{"id":177,"date":"2026-06-15T09:07:40","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T09:07:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usabusinesschronicle.com\/?p=177"},"modified":"2026-06-15T09:07:40","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T09:07:40","slug":"the-2026-kukula-award-winners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usabusinesschronicle.com\/?p=177","title":{"rendered":"The 2026 Kukula Award Winners"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The Washington Monthly <\/em>proudly announces the winners of the 2026 Kukula Award for Excellence in Nonfiction Book Reviewing<\/strong>\u2014the only journalism prize dedicated to highlighting and encouraging exemplary reviews of serious, public affairs-focused books. Now in its seventh year, the award honors the memory of Kukula Kapoor Glastris, the magazine\u2019s longtime and beloved books editor.<\/p>\n

Read more Why You\u2019ll Never Be an Online Star<\/a><\/p>\n

In our smaller publications category, the winner is Dan Piepenbring<\/strong>, published in Harper\u2019s <\/em><\/strong>Magazine, for his engaging and wide-ranging review of three new books\u2014Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It<\/em> (MCD), by Cory Doctorow; Walking the Bypass: Notes on Place from the Side of the Road<\/em>\u00a0(University of Regina Press), by Ken Wilson; and Mythopedia: A Brief Compendium of Natural History Lore<\/em>\u00a0(Princeton University Press), by Adrienne Mayor.<\/p>\n

In our larger publications category, the top prize goes to Rhoda Feng<\/strong> in The New Republic<\/em><\/strong>, for her moving and sobering review of the bestselling Chinese memoir, I Deliver Parcels in Beijing<\/em> (Astra House), by Hu Anyan (translated by Jack Hargreaves).<\/p>\n

The winners will each receive a $1,000 cash prize.<\/p>\n

A panel of six judges\u2014veteran journalists, authors, and reviewers\u2014selected this year\u2019s winners from nearly 80 outstanding submissions published across a range of print and digital outlets in 2025. Winners were honored for their clear and artful exposition, original and persuasive thesis, and ability to enlighten readers with new and valuable information. Judges gave priority to works of public affairs, politics, history, and biography.<\/p>\n

Dan Piepenbring skillfully tackles three new books with seemingly disparate themes\u2014the greed of big tech monopolies, the despoliation of Canadian wilderness, and ancient myths inspired by natural wonders and disasters\u2014in a cohesive review featuring what the judges called a \u201cbeautiful, fun and easy\u201d style of writing. \u201cHe has the essayist\u2019s gift for making the personal universal,\u201d noted Terence Samuel. Fellow judge Allen Guelzo didn\u2019t want to embrace Piepenbring\u2019s somber thesis, but he couldn\u2019t resist his argument: The review \u201ckept coming back to me in ways the others didn\u2019t, like one of those tunes you can\u2019t get out of your head,\u201d he reflected.<\/p>\n

In the larger category, the judges praised Rhoda Feng\u2019s review of Hu Anyan\u2019s eye-opening memoir of life among the Chinese migrant class. \u201cFeng brings the reader into a world that even those familiar with modern autocratic China might only slightly know\u2014the hidden underclass of migrant workers known as the \u2018floating population\u2019 who \u2018build the country\u2019s skyscrapers, guard its gates, sweep its streets and deliver its parcels\u2019,\u201d said judge Steve Braun. Her review \u201cprovides what all great reviews of nonfiction strive for\u2014a deep dive into the importance, milieu and history of the book\u2019s subject and an incisive take on how well the book succeeds in what it sets out to achieve.\u201d Notably, Feng also offers \u201ccritical context about the rise of the gig economy, publication and censorship in China,\u201d added judge Sara Bhatia. Fellow judge Haley Sweetland Edwards commends Feng\u2019s deep knowledge of the subject matter (and her comparison of the original book in Chinese with an English-language edition) to explore \u201cwhat has been likely excised by censors and what has been allowed into print. That provides context for readers, like me, who might not have otherwise understood the importance of the book.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis year\u2019s winning writers set a standard that all of us who work in the field of serious nonfiction book reviewing should challenge ourselves to meet,\u201d said Paul Glastris, the Washington Monthly<\/em>\u2019s editor in chief and Kukula\u2019s husband of 31 years.<\/p>\n

Read more Are the Elderly Holding America Back?<\/a><\/p>\n

The judges also selected four exceptional finalists in each Kukula Award category.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Finalists for the 2026 Kukula Award in the small publications category were:<\/strong><\/p>\n