We’re proud to announce that Escape Collective editor-at-large Kate Wagner’s piece “Behind F1’s Velvet Curtain” has won a Walter & Lillian Lowenfels Criticism Award, bestowed as part of the American Book Awards by the Before Columbus Foundation.
Kate’s piece ran on Escape in March of this year and proved to be one of our most read (and commented upon) pieces of 2024.
The piece was commissioned and originally posted, briefly, on the website of Road & Track magazine. As reported by Defector, Road & Track’s editor in chief, Daniel Pund, pulled the story after it published “because I felt it was the wrong story for our publication.” The highly unusual decision to delete, after publication, a story with no known or even alleged factual errors was immediately controversial, sparking coverage in The Washington Post and other outlets.
After successful negotiations with Hearst, Road & Track‘s publisher (and with Kate’s approval, of course), Escape secured rights to republish the story – which is as much about bike racing as motor racing and specifically calls out many parallels and contrasts between the sports – in its entirety. I’m glad we did. (It should be noted that Kate’s story editors at Road & Track also deserve their flowers for this award, as they did the unsung work of originally commissioning, guiding and editing the piece.)
Our decision to publish any piece of criticism is rooted in Escape’s commitment to fostering meaningful discussion. Kate’s piece sparked debate and drew both praise and criticism, as any piece up for a criticism award probably should (it also had a 90% “excellent” rating via the little votes at the bottom of our stories, it’s worth mentioning). Without seeking to make any holier-than-thou proclamations, I do believe our role as a media outlet is not only to inform but also to challenge and provoke thought. Critical writing, by its very nature, often elicits strong and varied responses, and the discussions arising from this article – both supportive of it and not – demonstrate its relevance and impact.
Kate is a phenomenal writer with a unique view of the world, one that I feel enlightens me every time I am lucky enough to read or edit one of her stories. I’m incredibly pleased that the American Book Awards have seen the same in her work, and we couldn’t be prouder to have Kate’s work on the site. I hope you’ll join me in congratulating her on this achievement.
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