Karen Russell’s 2025 dustbowl epic THE ANTIDOTE was named one of the six finalists for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, with the winner to be announced in September 2026.

The Dayton Literary Peace Prize honors writers whose work uses the power of the written word to foster peace, social justice, and global understanding. Launched in 2006, it is recognized as one of the world’s most prestigious literary honors and is the only literary peace prize awarded in the United States. The Dayton Literary Peace Prize annually honors one fiction and one nonfiction author, and one fiction and one nonfiction runner-up, whose work advances peace as a solution to conflict and leads readers to a better understanding of other cultures, peoples, religions, and political points of view.