One of many cultural riches that the Baldwin Wallace University community can access with easy proximity to Cleveland is the prestigious Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards supported by the Cleveland Foundation.
This year, a BW student and a faculty member are catching some light from the glow of the awards.
Senior English major Ashtyn Morris '21 has already been in the Anisfield-Wolf spotlight.
An essay Morris wrote for Dr. Michael Garriga's class was chosen this spring as part of the Anisfield-Wolf Reflection Exhibit at Case Western Reserve University.
She had this to say about being selected for the exhibition, "I was honored to have my essay chosen from a group of other talented writers. It has always been a dream of mine to have something published. I could not have achieved this accolade without the guidance from our amazing English Department!"
"It's a real honor for Ashtyn to have her work accepted and published there," says BW Associate Dean for the Humanities Dr. Denise Kohn. "Michael is leading BW's work to partner with the Anisfield-Wolf association, and he is teaching some of the Anisfield-Wolf books in his courses, including a new class this fall."
Morris is also active at BW outside the English department as a member of the Yellow Jacket tennis team and a BW Center for Innovation & Growth Fellow. She also has several internships on her resume.
The annual Anisfield-Wolf Awards culminate each year during Cleveland Book Week, being held September 29-October 4 this year.
Part of the annual celebration is a virtual Sister Cities conference hosted by the Global Cleveland Partnership featuring BW Professor Chisomo Selemani of BW's Speech-Language Pathology (SLP) program.
On October 1, Selemani will interview Namwali Serpell, professor of English at Harvard University and author of "The Old Drift," 2020 winner of the Windham-Campbell prize and Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for fiction.
Serpell's book catalogs several generations of Zambian families. Both Serpell and Selemani share Zambian heritage, and Selemani is excited about being invited to conduct the high-profile interview. Selemani's personal experience and efforts to lead BW's award-winning partnership with nonprofit and government partners in Zambia made her a perfect fit to facilitate this conversation, and she is proud to take part.
"The Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards are the only juried book awards that 'confront racism and explore diversity,'" Selemani explains. "Namwali's book skillfully navigates matters of race, class and gender equity. All of these themes seem timely and appropriate right now."
The entire conference, including Selemani's conversation with Serpell, is free to attend at globalcleveland.org/portfolio/sister-cities-conference.
