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Dianne Jacob, Will Write For Food

Dianne Jacob, Will Write For Food

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On Writing an Award-Winning Essay

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dianne-jacob-mangoes

Can you tell that I still love mangoes, the subject of my essay? My local supermarket stocks succulent Atulfos, similar to the ones my dad adored. (Photo by Owen Rubin.)

You might think that writers who win awards have natural talent and dash off their stories in an afternoon. That’s the stereotype. Yes, a story I wrote called The Meaning of Mangoes won two national awards! But I didn’t dash it off, and it took me forever.

Here’s the path of my mango essay and what I learned:

Sixteen years ago, I wrote a piece about my parents and mangoes. A start-up website published it. It happened because I sat next to a woman during an International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) conference, and told her a few stories. The next day she [Read more…] about On Writing an Award-Winning Essay

Best Food Writing, Not by Bloggers

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IACP awards ceremony (Photo courtesy IACP/Facebook.)

Thanks to the web, most of the nominated pieces for this years’ prestigious food writing awards are online to read. So pull up a chair and dip into 2015’s best food writing, according to judges for the James Beard Journalism Awards and the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) food writing awards.

Two things about food bloggers I noticed in the awards categories:

  1. It’s not news, but it still bugs me. The non-cookbook awards are about journalism and traditional writing. Bloggers are nominated only in [Read more…] about Best Food Writing, Not by Bloggers

Is Your Food Blog Good Enough for a Beard Award?

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Beard-logo2A little birdie emailed last week to say she was upset about a change in the James Beard Foundation’s Food Blog awards, which combined two food blog awards into one this year.

To understand the shift, here are the old categories from 2015:

Individual Food Blog: Recognizes individual enterprise and excellence in a single food-or drink-related blog that is the product of one or two primary voices. An entry consists of five links that best represent the quality of the work.

Group Food Blog: Recognizes group enterprise and excellence in an episodic, real-time food-or drink-related blog [Read more…] about Is Your Food Blog Good Enough for a Beard Award?

What Kind of Writing Wins a Beard Award?

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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 [Read more…] about What Kind of Writing Wins a Beard Award?

Who Won 2013 Beard Journalism Awards and Why

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When the James Beard Foundation awards unfurled recently, I watched the live Twitter stream from home on the other coast in California, just to be part of the excitement. It’s fun to see who won, who lost, and read about the drama (mostly about chefs, because apparently writers aren’t that exciting).

Then I read most of the pieces that won, because I always like to read what judges think is the best writing out there (or at least, the best of what was submitted.)

If you have time, I suggest you do the same. In the old days, we’d have to buy many magazines. Now we can read most of the articles online and learn why they won. I put in the links below, not just to the stories, but sometimes to the writers so you can learn [Read more…] about Who Won 2013 Beard Journalism Awards and Why

Get Out Your Best Food Writing and Apply

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You’ve thought about entering. You mean to apply. But somehow the deadline goes by and you haven’t sent in your best stuff.

This year will be different, because I’m giving you lots of notice. The deadline to send your best pieces of writing to The Best Food Writing anthology for 2013 is May 1, 2013. Your writing must have been published between June 1, 2012, and May 31, 2013. (If your piece will appear after May 1, email editor Holly Hughes, at best.food@perseusbooks.com to warn her it’s coming.)

So think about it. Sift through your work to see what stands out and what has relevance for a wide audience. Hughes considers book excerpts, articles and blog posts. She has published The Best Food Writing collection since [Read more…] about Get Out Your Best Food Writing and Apply

9 James Beard Award-Winning Stories, and Why They Won

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By now you’ve seen the announcements for the Oscars of food writing, the James Beard Awards for books, broadcast and journalism.

But have you read the pieces that won over the judges? I thought not.

I tracked down a handful of feature stories and explain why this is food writing at its finest. Here’s what it takes to win an award of this caliber, with links to writers so you can investigate who won as well:

1. Cooking, Recipes, or Instruction: Anna Thomas, Eating Well, for “The Soup for Life”

Here’s a sensuous look at how Thomas concocted recipes for green soups for her most recent cookbook, Love Soup. Her writing is full of action verbs (“a bitter wind was swatting down the last damp leaves”), evocative writing (“onions, slowly sizzling in the skillet, turned the color of [Read more…] about 9 James Beard Award-Winning Stories, and Why They Won