Department of Germanic Languages & Literatures University of Toronto
John Zilcosky, a professor in the Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures and the Centre for Comparative Literature at the University of Toronto, has been awarded the 2025 Best Article Prize by the Journal of Sport History for his article “Wrestling with My Father.”
The Journal of Sport History (JSH) promotes the study of the historical, social, and cultural dimensions of sport. The Best Article Prize recognizes outstanding scholarship published in the field and highlights Professor Zilcosky’s innovative, interdisciplinary, and deeply reflective contribution to the discipline.
At the annual North American Society for Sport History (NASSH) conference in Austin, Texas, Professor Daniel Nathan, editor of the JSH, offered the following laudation:
The Journal of Sport History is pleased and proud to announce that the best article of 2025 is “Wrestling with My Father,” by John Zilcosky of the University of Toronto. A poignant, multi-layered meditation on a dysfunctional father-son relationship, Zilcosky’s essay is rigorous, creative, and, in the end, hopeful. It’s a compelling fusion of mythology, the Bible, literature, art, sport, history, and memoir. Zilcosky’s work is deeply personal, interdisciplinary, erudite, and signals the JSH’s embrace of bold originality and fresh creative possibilities.
