The Washington Monthly’s 7th Annual Kukula Award for Excellence in Nonfiction Book Reviewing

The Washington Monthly is proud to host the annual Kukula Award for Excellence in Nonfiction Book Reviewing. The award honors the memory of Kukula Kapoor Glastris, the longtime and beloved books editor at the Washington Monthly magazine. It celebrates the kind of serious, public affairs-focused book reviews that Kukula loved to commission and edit—and the talented individuals who practice this noble craft.   

Nonfiction book reviewing is a vital form of journalism that transmits hard-won reporting, research, and ideas to policymakers, influencers, and curious citizens who can’t possibly read more than a fraction of the important books published each year. It also contributes to a healthy intellectual life. At a moment when our democratic institutions, free speech, and the truth itself are under assault, these goals are urgent.  

This summer, we will again honor two outstanding reviewers, chosen among ten exceptional finalists, for excellence in book reviewing. We welcome and will give priority to reviews on works of politics, public affairs, history, and biography—the subjects Kukula was most passionate about. Entries will be judged by an independent panel of judges comprising veteran journalists, authors, and editors, on their:  

• Clear and artful exposition;   
• Original and persuasive thesis; and 
• Ability to enlighten readers with new and valuable information. 

The winners will each receive a $1,000 honorarium. 

More About the Kukula Award 

The Kukula Award is the only journalism prize dedicated to book reviewing of public affairs-focused nonfiction books. The award was the subject of a feature story on C-SPAN’s About Books program in 2024. 

Past top prize winners have reviewed books for a wide range of print and broadcast media outlets. Their exemplary reviews often illuminate core issues of our times:   

In 2025: 

• Ian Johnson, in The New York Review of Books, for his review of “I Have No Enemies: The Life and Legacy of Liu Xiaobo,” by Wu Dazhi and Perry Link. 

• Christoph Irmscher, in CounterPunch, for his review of “Stolen Pride: Loss, Shame, and the Rise of the Right,” by Arlie Hochschild. 

In 2024: 

• Helen Lewis, in The Atlantic, for her review of “Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon,” by Michael Lewis. 

• Yangyang Cheng, in The Nation, for her review of two books about China and ethnic oppression of the Uyghur population, “The Backstreets” by Perhat Tursun and “Terror Capitalism,” by Darren Byler. 

In 2023: 

• Maureen Corrigan, on National Public Radio’s Fresh Air, for her regular short-form commentary, such as her review of “The Facemaker,” by Lindsey Fitzharris. 

• Zephyr Teachout, in the New York Review of Books, for her review of four recent books exploring intertwined themes of employees’ rights, surveillance of workers, artificial intelligence, and COVID. 

In 2022: 

• Laura Miller, in Slate, for her review of “Lucky,” by Alice Sebold.  

• Aidan Forth, in The Los Angeles Review of Books, for his review of two books on human rights abuses by the Chinese government, by Darren Byler.  

In 2021: 

• Carlos Lozada, in The Washington Post, for his review of “White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism,” by Robin DiAngelo. 
• Sophie Haigney, in High Country News, for her review of “Yellow Bird: Oil, Murder, and a Woman’s Search for Justice in Indian Country,” by Sierra Crane Murdoch. 

In 2020: 

• Casey Cep, in The New Yorker, for her review of “Black Radical: The Life and Times of William Monroe Trotter,” by Kerri Greenidge.  
• Boris Dralyuk, in The Los Angeles Review of Books, for his review of “Stalin’s Scribe: Literature, Ambition, and Survival: The Life of Mikhail Sholokhov,” by Brian Boeck.  

About Kukula Kapoor Glastris 

The beloved and brilliant books editor of the Washington Monthly, Kukula (“Kuku” to her legions of friends and fans) made the book review section the home of some of the magazine’s best thinking and writing.  

A keen editor and diplomatic manager of writers, she served as den mother and provisioner of delicious late-night home cooked meals to a generation of young Monthly journalists. “I’ve never met anyone whose combination of personal goodness, plus intellectual and professional abilities, exceeded Kukula’s,” journalist James Fallows wrote at The Atlantic. 

Born in Tibet to an Indian diplomat who helped the Dalai Lama escape and then took the same route himself—on horseback over the Himalayas—with his family, including his two-year-old daughter, Kuku spent her childhood in India, Senegal, Syria, Germany and Switzerland, before moving to the United States to attend Indiana University. Over a wide-ranging career, Kuku was a TV talk-show producer in Chicago, a staffer at Ralph Nader’s Center for the Study of Responsive Law in Washington, and a reporter in the Chicago bureau of U.S. News & World Report. 

Married 31 years to her life partner and best friend, Paul Glastris, Editor in Chief of the Washington Monthly, she viewed their children, Hope and Adam, as her greatest accomplishments. 

Kukula died in August 2017 at age 59 of Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome. To honor her remarkable legacy, her family, friends, and colleagues contributed to a memorial fund that supports this book award. To learn more about Kukula’s life, please see Kuku: A Love Story.