The Asterisk*

About The Asterisk*

The Asterisk* is a production of the Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards (AWBA), the only juried prize to honor outstanding books that further our understanding of racism and our appreciation of the rich diversity of human cultures. An asterisk is a reference mark, indicating an omission. With that definition in mind, each episode will delve into some of the holes in our knowledge about an esteemed AWBA winning book.The Asterisk* is hosted by Karen R. Long, the manager of the Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards. Long came to the Cleveland Foundation in 2013 after eight years as book editor of the Plain Dealer in Cleveland. She continues as a literary critic and served until 2016 as a vice president for the National Book Critics Circle.For over 85 years, the distinguished books earning Anisfield-Wolf prizes have opened and challenged generations of minds. Cleveland poet and philanthropist Edith Anisfield Wolf established the book prizes in 1935, in honor of her father, John Anisfield, and husband, Eugene Wolf, to reflect her family’s passion for social justice. Today it remains the only American book prize focusing on works that address racism and diversity. Past winners have expanded the humanities, illuminated the extraordinary art and culture of peoples around the world and broadened our understanding of rights and identities as well as our sense of whom is entitled to them. The Cleveland Foundation, the world’s first community foundation, has administered the Anisfield-Wolf prize since 1963.

Publisher

Ansfield-Wolf Book Awards

Category

arts · society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

5 Feb 2021

Latest episode

18 Aug 2026

Latest episodes

29 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   18 Aug 2026

   Tyehimba Jess (2017 Poetry)

   Tyehimba Jess is the author of two books of poetry, Leadbelly and Olio. Olio won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize, the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, The Midland Society Author’s Award in Poetry, and received an Outstanding Contribution to Publishing Citation from the Black Caucus of the American Library Association. It was also nominated for the National Book Critics Circle Award, the PEN Jean Stein Book Award, and the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award. Leadbelly was a winner of the 2004 National Poetry Series. The Library Journal and Black Issues Book Review both named it one of the “Best Poetry Books of 2005.” Jess, a Cave Canem and NYU Alumni, received a 2004 Literature Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, and was a 2004–2005 Winter Fellow at the Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center. Jess is also a veteran of the 2000 and 2001 Green Mill Poetry Slam Team, and won a 2000–2001 Illinois Arts Council Fellowship in Poetry, the 2001 Chicago Sun-Times Poetry Award, and a 2006 Whiting Fellowship. He presented his poetry at the 2011 TedX Nashville Conference and won a 2016 Lannan Literary Award in Poetry. He received a Guggenheim fellowship in 2018. Jess is a Distinguished Professor of English at College of Staten Island. Jess' fiction and poetry have appeared in many journals, as well as anthologies such as Angles of Ascent: A Norton Anthology of Contemporary African American Poetry, Beyond The Frontier: African American Poetry for the Twenty-First Century, Role Call: A Generational Anthology of Social and Political Black Literature and Art, Bum Rush the Page: A Def Poetry Jam, Power Lines: Ten Years of Poetry from Chicago's Guild Complex, and Slam: The Art of Performance Poetry.

2. 

   22 Jul 2026

   David Livingstone Smith (2012 Nonfiction)

   A native of New York City, Smith grew up in South Florida, where he spent his youth observing, catching, and studying the insects, fish, and reptiles in the area. He continued his education in England, earning a doctorate in philosophy at the University of London, King’s College, where he studied the philosophy of mind and philosophy of psychology. “These studies,” he said, “introduced me to the significance of evolutionary biology for understanding human nature, enabling me to come full circle by fusing my interest in the human mind with my earlier love of the natural world.” Smith is the author of Why We Lie (2004) and The Most Dangerous Animal (2007). His third book, Less Than Human: Why We Demean, Enslave, and Exterminate Others, illuminates the issue of dehumanization and the roots of human violence.

3. 

   29 Jun 2026

   Adrian Matejka (2014 Poetry)

   Adrian Matejka was born Germany in the town of Nuremberg. He grew up, partly in public housing, in California and Indiana. A graduate of Indiana University, Matejka earned an M FA from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. His first collection of poems, The Devil’s Garden, received the 2002 New York / New England Award from Alice James Books. His second collection, Mixology, won the 2008 National Poetry Series and was a finalist for an NAACP Image Award. His work has appeared in American Poetry Review, The Best American Poetry 2010, Gulf Coast, Ploughshares, Poetry, and Prairie Schooner. He teaches creative writing at Indiana University in Bloomington, where he lives with his wife, the poet Stacey Lynn Brown, and their daughter. In this episode of The Asterisk*, 2014 AWBA poetry winner Adrian Matejka reflects on the life and legacy of boxer Jack Johnson, the subject of his award-winning collection, "The Big Smoke." In conversation with former Program Director Karen R. Long, Matejka explores how poetry can illuminate history, reclaim overlooked stories and reveal emotional truths that facts alone cannot capture. The discussion also traces Matejka’s journey from discovering poetry as a young reader to leading Poetry magazine. Along the way, he shares insights on creativity, mentorship and his latest collection, "Be Easy: New and Selected Poems."

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Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

11 ratings

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