's Sing, Unburied, Sing (finalist, 2018), Honorée Fanonne Jeffers's The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois (2022), Paul Lynch's Prophet Song (2024), and Kaveh Akbar's Martyr! (2025). The winner receives a cash prize and is celebrated at an annual gala ceremony in Dayton that brings together writers, peace advocates, and community leaders. The prize has grown steadily in stature and is now considered one of the most distinctive and meaningful literary prizes in the United States, uniquely connecting the world of letters to the ongoing global project of peacebuilding.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Dayton was chosen because it hosted the 1995 Dayton Peace Accords, the negotiations that ended the Bosnian War. The prize connects the city's peacemaking legacy to the power of literature to foster understanding and reconciliation.
- Novels and short story collections published in the United States during the prior year are eligible. The work must in some meaningful way address themes of peace, justice, conflict, cultural understanding, or human reconciliation.
- A panel of judges drawn from the literary and academic community reviews nominated titles and selects both a winner and a runner-up in each of the Fiction and Nonfiction categories.
- Yes. The Foundation awards cash prizes to both the fiction and nonfiction winners, typically in the range of $10,000, as well as smaller awards to runners-up.
- Yes. The Dayton Literary Peace Prize is awarded in two parallel categories: Fiction and Nonfiction. Both awards are presented at the same annual gala ceremony.
- Its explicit focus on peace, justice, and reconciliation as criteria sets it apart. A technically brilliant novel that does not engage with these themes would not be a strong candidate, whereas a novel that powerfully illuminates conflict and the path toward understanding is at the heart of the prize's mission.
- Yes. Works published in English translation are eligible, and several translated novels have won or been recognised by the prize.