Lukas Prizes Honor Books on Homelessness, US Census, and Ancient India

Annual awards recognize literary excellence and social impact across diverse topics

Mar. 17, 2026 at 1:03pm

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The J. Anthony Lukas Project has announced the winners of its prestigious book prizes, honoring works that explore issues of homelessness, the US Census, and the history of ancient India. The Lukas Book Prize of $10,000 went to Jeff Hobbs' "Seeking Shelter: A Working Mother, Her Children, and a Story of Homelessness in America", while the Mark Lynton Prize for History was awarded to William Dalrymple's "The Golden Road: How Ancient India Transformed the World". The Lukas Work-in-Progress Awards of $25,000 each were given to danah boyd for "Data Are Made, Not Found: A Story of Politics, Power, and the Civil Servants Who Saved the U.S. Census" and Karim Zidan for "In the Shadow of the Cage".

Why it matters

The Lukas Prizes are highly prestigious awards that recognize literary excellence and social impact in non-fiction writing. The diverse range of topics honored this year - from homelessness to the US Census to ancient Indian history - underscores the prizes' commitment to spotlighting important issues and stories that deserve greater attention.

The details

The Lukas prizes, established in 1998, are administered by the Columbia Journalism School and the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University. The Lukas Book Prize of $10,000 is awarded for works that exhibit "literary grace, commitment to serious research and social concern". The Mark Lynton Prize for History, also $10,000, recognizes similar qualities in historical non-fiction. The Lukas Work-in-Progress Awards of $25,000 each support authors currently working on impactful non-fiction projects.

  • The winners were announced on March 17, 2026.

The players

Jeff Hobbs

Author of "Seeking Shelter: A Working Mother, Her Children, and a Story of Homelessness in America", winner of the Lukas Book Prize.

William Dalrymple

Author of "The Golden Road: How Ancient India Transformed the World", winner of the Mark Lynton Prize for History.

danah boyd

Author of "Data Are Made, Not Found: A Story of Politics, Power, and the Civil Servants Who Saved the U.S. Census", winner of a Lukas Work-in-Progress Award.

Karim Zidan

Author of "In the Shadow of the Cage", winner of a Lukas Work-in-Progress Award.

J. Anthony Lukas

Late author and investigative journalist, for whom the Lukas Prizes are named.

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The takeaway

The Lukas Prizes continue to elevate works of non-fiction that not only demonstrate literary merit, but also tackle important social issues and historical narratives. This year's winners cover a wide range of impactful topics, underscoring the prizes' commitment to recognizing writing that informs, inspires, and drives meaningful change.