Baruch students who are taking a journalism class or who have taken one in the past are invited to compete for cash prizes by entering the “What Is Home?” essay contest.
“We have spent a lot of time at home these past two years and our relationship with our living spaces has changed,” write the contest judges, Professors Bridgett Davis and Gisele Regatao. “We now know there are many ways to transform or reimagine our homes. But home is not only a physical space; there are also many ways to think of home. We are inviting students to write personal essays related to how their concept of home has changed. Is your home a place where you feel trapped? Or liberated? Or crowded? Or protected? What is home for you?”
Students may submit one personal essay of creative nonfiction, 600-800 words, by midnight, April 5, to [email protected] and [email protected]. Do not include your name on the entry; attach a separate cover letter with your name, email address, and cell.
Contest prizes are $1,500 for first place, $1,000 for second place, $500 for third place, and $200 for honorable mention. The contest is funded by the Shulman Family Fund. This is the second year for the essay contest, which was the brainchild of Baruch alumnus David Shulman ’64. He was inspired to encourage students to write about their experiences after reading Davis’ memoir The World According to Fannie Davis.
“When I was growing up, my home held a secret: my mother’s vocation as a number-runner,” Davis said in announcing the contest. “Our house was her workplace, which made my home a place of brisk activity as well as daily tension. Yet home was also a refuge from an outside world that might judge us, and so I also found solace and protection within its walls. Writing about my beloved home in The World According to Fannie Davis was revelatory and cathartic. That’s why I’m so pleased that my memoir inspired a Baruch alum to fund this competition for a second year.”
Winners will be invited to participate in a reading in May.
