Accomplished Contributors

The editors take great pleasure in recognizing three contributors to Harvard Magazine during the past year, awarding each $1,000 for their...

The editors take great pleasure in recognizing three contributors to Harvard Magazine during the past year, awarding each $1,000 for their distinguished service to readers.

Adam Kirsch
Courtesy Adam Kirsch
Serge Bloch
Courtesy Serge Bloch

The McCord Writing Prize, named for David T.W. McCord '21, A.M. '22, L.H.D. '56, recalls the lively prose and verse he wrote at this magazine and at the Harvard College Fund. This year's prize honors contributing editor Adam Kirsch '97, book critic of the New York Sun and author of the forthcoming book The Wounded Surgeon, a study of modern American poetry, for "The Brahmin Rebel" (May-June) and "The Hack as Genius" (November-December). Kirsch's fluidly crafted essay-reports, on Robert Lowell and Dr. Samuel Johnson, respectively, set a very high standard for absorbing, informative, and engaging assessments of these towering figures in American and English letters.

Illustrator Serge Bloch created a memorably simple and humorous cover and accompanying art for the March-April feature on exercise. It takes great discipline and vision to achieve such clarity and wit; we look forward to presenting more of Bloch's work in future issues.

Jim Harrison
Photograph by Jennifer Beaumont

It seems inescapable, and entirely fitting, that we again cite contributing editor Jim Harrison for his photography for the magazine. As he has done so often in the past, Harrison created compelling portraits for the May-June feature on diet and nutrition, and completed countless other assignments with a fresh and vivid eye. He does so again in this issue, in the feature on nanoscience (see "Thinking Small").

 

Most popular

Social Media Use and Adult Depression

A survey reveals suprising links between social media use and depression in adults.

In 2004, a frenzy spread across Harvard Yard in days. Four billion users later, we are only just catching up.

All That’s Unseen charts the Harvard graduate’s uneasy journey from Appalachia to Cambridge and back.  

Explore More From Current Issue

A flooded office scene with computers, a woman working, and a pink sunset backdrop.

A College student’s attempt to recapture the romanticism of the workplace.

Modern building with large glass windows, surrounded by greenery and pedestrians.

A roundup of University news from the summer of 2026

A busy classroom filled with students working at computers, colorful decor, and a bright atmosphere.

In 2004, a frenzy spread across Harvard Yard in days. Four billion users later, we are only just catching up.