The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Student’s story wins $200K Hamilton Prize scholarship
MIDDLETOWN — Sydney Kim of Weston, Mass., has been selected as the recipient of the 2018 Wesleyan University Hamilton Prize for Creativity, a fouryear, full-tuition scholarship to Wesleyan University, worth as much as $200,000.
Her submission, a short story titled, “The Driveway,” was selected by an all-star committee of Wesleyan alumni chaired by Hamilton writer/creator and former star Lin-Manuel Miranda ’02, Hon. ‘15, and director Thomas Kail ’99, from more than 550 entries.
Kim attends Concord Academy, and will be a member of Wesleyan’s Class of 2022, according to a press release.
“This year’s submissions gave us insight into the minds of so many creative students,” Miranda said in a prepared statement. “I admire their bravery in sharing who they are with the committee. Taking that leap isn’t easy. They are all inspiring.”
The prize was established in honor of Miranda and Kail’s contributions to liberal education and the arts and named for the pair’s hit Broadway musical, “Hamilton: An American Musical,” which in 2016 won 11 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Direction of a Musical, Best Book, and Best Original Score, the release said.
The first Hamilton Prize was awarded to Audrey Pratt in May 2017.
“Hamilton: An American Musical has inspired and energized so many young people,” Wesleyan President Michael S. Roth said in the statement. “Through this prize, we look forward to bringing promising new writers to Wesleyan, where they will find a community that encourages experimentation and values the sharing of creative work.
“I can’t wait to see what these students produce with their Wesleyan educations.”
Kim’s “The Driveway” is a story about a young couple’s relationship and breakup, told in reverse through the lens of the main character’s best friend, according to the university.
“This young writer ambitiously and successfully works with tone, narrative architecture, and emotional specificity,” Simone White ’93, a poet and critic who served on the selection committee, said in the release. “The result is a very sophisticated and deeply moving story.”
In 2018, Wesleyan received more than 550 creative written work submissions — including short fiction, songs, drama, slam poetry, non-fiction prose — for the Hamilton Prize. Faculty members reviewed entries, while an all-star, all-alumni selection committee judged finalists’ submissions on their originality, artistry and dynamism.