I am delighted to announce the 2020 winners of the Victor Turner Prize in Ethnographic Writing and the new Edie Turner First Book Prize in Ethnographic Writing. Despite the pandemic, there were no less than 87 entries, which is a new record high. There was no overlap between the awards (no one received both), though every first book was eligible for both awards.
Books were judged on their quality of writing, depth of engagement with the material, and contribution to the field of humanistic anthropology and ethnographic genres. The Committee found the level of writing exceptional, which Victor and Edie Turner would have been very pleased with.
Committee Members were:
- Julia Offen
- Chandra Bhimull
- Ieva Jusionyte
- Ruth Toulson
Helena Wulff, President of the Society for Humanistic Anthropology
Victor Turner Prize in Ethnographic Writing (past winners)
1st Prize
Sarah E. Wagner
What Remains: Bringing America’s Missing Home from the Vietnam War (Harvard University Press, 2019)
2nd Prize
Charles Piot
The Fixer (Duke University Press, 2019)
3rd Prize
Rebecca J. Lester
Famished: Eating Disorders and Failed Care in America (University of California Press, 2019)
Honorable Mention
Jason Pine
The Alchemy of Meth: A Decomposition (University of Minnesota Press, 2019)
Honorable Mention
Dána-Ain Davis
Reproductive Injustice: Racism, Pregnancy, and Premature Birth (NYU Press, 2019)
Edie Turner First Book Prize in Ethnographic Writing
(co-winners)
Sarah S. Willen
Fighting for Dignity: Migrant Lives at Israel’s Margins (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2019)
Rebecca Louise Carter
Prayers for the People: Homicide and Humanity in the Crescent City (University of Chicago Press, 2019)
