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Dayton Literary Peace Prize honors authors

Photos: 2009 Dayton Literary Peace Prize

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By Lynn Hulsey, Staff Writer Updated 12:10 AM Monday, November 9, 2009

BEAVERCREEK — The two authors of books documenting modern-day atrocities and a third who wrote a fictional account of an act of mercy amid the atrocities of war offered visions of hope during a discussion Sunday, Nov. 8, at Books and Co. at The Greene.

The authors, all recipients of the 2009 Dayton Literary Peace Prize, spoke in advance of their appearance Sunday night at the peace prize awards gala in Dayton.

Growing out of the 1995 Dayton Peace Accords, which ended the war in Bosnia, the award is the only international literary peace prize awarded in the United States.

This year’s winners include: Lifetime Achievement Award — New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof and his wife Sheryl WuDunn, authors of “Half the Sky”; Fiction Award — Richard Bausch for “Peace;” and Non-fiction Award — Benjamin Skinner for “A Crime So Monstrous: Face to Face with Modern Day Slavery.”

Kristof, a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner who has documented acts of violence and enslavement in Asia, Africa and other countries, said his travels leave him optimistic, despite the horrors he has seen.

“I come back from the hellholes less burning with anger at the atrocities than utterly uplifted by the inspiring examples of those people out there making a difference,” said Kristof.

His latest book documents the oppression of women world-wide and declares it the central moral issue of the century.

Skinner’s book is about modern-day slavery and he told of driving up to a shop in Haiti and being offered a girl for a negotiated price of $50. The dealer operated with such impunity that he was not even deterred by Skinner informing him that he was a journalist and taping the conversation.

Skinner is donating his $10,000 awards honorarium to Free the Slaves, a human rights organization which assists with comprehensive rehabilitation, targeted development, and legal assistance to help free people and keep them out of bondage in Northern India.

Bausch’s book started with a story told by his father many years ago about his World War II service in Italy. His father was ordered to shoot an Italian man in the woods, but instead chose to free him. In the book Bausch adds fictional elements, embellishing the character of the Italian man, turning him into a lying Fascist.

“If you read close he’s the devil himself,” Bausch said.

“Peace always involves mercy. And for me if you were to put the book in a homily-like sentence it would be that a human being must be willing to show mercy to the devil himself or else there’s no hope for peace.”

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