Raphael Smith Memorial Prize for Travel Writing

The Raphael Smith Memorial Prize for Travel Writing is given in memory of Raphael Smith, a member of the class of 1994, who was on the staff of SLANT, the student-produced magazine about international affairs. Raphael took a leave of absence from SIPA in order to retrace his stepfather’s adventure of motorcycling from Paris to Tokyo 60 years earlier, writing newspaper articles during his journey. Raphael’s dream ended tragically in a fatal accident in Bulgaria. The prize, established by his family and friends, is awarded annually to two students who are judged to have written the best essays, which are published as an article in SIPA Magazine after being selected for the prize.

2026 Prize Guidelines 

Award: Two $1,750 prizes; publication in SIPA Magazine; acknowledgement at SIPA Class Day in May
Criteria: 800–1,000-word essays on any travel experience that exemplifies the spirit of SIPA
Eligibility: For SIPA students graduating in October 2025, February 2026, or May 2026

DEADLINE: Friday, April 10, 2026 at 11:59pm ET

Raphael Smith 2026 Essay Submission (only submissions received via this form will be accepted; do not email submissions)

Questions? [email protected]

Recent Prize-winning Essays

From Tarmac to Hospital Room: An Unforeseen Journey of Cultural Exchange (Mustapha Dukuly MPA ’25)

It’s Still 2:46 in Fukushima (Adalí Frias Deniz MIA ’25)

In Words I Can Understand (Alice Lassman MPA ’24)

Borderline Lost: 85 Miles on the Rio Grande (Ben Ritter MIA ’24)

The Bridge (Kevin Brunelli MPA ’23)

Difficult, More Difficult (Audrey Hatfield MPA ’23)

Project Bumi (Nathaniel Maekawa MPA-DP ’22)

Next Time in Jerusalem (Mohammad Salhut MIA ’22)

And Yet We Travel (Ricardo García Coyne MPA-DP ’21)

Back to Barbari — and Backgammon (Sarah A. Sakha MIA ’21) 

Taxi to Teranga (James Courtright MIA ’20)

Ask and You May Be Helped — How I Befriended an Iranian Border Guard at 2 a.m. (Lukas Feldhaus MIA ’20)

The Saharan Breath (Nigora Isamiddinova MPA-DP ’19)

What Holiday? We’re Working (Sierra Robbins MPA-DP ’19)