Dayton Literary Peace Prizes honor Ukraine novel and Charleston church history

The Dayton Literary Peace Prizes have announced this year’s winners, honoring works that promote peace and social justice. Sam Wachman received the fiction prize for his debut novel, ‘The Sunflower Boys,’ a coming-of-age story about two brothers in wartime Ukraine. Kevin Sack won the nonfiction prize for ‘Mother Emanuel: Two Centuries of Race, Resistance, and Forgiveness in One Charleston Church,’ which chronicles the history of a Black church in South Carolina from slavery through the Civil Rights Movement and the 2015 mass shooting.

Winners in both categories will receive $10,000, while runners-up Charlotte McConaghy and Eve L. Ewing will receive $5,000 each. Additionally, novelist Ann Patchett has been selected to receive a lifetime achievement award. Established in 2006, the awards aim to recognize writers who use literature to foster global understanding and peace.