For the first time in its 90-year history, the Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards (AWBA) is naming its finalists before the winners—and the Cleveland Foundation just revealed the 10 books in the running for 2025.

In previous years, only the winning books were revealed.

By expanding with a finalist announcement, organizers say they hope to draw more attention to a range of authors whose work addresses racism and cultural diversity—in line with founder Edith Anisfield Wolf’s initial vision for the awards.

“This year’s finalists embody the Anisfield-Wolf legacy of fearless writing that compels us to reckon with history and reimagine the future,” Natasha Trethewey, Pulitzer Prize and AWBA-winning poet and chair of the 2025 awards jury, said in a statement. “These books are urgent, profound and necessary.”

The jury chose the finalists from more than 300 submissions in four categories: fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and memoir/autobiography.

The full list includes:

• “Yard Show” by Janice Harrington (Poetry)
• “Bluff” by Danez Smith (Poetry)
• “Feeding Ghosts” by Tessa Hulls (Memoir/Autobiography)
• “Lessons for Survival” by Emily Raboteau (Memoir/Autobiography)
• “The United States Governed by Six Hundred Thousand Despots” by John Swanson Jacobs, edited by Jonathan D. S. Schroeder (Nonfiction)
• “The Unseen Truth” by Sarah Lewis (Nonfiction)
• “The Rebel’s Clinic” by Adam Shatz (Nonfiction)
• “Behind You Is the Sea” by Susan Muaddi Darraj (Fiction)
• “Come and Get It” by Kiley Reid (Fiction)
• “Colored Television” by Danzy Senna (Fiction)

The AWBA were established in 1935 by Cleveland poet and philanthropist Edith Anisfield Wolf. Today, the Cleveland Foundation continues to oversee the annual prize in honor of Wolf’s mission to support books that advance race and cultural identity conversations.

“Art is such a powerful tool—it inspires us, challenges us and leads us to ask the critical questions that drive society in the direction of its best self,” says Lillian Kuri, president and CEO of the Cleveland Foundation. “For 90 years, the Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards have amplified voices in pursuit of a more just and inclusive world, not only in literature but in life.”

Winners, typically one in each of the four categories, will be announced on April 10 at the Maltz Performing Arts Center in Cleveland, during the Cuyahoga County Public Library and Case Western Reserve University’s William N. Skirball Writers Center Stage Series.

Author Tommy Orange, a past AWBA winner in 2019 for “There There,” will announce the recipients after a conversation with fellow author Kaveh Akbar, whose 2024 novel “Martyr!” is still a bestseller. Tickets for both the livestream and in-person event range between $20 and $35.

The winners will also be honored at the annual AWBA ceremony as part of Cleveland Book Week later this fall.

For more information about the awards and past recipients, visit www.anisfield-wolf.org.