These young authors and artists have once again made usually unseen work visible with their imaginative and thoughtful essays, poetry and visual art. Their efforts fulfill the goal of this CUNY/LaborArts contest—to expand student thinking about labor history, and to provide opportunities to make links between individual lived experience and larger social issues.

Now in its eighth year, the contest is open to all CUNY undergraduates. Entries are judged according to originality, content and style. Student writers and artists draw upon history, their close observation of the world around them, and a wealth of first hand experiences to link their work to the spirit of labor arts. Every year professors judging the contest reflect on the value of providing opportunities for the students to seriously interrogate their own life experiences and that of those around them.

A snippet from Grayson Wolf’s “Synoptic”:

It was our daylight bodies dressed in yesterday’s clothing
stepping into the bone-clean morning to reports of Orlando, Paris, Nice.

Weather reports, financial reports as him and her walked freshly to work.

It was one day falling over into the next like river dreck adrift in the newsfeed
buttered rolls and coffee – light and sweet / light and sweet.

An excerpt from Jasmine Toledo’s essay “Documenting the Undocumented Worker: Case Studies in the Latin@ Experience”:

The reality of the immigrant story is that most do not intend to stay. No matter what violence or destitution they faced in their home countries, they plan to acquire capital in the United States and then return home. One trend throughout my interviews is that these Latin@ immigrants all had a five-year plan. Year one would consist of making connections, finding a job, finding a place to live, and learning English. Year two and three would consist of working full-time job(s) in order to support themselves or members of their families all while saving and sending money back home. Year four and five would consist of saving more money and gathering things they have accumulated to take back home.

Read them all—each work will affect you in some way—you’ll learn something, be inspired, be surprised.

We sincerely hope that these young authors and artists continue on with their work—their voices demand to be heard.

Photographs of students and from awards ceremony ©Brooklyn College, David Rozenblyum

Background & Credits

The CUNY/Labor Arts contest aims to expand student’s thinking about labor history, broadly defined, and is open to any undergraduate attending a CUNY college. Begun in 2010, it encourages students to write creatively and analytically about work and workers, to make art about work and workers, and to link their efforts to the spirit of LaborArts.

We would like to thank all of the students who submitted work for the 2017–18 contest, and to congratulate the authors of the prize-winning essays and poems and the creators of the visual art featured in this exhibit. All CUNY students are encouraged to begin considering possible themes for entries in next year’s contest. Guidelines for the 2018–19 contest will be available in fall 2018; the guidelines used for this contest can be found here.

The contest is funded by LaborArts, with support from The Shelley and Donald Rubin Foundation, and was made possible this year through the efforts of Brooklyn College/CUNY Director of Graduate Studies Patrick Kavanagh, and Rachel Bernstein and Evelyn Jones Rich from LaborArts.

Special thanks to the judges: Director of Graduate Studies Patrick Kavanagh (Non-Fiction), Professor Joseph Moore (Visual Art), Adjunct Professor Rafi Kiureghian (Poetry), and Adjunct Professor Drew Pham (Fiction). Many thanks to the Graduate Center for Worker Education’s director Lucas Rubin and his extraordinary staff, including Mohammed Sujon and Anselma Rodriguez; to the staff in Director Kavanagh’s office, particularly Arelis Berroa; and to LaborArts interns Shanika Carlies and Hassanatou Dialo.

The photographs of students and event speakers were taken by photographer David Rozenblyum at the Awards Ceremony, held at the Brooklyn College Graduate Center for Worker Education in Lower Manhattan on April 18, 2018.