Topic: College of Communication Information and Media
April 8, 2013
Rukmini Callimachi, West Africa bureau chief with The Associated Press, has won the 2013 Eugene S. Pulliam National Journalism Writing Award presented annually by Ball State's Department of Journalism.
Callimachi is being honored for her Sept. 16, 2012, article "Niger Hunger Brides." The distinguished international journalist will be recognized April 10 at the department's annual luncheon with a plaque and $1,500 prize, presented on behalf of the Pulliam family, sponsors of the annual writing award.
Callimachi will give her presentation, "Hunger Returns to Africa: An Old Story, a New Narrative," as part of the journalism department's professional-in-residence series. The event, which is free and open to the public, begins at 7:30 p.m. April 10 in Cardinal Hall in the L.A. Pittenger Student Center.
Callimachi's award-winning article focuses on the effects of the devastating drought in poverty-stricken villages in Niger, where parents marry off their young daughters in order to receive a meager sum. Callimachi used exceptional reporting, memorable details and vivid narrative techniques to uncover human suffering and survival.
This is Callimachi's second time winning the Pulliam award. Her first win came in 2011 for an article she wrote about the 2010 earthquake that devastated Haiti. The annual national writing competition, which dates back to 1960, has a distinguished history and legacy. Three past winners have later won Pulitzer Prizes.
Callimachi has worked with The Associated Press for 10 years. In recent years, she was a city hall reporter and a freelance journalist, writing for Time magazine and National Public Radio.
By Olivia Romero