The winners of this year’s Working-Class Studies Association Awards are here! From documentary film to academic writing to creative writing, all work eligible for awards consideration was published or completed in 2024.

And the Winners Are:

• The Studs Terkel Award, for single published articles or series, broadcast media, multimedia, and film in media and journalism: Gretchen Purser and Franklin Thompson for Raise the Roof: Building Tenants Power in Syracuse (documentary film)
• The Jake Ryan and Charles Sackrey Award, for books by writer(s) of working-class origins that speak to issues of the working-class experience in academia: Teresa Crew for The Intersections of a Working-Class Academic Identity: A Class Apart (a free open-access book)
• The Constance Coiner Award, for completed dissertations: Emily Coccia for “Workingwomen and Pleasured Reading: Nineteenth-Century Sensation Fiction and the Formation of Queer Readers”
• The Tillie Olsen Award for Creative Writing, for published books of poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction and other genres: Tim Hernandez for They Call You Back (memoir)
• The C.L.R. James Award, for published books for academic or general audiences: Patrick McKelvey for Disability Works: Performance After Rehabilitation
• The Russo & Linkon Award, for published articles or essays for academic or general audiences: David Flood for “Fence Me In: Categorization, Whiteness, and Class Identity Politics in the United States”

Judges

Special thanks, also, to the fantastic judges tasked with choosing the winners from among many fine nominees: Claude Taylor, David Roediger, Maria Diosa Labiste, Renny Christopher, Julie Assouly, Cherie Madigan, Sherry Lee Linkon, Hakim Bellamy, Jeffrey Cabusao, Owen Clayton, Tracy Vargas, Mallorie Watts, Miranda Mosier-Puentes, Lisa Kirby, Jamie Owen Daniel, Jackie Gabriel, Asia Muhammad, Jack Metzgar, and Veena Hampapur.

Press Release

Read the press release that documents the 2025 winners and includes comments from the judges: 2025 Awards Press Release