In November 2025, Renowned Indian-born British author Salman Rushdie was conferred with the Ambassador Richard C. Holbrooke Distinguished Achievement Award(Lifetime Achievement Award) during the Dayton Literary Peace Prize(DLPP) 2025 ceremony held in Dayton, Ohio, the United States of America (USA).
- The award, carries USD 10,000 cash prize, recognized his outstanding literary contribution and unwavering advocacy for freedom of expression, tolerance, and human dignity.
Exam Hints:
- What? Salman Rushdie Honored
- With? Holbrooke Distinguished Achievement Award’(Lifetime Achievement Award)
- Event? Dayton Literary Peace Prize 2025, Dayton, Ohio, USA
- Cash Prize: USD 10,000
- Commemoration: 30th anniversary of Dayton Peace Accords ending the Bosnian War
- 2025 Winners:
- Fiction: Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar
- Nonfiction: The Burning Earth by Sunil Amrith
2025 Dayton Literary Peace Prize(DLPP) :
Commemorating Peace: The 2025 ceremony marked the 30th anniversary of the Dayton Peace Accords, which ended the Bosnian War.
2025 Winners:
- Fiction: ‘Martyr!’ by Kaveh Akbar , explores identity, faith, and cultural conflict( USD 10,000).
- Nonfiction: ‘The Burning Earth’ by Sunil Amrith, analyzes historical impacts on the global environment( USD 10,000).
About Salmon Rushdie:
Literary Debut: He began his writing career after a short advertising stint, publishing his first novel Grimus in 1975.
Famous Works: Satanic Verses (1988), Midnight’s Children (Booker Prize, 1981), The Moor’s Last Sigh (1995), Quichotte (2019), Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder (2024) and novel The Eleventh Hour (2025).
Recognition: Knighted in 2007, he has won multiple literary awards, including the Whitbread Book Award, Prix du Meilleur Livre Étranger, and Aristeion Prize, and has served as PEN(Poets, Playwrights, Editors, Essayists, Novelists) America President and fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
About Dayton Literary Peace Prize:
Instituted: The Dayton Literary Peace Prize (DLPP), instituted in 2006, is the world’s only international literary award that celebrates the power of the written word to promote peace.
Reconciliation: It was established in commemoration of the Dayton Peace Accords (1995), which ended the Bosnian War marked by ethnic cleansing and mass displacement.
Recognizes: The DLPP annually recognizes writers in fiction, nonfiction, and lifetime achievement categories whose works foster global understanding and reconciliation.
Lifetime Achievement Award: The Lifetime Achievement Award, named after Ambassador Richard C. Holbrooke, chief negotiator of the Dayton Accords, is one of the most prestigious recognitions in global literature.
Notable Honorees: Past recipients of the Lifetime Achievement Award include former United States of America(USA) President Jimmy Carter, Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel, activist Gloria Steinem, and authors Margaret Atwood, John Irving, Barbara Kingsolver, and Studs Terkel.
