Left to right: Angela Olinto, Provost, Columbia University; Gita Manaktala, Executive Director, Columbia University Press; Rachel Adams, Professor of English and Comparative Literature, Columbia University; Ann Thornton, Vice Provost and University Librarian, Columbia University; Jennifer Crewe.
Photo credit: Janelle Gonzalez
Columbia University Press, in conjunction with the Office of the Provost, is pleased to announce that Love, Money, Duty: Stories of Care in Our Times by Rachel Adams is the winner of the 2026 Jennifer Crewe Distinguished Book Award.
Rachel Adams is Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University.
The Jennifer Crewe Distinguished Book Award is given to the Columbia University faculty member whose book published by the Press in the year prior brings the highest distinction to Columbia University and Columbia University Press, for its outstanding contribution to academic and public discourse. The winner is selected by the Distinguished Book Award jury, composed of current members of the Press’s Faculty Publication Committee. Previously named the Columbia University Press Distinguished Book Award, this honor was renamed for former Press director Jennifer Crewe in 2026 upon her retirement, to recognize the values she championed throughout her career.
The members of this year’s jury were Professor Manan Ahmed, Professor Jaime Lester, Professor Yannik Thiem, and Professor Rae Silver, chair of the committee.
A ceremony to honor the winner of the 2026 Jennifer Crewe Distinguished Book Award was held on October 28 at the Italian Academy at Columbia University. The author of the winning book received a plaque along with a cash award of $10,000.
In his remarks on Love, Money, Duty, Philip Leventhal, executive editor, Columbia University Press, said, “Beyond being a beautifully written work of literary and cultural criticism that expertly draws on queer theory, moral philosophy, and disability studies, this is also a book of social urgency. It presents an important critique of our very flawed contemporary system of care while illuminating how various artists and individuals grapple with caregiving themselves. In this sense, the book shows not only how caregiving is personal and intimate but also that it’s a form of work and labor, and implicated in a system that reinforces, often quite cruelly, certain gender and racial expectations about who ends up being caregivers and how people are cared for.”
See the Columbia University Press website for more information about the award and a list of past winners.
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For more than 130 years, Columbia University Press has published award-winning and widely reviewed works that deepen understanding, advance research, and inform public debate. As a vital extension of the University, the Press serves as an outward-facing expression of Columbia’s academic excellence, research mission, and global impact. For more information, see the Columbia University Press website.
