First Year Writing Prize | Fall ’26
October 26, 2026Share story
The HSA department was very pleased to award this year鈥檚 First Year Writing Prize to Jackson Giumarra at a small ceremony during Convocation. Every year, the HSA faculty nominates writing by first year students for our First Year Writing Prize. The winner is chosen by a committee of HSA faculty who read the nominated papers. The award consists of a certificate, a check, and the author鈥檚 name on a plaque in our hallway. This year鈥檚 winning paper came from Professor Bill Alves鈥� HSA 10 section, and it鈥檚 an analysis of the work of American artist Barnett Newman, titled, 鈥淭he New(man) Sublime: Barnett Newman’s Transformation of the Sublime” showing how Barnett鈥檚 art transforms the transcendence of the sublime into a profound awareness of one鈥檚 own existence. The judges praised the paper for its rigorous argument, weaving together multiple kinds of evidence including philosophical text, images, and artist鈥檚 statements.
Jackson is from Bakersfield, California, about 2 hours north of Claremont. As of right now, he hasn鈥檛 declared a major, but is considering both chemistry and engineering. We asked him how he got interested in Newman and he told us:
鈥淚 hadn鈥檛 heard of Newman before taking HSA 10. I grew up in a religious household and have been trying to explore spirituality outside of organized religion. Newman鈥檚 work helped me to further explore this. The sublime has long been expressed through religious imagery and grandeur, and Newman took it and made it accessible to anybody. He transformed the sublime from a transcendental experience where one confronts something external to a simple moment that causes one to look inward, creating an intense awareness of one鈥檚 existence in the present moment. His paintings don鈥檛 ask the viewer to believe in or know anything. They are an experience anybody can have. That idea resonated with me and my ideas of spirituality.鈥�
We congratulate Jackson for his excellent work in this paper! The department looks forward to seeing all of the great writing that this year鈥檚 first year students will do this spring in HSA 10.