Lukas Prize Project Awards
Submissions for 2009 now being accepted. See How to Enter
2010 Awards: How to Enter
The Lukas Prize Project is co-administered by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and the Nieman Foundation at Harvard University, and sponsored by the family of the late Mark Lynton, a historian and senior executive at the firm Hunter Douglas in the Netherlands. Three awards are given annually.
The J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize ($10,000)
The J. Anthony Lukas Prize recognizes superb examples of narrative nonfiction on a topic of American political or social concern that exemplify the literary grace, the commitment to serious research, and the social concern that characterized the distinguished work of the award's namesake, J. Anthony Lukas.
The Mark Lynton History Prize ($10,000)
The Mark Lynton History Prize is awarded to a book length work of history on any topic that best combines intellectual distinction with felicity of expression.
The J. Anthony Lukas Work-in-Progress Award ($30,000)
The J. Anthony Lukas Work-in-Progress Award is given annually to aid in the completion of a significant work of nonfiction. The committee envisions the award as a way of closing the gap between the time and money an author has and the time and money that finishing a book requires.
2009 Lukas Prize Awards
The 2009 Lukas Prize awards ceremony was a celebration of reporting and writing in book-length nonfiction. Jane Mayer, Timothy Brook and Judy Pasternak were honored at the May 12, 2009 event.
The Lukas awards “acknowledge the work of committed people who put in the work and years to learn what we don’t already know and they have found a way to put what we don’t know into words that demand to be read, nonfiction for people who truly read,” said author and editor Daniel Okrent, who moderated a panel discussion with the winners. Read more
Introducing the Winners
The 2009 J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize was awarded, in the words of the committee, “to a book-length work of narrative nonfiction on an American topic that exemplifies the literary grace, the commitment to serious research, and the social concern that characterized the distinguished work of the award’s namesake.” The award went to Jane Mayer for The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How the War on Terror Turned Into a War on American Ideals, published by Doubleday.
The Mark Lynton History Prize, “awarded to a work of history, on any subject, that best combines intellectual distinction with felicity of expression,” went to Timothy Brook for Vermeer’s Hat: The Seventeenth Century and the Dawn of the Global World, published by Bloomsbury.
The J. Anthony Lukas Prize For A Work In Progress, “given to aid the completion of a significant work of nonfiction on a topic of American political or social concern,” was awarded to Judy Pasternak for Yellow Dirt: The Betrayal of the Navajos, to be published by Free Press.
Read interviews with the winners
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