Columbia Journalism School revealed the shortlists for its annual J. Anthony Lukas Prizes, with Ned Blackhawk, Jonathan Eig, and Kerry Howley among the authors in contention for the prizes that “honor the best in American nonfiction writing.”
Blackhawk made the shortlist for the Mark Lynton History Prize with his National Book Award–winning The Rediscovery of America: Native Peoples and the Unmaking of U.S. History, alongside Eig for his Martin Luther King Jr. biography, King: A Life. Also named finalists for the prize were Gary J. Bass for Judgment at Tokyo: World War II on Trial and the Making of Modern Asia; Dylan C. Penningroth for Before the Movement: The Hidden History of Black Civil Rights; and Yepoka Yeebo for Anansi’s Gold: The Man Who Looted the West, Outfoxed Washington, and Swindled the World.
Howley’s Bottoms Up and the Devil Laughs: A Journey Through the Deep State was named a finalist for the J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize, as were Cara McGoogan’s Blood Farm: The Explosive Big Pharma Scandal that Altered the AIDS Crisis; Cameron McWhirter and Zusha Elinson for American Gun: The True Story of the AR-15; Joe Sexton for The Lost Sons of Omaha: Two Young Men in an American Tragedy; and Dashka Slater for Accountable: The True Story of a Racist Social Media Account and the Teenagers Whose Lives It Changed.
The Lukas Prizes were established in 1998. Previous winners include Samantha Power for “A Problem from Hell”: America and the Age of Genocideand Andrea Elliott for Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival & Hope in an American City.
The winners of this year’s awards will be announced on March 19. A full list of finalists is available at the Columbia Journalism School website.
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
