Judge’s Citation by Samuel Kọ́láwọlé


 “America the Beautiful.” is more than a story of the unraveling of a relationship.  In crisp, restrained writing, the writer captures the dreams, desires, and disappointments of a character searching for a better life. In recounting the character’s journey from Ghana to the United States, the writer offers us well-wrought scenes and a seamless movement through time. The protagonist is believable and well-realized. This powerful narrative grapples with the notion of home and what it means to be African in the United States.