New Mexico Jewish Journal: The 2026 Awards Are Already Rolling In
Oh the Suspense! We have preliminary results from two professional journalist contests for our stories published in our second year: the regional Society of Professional Journalists and the New Mexico Press Women awards – 17 first-place and recognized entries so far, with more to come. And we will also be hearing from the toughest contest a bit later, the AJPA Rockower Awards, the "Jewish Pulitzers."
Society of Professional Journalists Top of the Rockies Awardees
NINE Awards, nine authors – all we know now are their names. We are very excited to find out who won what!
Gloria Abella Ballen Jacob's Ladder Painting (Illustration).
Ellen Marks "We Cannot Be Defined by the Hatred of Others," Antisemitism in New Mexico Now (Religion News).
Corinne Joy Brown The Torah in the Tarot (Religion feature).
Sabra Minkus A Long Journey Home (Religion feature).
Bonnie Ellinger With Communal Spirit, Nir Oz Will Rise Again (Religion News)
Ron Duncan Hart Netanyahu, Evangelicals and Israel (Religion News);
Ron Duncan Hart Cambridge: Where Erasmus Once Tread (Politics Feature).
Bobbie Greene Kilberg The Inside Story of the Return of Blue Lake to Taos Pueblo (Politics Feature).
Judith Fein A Dazzling Fashion Show for the Most Famous Jewish Mother in the World (Religion Feature)
Judith Fein Wagner's Opera House addresses his antisemitism (Arts Feature).
Judith Fein How a Wagner Opera can be Fun and not Ponderous (Arts Review).
Judith Fein I Have No Beef with the Manhattan Deli (Food Review).
Paul Ross Husband-and-wife Shmuel & Esther Itkin with their baby, making work a family enterprise (Feature Photography).
In the SPJ contest, we are in the small newsroom division. Newspapers from large to small across Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and New Mexico enter the Top of the Rockies contest. The winners will be announced Saturday evening, April 25th, at The Slate Hotel Denver Downtown, when all will be revealed. We will learn then if these stories won 1st, 2nd or 3rd, and which ones, since some have more than one story entered.
New Mexico Press Women Communications Contest
EIGHT first-place awards by five writers and artists across eight categories in the NMPW contest. We will learn of additional award placements at the Annual NMPW Conference banquet on May 2nd, featuring keynote speaker U.S. Congresswoman Melanie Stansbury at the Isleta Casino.
The NMPW First Place Awardees and stories, Drum roll —
Emily Alvarez Our Kafkaesque Immigration System 2.0 (Social Issues)
Diane Joy Schmidt A Jewish and Navajo Marriage at the New Year of the Trees (Columns, General)
Diane Joy Schmidt Apples for Rosh HaShanah (Graphics - Pastel drawing)
Judith Fein A Dazzling Fashion Show for the Most Famous Jewish Mother in the World (Style)
Judith Fein Attending a Wagner Opera Can Be Fun and Not Ponderous (Reviews)
Ron Duncan Hart Netanyahu, American Evangelicals and Israel (Religion)
Ron Duncan Hart Ken Elsas Mayers and his American Jewish Story (History)
Bobbie Greene Kilberg The Inside Story of the Return of Blue Lake to Taos Pueblo (Politics/Government).
Two years in. Seventeen awards. More to come.
Community Supporters of the NM Jewish Journal include:
Jewish Community Foundation of New Mexico
Congregation Albert
Jewish Community Center of Greater Albuquerque
The Institute for Tolerance Studies
Jewish Federation of El Paso and Las Cruces
Temple Beth Shalom
Congregation B'nai Israel
Shabbat with Friends: Recapturing Together the Joy of Shabbat
New Mexico Jewish Historical Society
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