In The Shadow of the Cage shortlisted for prize
My debut book has been shortlisted for the 2026 J. Anthony Lukas Work-in-Progress Prize.
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Dear readers,
It has been a while since I last updated you about In The Shadow of the Cage, the book I’ve been working on, and which has consumed nearly all of my time, energy, and no small measure of my soul.
Part memoir, part investigative excavation of the underbelly of MMA, the book tells the story of how political operators have captured mixed martial arts and turned it into a tool to radicalize young people toward a mindset that centers individualism and survival of the fittest while shirking empathy.
The book will expand upon much of my reporting over the past decade—reporting that earned me death threats for exposing how Chechen dictator Ramzan Kadyrov used state-sponsored MMA gyms to train soldiers for combat; reporting that uncovered the rise of an international network of neo-Nazi MMA fight clubs preying on disaffected young men; reporting that revealed the growing influence of Gulf state autocrats within the sport, tracing how MMA has become a powerful tool for political agendas, propaganda, and control.
Now, after eight months of sustained writing, I’m finally approaching the finish line of my 80,000-word manuscript. What will follow is months of editing, rewriting, and then some more editing and rewriting. And though there are moments when it feels as if this process will never truly end, I recently received some exciting news that has given me a renewed surge of motivation: In The Shadow of the Cage has been shortlisted for the prestigious J. Anthony Lukas Work-in-Progress Prize.
The awards are given annually to “aid authors in the completion of significant works of nonfiction on American topics of political or social concern.” The award is presented by Columbia Journalism School and the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University.
Here are the shortlisted works:
Bryce Andrews, Seaworthy (W.W. Norton)
danah boyd, Data Are Made, Not Found: A Story of Politics, Power, and the Civil Servants Who Saved the U.S. Census (University of Chicago Press)
Esmé E. Deprez, Inviting Death In: How I Helped My Dad Die, and the Fight to Control How Life Ends (Atria)
Sarah Esther Maslin, Nothing Stays Buried: Trauma, Truth, and One Town’s Fight for Justice in the Aftermath of a Massacre (Spiegel & Grau)
Karim Zidan, In the Shadow of the Cage (One Signal)
The winners and finalists will be announced on Tuesday, March 17, while the awards will be presented at a ceremony at Columbia University in May 2026.
You can read the full announcement here. In the meantime, expect more updates about the book over the coming weeks!
-Karim
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Congratulations on this great honor, and I can't wait to read your book on this AFAIK little-discussed subject -- certainly to the general reading public.
Congratulations Karim, much deserved