In honor of the 1995 Dayton Peace Accords that brought an end to the war in Bosnia, the international Dayton Literary Peace Prize recognizes authors whose work celebrates peace, understanding across borders, and social justice. This year's winner of the ten-thousand-dollar lifetime achievement award is Geraldine Brooks, a novelist and journalist whose novel March (Viking) won the 2006 Pulitzer Prize.
Brooks's most recent work is People of the Book (Viking, 2008), a novel centered on the true story of the Sarajevo Haggadah, an illuminated Jewish text protected during centuries of European wars and conflicts by Muslims and Christians. She is also the author of the novel Year of Wonders (Viking, 2001) and the nonfiction books Foreign Correspondence (Anchor Books, 1998) and Nine Parts of Desire (Anchor Books, 1995).
"A writer is always thrilled to have her work recognized," Brooks said. "But this prize has a particular meaning to me, because I covered the fighting in the Balkans as a journalist and I know what peace, even an imperfect peace, can mean to a civilian population that has been besieged and violated by years of war." Remarking on the Bosnian peace agreement, she said, "As Dayton shows, it is at the table, rather than on the battle field, that wars may be brought to an end."
Brooks will receive her award at a ceremony in Dayton on November 7, during which the winners in fiction and creative nonfiction will also be honored.
In the video below, Brooks talks about the resonance of People of the Book, which is dedicated to librarians.