This semester, the School of Languages, Cultures, and Race will hold its second annual creative writing contest with the prompt, “La Felicidad en 100 Palabras.” 

Happiness in 100 words.

Each participant must be enrolled in at least 1 Spanish course, and submissions must be in Spanish. 

The submissions will be placed into 3 categories: 100- and 200- level Spanish, 300-level Spanish and 400-level Spanish. Each section will be blind judged by different professors in the school of language, and everyone is encouraged to submit their work. 

Vilma Navarro-Daniels, professor in the SLCR and creator of the competition, said that she is excited to see all the submissions. She said her favorite part during the last competition was reading every submission before it went on to the judging section.

The competition is not looking for an academic essay that defines the notion of happiness but rather a personal depiction of what it means, according to the flyer.

The flyer gave some questions to help the writing process along: 

When were you happy for the very first time? 

How has this memory marked your life? 

How has it shaped your idea of happiness afterward? 

Perhaps you are thinking of what made someone else happy: A friend, a pet, a grandparent, or a stranger who crossed your path and you never saw again.

Get creative and tell a story about what happiness looks like to you.

Submissions are due at 11:59 p.m. on Mar. 7 and can be addressed to Vilma Navarro-Daniels at [email protected].

Letters communicating the results of the competition will be sent via email by April 8, and according to the flyer, the first-place winning story in each category will be published bilingually in the Daily Evergreen. 

Additionally, first-place winners will receive a book, an SLCR T-shirt, and a representative gift of a Hispanic country and/or culture. Second and third place winners will receive a diploma and SLCR memorabilia.

All three winners in each category (nine total) will also be honored at the SLCR Virtual Award Ceremony on April 18. 

“We are calling for submissions of all sorts of stories, styles and approaches: intimate, philosophical, science fiction, memory tale, humorous, (auto)biographical, testimonial, among others,” Navarro-Daniels wrote in the contest flyer. 

In the future, the SLCR hopes to keep this competition as an annual event, Navarro-Daniels said. She said this is an opportunity for everyone to make beautiful things in Spanish.