Martin Luther King Memorial Prize

The Martin Luther King Memorial Prize was instituted by novelist John Brunner and his wife and was awarded annually to a literary work published in the US or Britain that was deemed to improve interracial understanding,[1][2] "reflecting the ideals to which Dr. Martin Luther King dedicated his life".[3] As of 1984, the author of the winning work was awarded £100 (equivalent to £410 in 2023).[3] Brunner died in 1995, and it is uncertain if the award has continued.

Winners of the prize have included:

  • Because They're Black (1972) by Derek Humphry and Gus John[2][4]
  • Black and White: The Negro and English Society (1975) by James Walvin[5][6]
  • A Dry White Season (1980) by André Brink[7]
  • In a Dark Time (1984) edited by Nicholas Humphrey and Robert Lifton[8]
  • The Heart of the Race: Black Women's Lives in Britain (1985) by Beverley Bryan, Stella Dadzie and Suzanne Scafe[9]
  • The European Tribe (1987) by Caryl Phillips[10]
  • Behind the Frontlines: Journey into Afro-Britain (1988) by Ferdinand Dennis.[11]
  • Parting the Waters: America in the King Years, 1954-63 (1988) by Taylor Branch, 1989 MLK Prize (and 1989 Pulitzer Prize for History)

References

  1. ^ Charles Platt, "John Brunner – Somerset, England, July 30, 1979", in Dream Makers, Gateway, 2017.
  2. ^ a b Derek Humphry, Good Life, Good Death: The Memoir of a Right to Die Pioneer, Carrel Books, 2017.
  3. ^ a b Norman Frankel, "Martin Luther King Memorial Prize (U.K.)", The Grants Register 1985–1987, Macmillan Publishers, 1984, p. 448.
  4. ^ Derek Humphry biography at Ergo.
  5. ^ "James Walvin", Historians, Spartacus Educational.
  6. ^ "Leading Slavery Scholar to Give Public Lecture", University of Worcester, 26 February 2015.
  7. ^ Carolyn Turgeon, "A Dry White Season" at encyclopedia.com.
  8. ^ "Book awards: Martin Luther King Memorial Prize", Librarything.
  9. ^ "Stella Dadzie", The British Library.
  10. ^ "Awards", Caryl Phillips website.
  11. ^ "Ferdinand Dennis" Archived 2015-05-18 at the Wayback Machine, British Council, Literature Matters.