Schedule unveiled for virtual Cleveland Book Week 2020; Hour-long Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards show to air on WVIZ/PBS
85th class of winners to be featured in documentary-style production
Release Date: 9.10.2020
CLEVELAND – The Cleveland Foundation today announced the schedule for the fifth annual Cleveland Book Week. This year’s showcase, which runs from Sept. 29-Oct. 4, celebrates present and past Anisfield-Wolf Book Award winners throughout the distinguished 85-year history of the award, while offering a number of free, virtual literary events for the community.
The series of events culminates in a new Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards (AWBA) documentary, which is scheduled to air beginning at 8 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 1, on WVIZ/PBS and throughout Ohio’s public television network. Anisfield-Wolf remains the only national juried prize for literature that confronts racism and explores diversity. The 2020 honorees are:
- Eric Foner, Lifetime Achievement
- Ilya Kaminsky, “Deaf Republic,” Poetry
- Charles King, “Gods of the Upper Air,” Nonfiction
- Namwali Serpell, “The Old Drift,” Fiction
“Like nearly every other community gathering, we’ve had to adapt to the pandemic, so we’re thrilled to partner with WVIZ and a slate of new partners to bring the Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards to our audiences in an entirely new manner that keeps participants safe,” said Karen R. Long, who manages the awards for the Cleveland Foundation. “In this historic year, heightened by the global Black Lives Matter movement, there’s never been a more important time to lift up a canon of literature that unapologetically and directly confronts racism.”
The Cleveland Foundation and Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards are presenting Cleveland Book Week in partnership with The City Club of Cleveland, Cleveland International Film Festival (CIFF), Global Cleveland, the Great Lakes African American Writers Conference and the Western Reserve Historical Society.
The redesigned Anisfield-Wolf.org features a new collection of educational resources to support lesson planning for high school and college-age students. It welcomes learners into vibrant, under-represented histories and perspectives for educators and students to explore in their classrooms. These resources are now available for free to all teachers, parents and organizations looking to tell a truer story by telling a more complete one — in the words of Margot Lee Shetterly, a 2017 recipient for her book “Hidden Figures.” Learn more and access these resources at www.anisfield-wolf.org/education.
Before Cleveland Book Week officially begins, AWBA fans are encouraged to complete the 2020 census, register to vote and spread the word for others to do the same. Cleveland Public Library, an Anisfield-Wolf community partner, offers a range of civic engagement resources through its Democracy 2020 initiative.
Learn more at https://cpl.org/democracy-2020/.
For more information on Cleveland Book Week (#CBW2020) and the Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards (#AWBA2020), visit www.anisfield-wolf.org/bookweek.
Events scheduled for Cleveland Book Week 2020 include:
Tuesday, Sept. 29
Building on a longstanding partnership between CIFF and AWBA, Cleveland Book Week adds a new medium this year with opportunities throughout the week to stream a selection of CIFF feature-length and short films presented through the lens of the AWBA mission. For more information and details on CIFF Streams + AWBA, please visit: https://www.eventbrite.com/o/ciff-streams-anisfield-wolf-book-awards-31094245693.
CIFF Streams + AWBA feature film
DOPE IS DEATH (78 minutes)
Directed by Mia Donovan
DOPE IS DEATH is the story of how the Young Lords and Black Panther Party—two inner-city human rights activist groups— created the first acupuncture detoxification program in America. This compelling documentary profiles a visionary community healthcare program created by the people for the people, which ultimately led to a protocol practiced in over 600 healthcare facilities in the U.S. alone.
Pre-recorded, moderated discussion with the directors and Cleveland State University professor Eric Siler follows the documentary (approximately 45 minutes).
Closed captioning available.
Screening Window: 9 a.m. ET – 11 p.m. ET | Registration closes at 9 p.m. ET on September 29th
Register for FREE to stream DOPE IS DEATH.
Wednesday, Sept. 30
Ilya Kaminsky (2020 AWBA Poetry Winner, “Deaf Republic”) in conversation with Cuyahoga Community College Professor Alexandria Romanovich
2:30-3:30 p.m.; Global Cleveland Sister Cities Conference
Ilya Kaminsky reached a global audience with the publication of “Deaf Republic”; the BBC named him “one of the 12 artists that changed the world in 2019.” Kaminsky, winner of an Anisfield-Wolf Book Award this year, will discuss his art, his heritage, and his insight that disabilities can be “a political position for advocacy for us all,” in conversation with Alexandria Romanovich of Cuyahoga Community College.
This event requires registration to the Global Cleveland Sister Cities Conference; Register for free at: https://globalcleveland.org/portfolio/sister-cities-conference/.
Charles King (2020 AWBA Nonfiction Winner, “Gods of the Upper Air”) in conversation with AWBA Jurist Steven Pinker
8 p.m.; Streaming on youtube.com/clevelandfoundation and facebook.com/clevelandfoundation
Charles King (2020 AWBA Nonfiction Winner, “Gods of the Upper Air”) in conversation with AWBA Jurist Steven Pinker. Their discussion will be preceded by a shorter one between Cleveland historians John Grabowski and Regennia Williams, who will bring local context to King’s story of “how a circle of renegade anthropologists reinvented race, sex, and gender in the twentieth century.”
Sign up to receive a reminder to watch: https://anisfield-wolf.org/events/charles-king-steven-pinker-in-conversation/.
CIFF Streams + AWBA feature film
GOOD LUCK SOUP (57 minutes)
Directed by Matthew Hashiguchi
Growing up Japanese-American in a predominantly white Irish-Catholic neighborhood in Cleveland, Ohio, Matthew wondered what made him different and why he stood out. Years later, he set out to document his family’s experiences of being Japanese in America before, during and after World War II. GOOD LUCK SOUP explores several generations assimilating into a new culture while preserving their own.
Pre-recorded, moderated discussion with the directors and Cleveland State University professor Eric Siler follows the documentary (approximately 45 minutes).
Closed captioning available.
Screening Window: 9 a.m. ET – 11 p.m. ET | Registration closes at 9 p.m. ET on September 30th
Register for FREE to stream GOOD LUCK SOUP.
Thursday, Oct. 1
Namwali Serpell (2020 AWBA Fiction Winner, “The Old Drift”) in conversation with Baldwin Wallace University Professor Chisomo Selemani
2:30-3:30 p.m.; Global Cleveland Sister Cities Conference
Namwali Serpell mesmerized readers with an epic set in Zambia that explores the transmission of modern history. It won the Los Angeles Times book prize for first fiction, the Windham Campbell Prize, and an Anisfield-Wolf Book Award. Serpell, a professor of English at Harvard University, will discuss art, Afrofuturism, and her skillful navigation of Zambia’s history, society, and politics in this groundbreaking work, in conversation with Professor Chisomo Selemani of Baldwin Wallace University.
This event requires registration to the Global Cleveland Sister Cities Conference; Register for free at: https://globalcleveland.org/portfolio/sister-cities-conference/.
The 2020 Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards documentary
8 p.m.; WVIZ/PBS, concurrent with website streaming and other PBS broadcasts
The Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards recognize books that have made important contributions to our understanding of racism and human diversity. It remains the only American book prize focusing on works that address racism and equity. For more than 80 years, the distinguished books earning Anisfield-Wolf prizes have opened and challenged our minds.
Sign up to receive a reminder to watch: https://anisfield-wolf.org/events/2020-pbs-doc/.
Friday, Oct. 2
Who is Permitted to Vote?: Lessons from the Reconstruction
Eric Foner (2020 AWBA Lifetime Achievement Winner)
12:30-1:30 p.m.; The City Club of Cleveland
Dr. Eric Foner, educator, historian, and Pulitzer Prize-winning author, is often regarded as the “dean of Reconstruction historians.” Professor Emeritus of History at Columbia University, Dr. Foner has used his career as a scholar to construct a more truthful narrative of the Civil War and Reconstruction, changing the language of this historical period from a story of white supremacy to a narrative that focuses on Black history, interracial democracy and justice. His most recent book, “The Second Founding: How the Civil War and Reconstruction Remade the Constitution,” details America’s reckoning with the false constitutional promise of equality and liberty for all, following the development of the Reconstruction amendments that abolished slavery, guaranteed all persons due process and equal protection of the law, and equipped Black men with the right to vote. Join The City Club of Cleveland via livestream for a conversation with Foner about “The Second Founding,” the Reconstruction Era, and the contemporary struggle for freedom and equality.
For more information, visit: https://www.cityclub.org/forums/2020/10/02/who-is-permitted-to-vote-lessons-from-the-reconstruction.
CIFF Streams + AWBA feature film
SINCE I BEEN DOWN (105 minutes)
Directed by Gilda Sheppard
The United States is home to a startling statistic: the country currently has a higher percentage of its population in prison than any other society in the history of western civilization. Yet, mass incarceration does little to address the underlying disparities and realities that drive crime in underserved communities. SINCE I BEEN DOWN is a documentary that challenges our definition of justice by focusing on a group of inmates determined to create paths to education and healing from within their prison walls.
Pre-recorded, moderated discussion with the directors and Cleveland State University professor Eric Siler follows the documentary (approximately 45 minutes).
No closed captioning available.
Screening Window: 9 a.m. ET – 11 p.m. ET | Registration closes at 9 p.m. ET on October 2nd
Register for FREE to stream SINCE I BEEN DOWN.
Saturday, Oct. 3
Pearl Cleage: Keynote Address to the Great Lakes African American Writers Conference
3-4 p.m.; Great Lakes African American Writers Conference
Pearl Cleage is an Atlanta-based playwright, essayist, novelist, poet and political activist whose work has won commercial acceptance and critical praise in several genres. Pearl’s work occupies a unique niche in contemporary African American fiction. Her characters are as complex and multi-faceted as her readers lives and their balancing of work, love and family (not necessarily in that order!) ring true to those who eagerly await each novel. Join the full virtual conference to meet literary creatives from throughout the Great Lakes region. Learn from and network with influential publishing industry professionals, including noted agent Kima Jones from Los Angeles and Brandi Larsen, a former Penguin Random House executive, who will discuss engaging the big five publishers.
For more information, visit: https://www.glaawc.us/glaawc2020/.
CIFF Streams + AWBA feature film
WE ARE THE RADICAL MONARCHS (86 minutes)
Directed by Linda Goldstein Knowlton
Don’t expect to see the Radical Monarchs— a scout troop comprising young girls of color in Oakland, California—selling cookies. These troopers earn their badges by learning about social justice movements, from the Black Panthers to Black Lives Matter, and participating in protest and pride marches. Filmmaker Linda Goldstein Knowlton’s WE ARE THE RADICAL MONARCHS follows the inaugural troop, led by co-founders Anayvette Martinez and Marilyn Hollinquest, from their first year as scouts through their graduation.
Pre-recorded, moderated discussion with the directors and Cleveland State University professor Eric Siler follows the documentary (approximately 45 minutes).
Closed captioning available.
Screening Window: 9 a.m. ET – 11 p.m. ET | Registration closes at 9 p.m. ET on October 3rd
Register for FREE to stream WE ARE THE RADICAL MONARCHS.
Sunday, Oct. 4
CIFF Streams + AWBA Shorts
CIFF’s shorts program, one of the festival’s most popular offerings, is presented as part of Cleveland Book Week this year with a set of short films that vary in tone and visual presentation but share a common focus on racial equity.
Screening Window: 9 a.m. ET – 11 p.m. ET | Registration closes at 9 p.m. ET on October 4th
CIFF Streams + AWBA SHORTS PROGRAM 1
No closed captioning available.
Register for FREE to stream SHORTS PROGRAM 1
CIFF Streams + AWBA SHORTS PROGRAM 2
No closed captioning available.