WASHINGTON – Isabel Wilkerson, graduate of the Howard University School of Communications, and author of the award-winning book “The Warmth of Other Suns,” is the recipient of the inaugural NYU/Axinn Foundation Prize, which recognizes distinguished work in the genre of literary narrative nonfiction. The prize, administered by NYU’s Graduate School of Arts and Science, includes a cash award of $100,000.

“On behalf of the Howard University community, I want to congratulate Ms. Isabel Wilkerson for receiving this prestigious award,” said Howard University President Wayne A. I. Frederick. “Her contributions to the literary world have had a resounding impact on American literature and culture. We are proud to call her a daughter of Howard University, and we wish her continued success in her career.”

Wilkerson received two degrees from Howard: a bachelor’s in journalism in 1984 and a 2012 honorary Doctorate of Letters. While at Howard, she was editor-in-chief of the student newspaper, The Hilltop. In 2007, she was awarded the Distinguished Postgraduate Achievement Award from the University. Wilkerson, who won the Pulitzer Prize in feature writing in 1994 while reporting for The New York Times and serving as its Chicago bureau chief, was the first African-American woman to win the award in journalism. She has also won a George Polk Award, the Journalist of the Year Award from the National Association of Black Journalists, a Guggenheim Fellowship and an Anisfield-Wolf Book Award.

The NYU/Axinn Foundation Prize, given every other year, honors an American writer of literary narrative nonfiction whose published book or books are of exceptional artistic quality and societal import and is expected to produce additional highly significant work in subsequent years.

“Don Axinn, a successful businessman, loved to write and read,” says Mark Hamer of the Axinn Foundation. “He cared a great deal about people and writing. Although he was not a professional writer, he wrote every day, and he thought his creativity had something to do with his success in business. Don had the pleasure of reading his poetry at one memorable evening at NYU. The Trustees of the Axinn Foundation felt it was fitting that the NYU/Axinn Foundation Prize, aimed at encouraging midcareer writers of extraordinary talent, be created in his name so as to honor and support writers of narrative nonfiction books that make a difference.”

“The Warmth of Other Suns” chronicles the Great Migration of African-Americans from the rural South to other parts of the United States over the course of the 20^th century. Her second book, “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents,” was published this Summer. An Oprah’s Book Club selection, “Caste” posits that racism in the United States reflects the sort of caste system that is also found in other countries.

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About Howard University

Founded in 1867, Howard University is a private, research university that is comprised of 13 schools and colleges. Students pursue studies in more than 120 areas leading to undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees. The University operates with a commitment to Excellence in Truth and Service and has produced one Schwarzman Scholar, three Marshall Scholars, four Rhodes Scholars, 11 Truman Scholars, 25 Pickering Fellows and more than 165 Fulbright recipients. Howard also produces more on-campus African-American Ph.D. recipients than any other university in the United States. For more information on Howard University, visit www.howard.edu.



Media Contact: Misha Cornelius, misha.cornelius@howard.edu