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What Kind of Writing Wins a Beard Award?

May 6, 2014 by diannejacob 36 Comments

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James-Beard-Medallion-300x255What I like about The James Beard awards, called “the Oscars of food writing,” is that I can find most of the journalism award-winning pieces online.

I want to soak up their brilliance. I also know I will be a little envious. That’s okay. Reading them gives me ideas for my own writing.

These essays will make you laugh, amaze you, make you nod in recognition, make you outraged — all emotions generated by skilled writers (and their editors). They are worth my time, and yours.

Just so you know, judges can only judge the entries. We don’t go out and look for work that might win. So if you don’t enter, you can’t win. (I am a book judge and a past judge for the Bert Greene Awards for IACP.)

Here, for your reading pleasure, are most of the journalism award winners. Enjoy the fine writing at your leisure. Look up all the James Beard winners here, for cookbooks and videos.

1. Journalism

  • The Star of Siam, by Andy Ricker, in Saveur
  • Alan Richman Walks into a Jewish Deli, by Alan Richman, in GQ
  • America, Your Food is so Gay, by John Birdsall, in Lucky Peach (reprinted on his Tumblr blog)
  • Lunch at 8500 Feet, by Nick Paumgarten, Bon Appetit
  • Off Duty section, by Beth Kracklauer, The Wall Street Journal 
  • Too Much of Too Little, by Eli Saslow, The Washington Post
  • The Obsessivore column, by Adam Sachs, Bon Appetit
  • The Whole-Grain, Reduced-Fat, Zero-Calorie, High-Fiber, Lightly Sweetened Truth about Food Labels, by Rachel Moeller Gorman, Eating Well
  • On the Trail with Wylie, by Lia Hanawalt, Lucky Peach
  • I Placed a Jar in Tennessee, by John Jeremiah Sullivan, Lucky Peach
  • Dick Soup, by Fuschia Dunlop, Lucky Peach
  • A Day on Long Island with Alex Lee, by Francis Lam, Lucky Peach
  • 40 Ounces to Freedom, by Besha Rodell, Punch

2. Blogs

  • Homesick Texan, Lisa Fain, Individual Food Blog
  • First We Feast, Group Blog

3. Publications

  • Civil Eats, Publication of the Year (but it’s a website?)
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Filed Under: Awards, Writing Tagged With: Best Food Blogs, Best Food Writing, Food blogging, food writing, James Beard Awards

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Alice Dishes says

    May 6, 2014 at 3:31 pm

    Great post – can’t wait to tuck into these stories!

    Reply
    • diannejacob says

      May 6, 2014 at 8:24 pm

      Thanks Alice. There’s lots to dig into here.

      Reply
  2. Lizthechef says

    May 6, 2014 at 5:37 pm

    Yes, very inspiring – thank you for posting, Dianne. I ended up feeling, “Well, maybe I can do this too.”

    Reply
    • diannejacob says

      May 6, 2014 at 8:24 pm

      Maybe you can, Liz. Why not think positive!

      Reply
  3. Eric Roberg says

    May 6, 2014 at 6:20 pm

    Wow, I didn’t realize Lisa Fain had won a James Beard award. That doesn’t surprise me at all and makes me SO very proud of her. Lisa’s blog is was life changing for me, and is what made me want to be able to tell stories like hers about my own loved ones. Thanks, Dianne! Priceless post, as always. I love your special little place on the web. 🙂

    Reply
    • diannejacob says

      May 6, 2014 at 8:24 pm

      Isn’t that fantastic? Yes, richly deserved.

      Thanks for being such a fan, Eric, and writing such nice comments.

      Reply
  4. Michael Procopio says

    May 6, 2014 at 6:37 pm

    Remind me to tell you what kind of writing loses James Beard Awards…

    (Actually, I was screaming loudly for Lisa when she won. And Francis. And John. And a lot of other people.)

    Reply
    • diannejacob says

      May 6, 2014 at 8:23 pm

      Ah, right. Sorry about that. The finalists can sometimes lose by just a hair. That probably doesn’t console you at all.

      Reply
      • The Water Is Smiling says

        May 7, 2014 at 7:23 am

        It probably also doesn’t console you Michael that it is such an accomplishment to be in the running for a JB award. My opinion is that your writing is superb and win-worthy. Thank you Dianne for providing the list so we can personally judge them against Michael’s writing 🙂 And be inspired by all.

        Reply
        • diannejacob says

          May 7, 2014 at 11:31 am

          Hah! Go for it.

          Reply
      • Michael Procopio says

        May 7, 2014 at 8:19 am

        Actually, I need no consolation. I really didn’t care about winning– I’ve had such a great year already. I spent the rest of the evening with Lisa, basking in her glow.

        Besides, it’s a good thing I didn’t win– I don’t want to peak too early.

        Reply
  5. Michelle Sherman says

    May 7, 2014 at 4:41 am

    Thank you for putting all of articles in one place. Looking forward to learning from these great writers.

    Reply
    • diannejacob says

      May 7, 2014 at 6:58 am

      My pleasure, Michelle. Happy reading.

      Reply
  6. Marge Perry says

    May 7, 2014 at 4:46 am

    So helpful to have all the links together, thank you, Dianne! And Michael, I’m sorry you didn’t win. For what it’s worth, I think you are a terrific writer. So, apparently, do the many other folks who read your blog, and the judges who nominated you.

    Reply
    • diannejacob says

      May 7, 2014 at 7:00 am

      Marge, it was my pleasure. I’m with you about Michael. He has been nominated a few times for both Beard and IACP. It’s only a matter of time.

      Reply
    • Michael Procopio says

      May 7, 2014 at 9:03 am

      Thanks a lovely thing to say, Thank you. And I did not mean to steer this conversation towards me. I was just having a spot of fun.

      I’m seriously delighted for the winners, many of whom are friends of mine. My voice was hoarse from yelling at the awards.

      Reply
  7. Kelly von Hemert says

    May 7, 2014 at 5:04 am

    Hi Dianne,
    Congrats to you on being a judge! How exciting. Winning a James Beard Award is one of my goals, and although I didn’t win this year, I entered for the first time. Like you said, you can’t win if you don’t play! Congratulations to all the winners! I have won in my local press club awards, and while maybe not as heady a feeling, the result is the same the next day: the award goes on the shelf and the writer goes back to the craft, which is the real award. Thanks for the great post. Looking forward to reading!

    Reply
    • diannejacob says

      May 7, 2014 at 7:02 am

      Thank you. I had been an IACP judge before Beard so I was pretty clear on the procedure. I judge books, rather than journalism. This year I had 37. There can be only 5 finalists.

      It is wonderful to win. I have a few awards in my office and I notice them every once in a while. But you’re right, most of my time, my head is down, buried in work that I enjoy.

      Reply
  8. Wendy Read says

    May 7, 2014 at 5:52 am

    Loved reading I placed a jar in Tennessee–thanks so much for taking the time to post those up, great reads!

    Reply
  9. Liz Rueven says

    May 7, 2014 at 6:15 am

    I’d like to take a couple of days off and hunker down to do nothing else but savor these enticing pieces. Thanks for rounding it all up in one place for our convenience.
    Let the reading begin!

    Reply
  10. Greg Patent says

    May 7, 2014 at 8:11 am

    Thanks much for posting the Beard-winning food stories, especially Francis Lam’s Lucky Peach piece, “A Day on Long Island with Alex Lee.” I met Alex Lee at Daniel when he was the executive chef there in 2003. I had just won the Beard Award and Corby Kummer, who happened to be dining at Daniel that evening, introduced me to Daniel. After Dinner, Daniel took us on a tour of the kitchen and introduced me to Alex Lee. Alex told me how much he liked Baking in America and that he was baking several recipes from the book. How in the world could he have the time to do that, I wondered. What I remember most about him was his kindness and absolute love and devotion to his craft. How refreshing to see how Alex has nurtured himself and everyone else around him since leaving Daniel.

    Reply
    • diannejacob says

      May 7, 2014 at 1:47 pm

      I love this story, Greg. And I love Francis Lam’s story too! Thanks for taking the time to comment.

      Reply
  11. Lizzy (Good Things) says

    May 7, 2014 at 4:17 pm

    Hi Dianne, thank you from a food writer Downunder for sharing this list of award winning writing. Much appreciated. Now to dip in…

    Reply
    • diannejacob says

      May 8, 2014 at 8:34 am

      You’re welcome Lizzy. I know you will enjoy them.

      Reply
  12. Maureen says

    May 7, 2014 at 7:22 pm

    Thank you, thank you, thank you. As always – you are a gem.

    Reply
    • diannejacob says

      May 8, 2014 at 8:35 am

      You’re welcome, Maureen. Now, on to the reading…

      Reply
  13. Sally - My Custard Pie says

    May 7, 2014 at 8:41 pm

    Still reeling from the brilliant writing and subject matter of Dick Soup. Fuscia Dunlop’s writing is riveting.

    Reply
    • diannejacob says

      May 8, 2014 at 8:37 am

      Yes, I loved that piece and linked to it when I did the interview with one of the editors of Lucky Peach. I have her books too.

      Reply
  14. Halona Black says

    May 8, 2014 at 4:20 am

    I had no idea that you had to enter in order to win. Thanks for that information!

    Reply
    • diannejacob says

      May 8, 2014 at 11:28 am

      Sure! No reason why you would know, Halona. The IACP awards work that way too.

      Reply
  15. Maria says

    May 10, 2014 at 1:43 pm

    Dianne, thank you very much for collecting these winning pieces and posting them all here. What a treasure chest this post is!

    Reply
    • diannejacob says

      May 12, 2014 at 9:18 am

      You are welcome Maria. I hope you enjoy them.

      Reply
  16. Susan Cooper says

    May 12, 2014 at 12:59 pm

    Great post! Can’t wait to check these all out.

    Reply
    • diannejacob says

      May 13, 2014 at 3:35 pm

      Thanks Susan. Happy reading.

      Reply
  17. ambradambra says

    May 15, 2014 at 1:14 am

    Thanks for this winners’ list. Now that I’ve been truly spooked by the images in Fuschia Dunlop’s story ‘Dick Soup’, I’ll take a deep breath and continue with the others. I’m prepared for anything now.

    Reply
    • diannejacob says

      May 16, 2014 at 6:01 am

      Hah! That was a bracing story, indeed. It shows how a great writer with deep knowledge of a subject no one else wants to tackle can be very successful.

      Reply

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