Edith Karolyn Anisfield Wolf (August 2, 1889 – January 23, 1963) was an American poet and philanthropist from

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

. She founded and endowed created an award in 1935 for non-fiction books that advance racial understanding, and in 1941 expanded the award to include fiction and poetry; the awards are now called the

Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards The Anisfield-Wolf Book Award is an American literary award dedicated to honoring written works that make important contributions to the understanding of racism and the appreciation of the rich diversity of human culture. Established in 1935 by Clev ...

Life and career

Born in 1889 to

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

parents,"The Biggest Little-Known Book Award"
Belt Magazine 2013. Retrieved August 19, 2015. Daniela (Guttenberg) and John Anisfield (born in

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), in

, Ohio, she was her parents’ only child. Her father, a successful clothing manufacturer, realtor, civic leader and philanthropist, encouraged her extensive education, and well-developed passion for social welfare. Able to read in French, German and Spanish, Wolf devoted her life to literature and charitable work. She was an active volunteer at the Cleveland Public Library for twenty years, serving as a trustee from 1943 to 1946. And she managed her father's philanthropy and the family holdings. A prolific poet, Wolf published several poetry books including ''Snacks'' (1934), ''Cinquainiana'' (1935), ''Twin Brochures'' (1939), ''Balance'' (1942), and ''Wordmobile'' (1956). Edith married attorney Eugene E. Wolf on August 7, 1918. She and Eugene had no children. Upon her death, Edith willed all her books to the Cleveland Public Library, her family home on East Boulevard to the Cleveland Welfare Federation, and funds to The Cleveland Foundation for a $5,000 community service award, aid for the needy, and continuation of the Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards. Her remains were interred at the mausoleum at

Knollwood Cemetery Knollwood Cemetery is a cemetery located at 1678 SOM Center Road in Mayfield Heights, Ohio. Established in 1908, it is one of the largest cemeteries in Cuyahoga County. A mausoleum was completed in 1926, and an expansion finished in 1959. The ceme ...

Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards

In 1935, she created an annual book award for non-fiction books that advance racial understanding, which she named the John Anisfield Award in honor of her father. In 1941 she added a second prize for creative literature in honor of her husband, and the awards were collectively called the Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards. While Wolf never participated in the selection of awardees, she made certain that the Anisfield-Wolf juries were composed of highly respected literary figures.

Ashley Montagu Montague Francis Ashley-Montagu (June 28, 1905November 26, 1999) — born Israel Ehrenberg — was a British-American anthropologist who popularized the study of topics such as race and gender and their relation to politics and development. He ...

served as jury chairman from 1954 through 1995. Since 1996, the jury has been headed by

Henry Louis Gates Jr. Henry Louis "Skip" Gates Jr. (born September 16, 1950) is an American literary critic, professor, historian, and filmmaker, who serves as the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and Director of the Hutchins Center for African and African A ...

The Book Awards honored Harold Foote Gosnell in 1936 for his “Negro Politicians: Rise of Negro Politics in Chicago.” With over 200 honorees since the inception of the awards, notable recipients during Wolf's lifetime included Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes, and

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...

Notable recipients after her death have included Alex Haley, Gwendolyn Brooks, Nadine Gordimer,

Toni Morrison Chloe Anthony Wofford Morrison (born Chloe Ardelia Wofford; February 18, 1931 – August 5, 2019), known as Toni Morrison, was an American novelist. Her first novel, ''The Bluest Eye'', was published in 1970. The critically acclaimed '' So ...

, Derek Walcott,

Wole Soyinka Akinwande Oluwole Babatunde Soyinka (Yoruba: ''Akínwándé Olúwọlé Babátúndé Ṣóyíinká''; born 13 July 1934), known as Wole Soyinka (), is a Nigerian playwright, novelist, poet, and essayist in the English language. He was awarded t ...

Henry Louis Gates Jr Henry Louis "Skip" Gates Jr. (born September 16, 1950) is an American literary critic, professor, historian, and filmmaker, who serves as the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and Director of the Hutchins Center for African and African Ame ...

., (also current

jurist),

Ralph Ellison Ralph Waldo Ellison (March 1, 1913 – April 16, 1994) was an American writer, literary critic, and scholar best known for his novel '' Invisible Man'', which won the National Book Award in 1953. He also wrote ''Shadow and Act'' (1964), a collec ...

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Junot Diaz Junot is a French name that may refer to the following notable people: ;Given name *Junot Díaz (born 1968), Dominican American ;Surname * Laure Junot, Duchess of Abrantes (1784–1838), French writer * Jean-Andoche Junot, 1st Duke of Abrantès (17 ...

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie ( ; born 15 September 1977) is a Nigerian writer whose works include novels, short stories and nonfiction. She was described in ''The Times Literary Supplement'' as "the most prominent" of a "procession of criticall ...

and Oprah Winfrey. The awards, $1,000 per recipient in the 1930s, now amount to $10,000 each. The categories are fiction, nonfiction, poetry and Lifetime Achievement. The ''Saturday Review'' magazine administered the awards while Wolf was alive. The awards are now managed by the Cleveland Foundation.

Bibliography

Poetry collections include: *''Snacks: a Bookful of Little Thoughts'' (Carr, 1934) *''Cinquainiana: a Bookful of Cinquains'' (The Verse-Land Press, 1935) *''Twin Brochures'' (Pegasus Studios, 1939) *''Balance: Bookful of Little Thoughts'' (The Erie Press, 1942) *''Wordmobile'' (Blue River Press, 1956), collected from the writer's poems appearing through the years in Blue River publications.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wolf, Edith 1889 births 1963 deaths Burials at Knollwood Cemetery Poets from Ohio Jewish American philanthropists 20th-century American poets American people of Austrian-Jewish descent 20th-century American philanthropists