UC Davis English professor Yiyun Li is the first woman to win the annual Sunday Times EFG short story prize.

The contest, which awards 30,000 pounds (nearly $46,000)  to the winner, is considered the highest monetary prize for a short story and receives entries worldwide. Former winners of this contest include past Pulitzer Prize and Man Booker Prize winners.

Li, who teaches both undergraduate and graduate workshops in Creative Writing as well as a lecture course titled “The Short Story” at UC Davis, said that her agent entered her story in the contest. The judges then selected her as one of six finalists, all of whom were invited to a dinner in London where she was announced as the winner.

The story details the experience of a Chinese-American named Auntie Mei, who works as a live-in nanny for newborn babies. Auntie Mei, who only stays until the baby is one month old before moving on to help a new family, keeps a record in her notebook of all of the babies she has taken care of during her eleven years of work.

Li said she originally got the idea for the story from a notebook she bought at a garage sale.

“I was looking at a little notebook I bought when I first came to America,” Li said. “It was a little tiny notebook that was five cents at a garage sale. I bought it and I didn’t use it. When I was looking at the notebook I [had the idea].”

Li said that she did not write the story in a brief period of time.

“It was interesting because I wrote the beginning a couple of years ago and I read it at a faculty reading for the English department and I [then] put it aside,” Li said. “I didn’t work on it [again] until much later.”

Naomi Williams, a former student of Li, said that she considers Li a role model in the field of short story writing.

“I’m so thrilled for Yiyun that she got this award,” Williams said. “The story for which she won it — I read it when it first came out in The New Yorker and then again more recently, and it’s one of those stories that’s so rich you can dip into it again and again and it feels fresh. She writes about the experience of solitude and solitariness with this often unsettling and always unblinking clarity — I can think of few other writers who compare.”

According to Elise Winn, another former student of Li, Li’s talent in short story writing translates to her teaching.

“She encouraged us to study our characters closely and to wonder what secrets they might be keeping or what memories they’ve got tucked in their hearts — in other words, to think of them as human, because they are,” Winn said.

Elizabeth Miller, chair of the English department, added that Li is greatly deserving of the prize.

“Simply put, she is a phenomenal writer and a master of the short story form,” Miller said. “It requires tremendous economy for a writer to make a strong impact on the reader when working within the confines of a limited number of pages, and this is the skill, above all, that a short story prize is meant to honor.”

Graphic by Jennifer Wu.

Last week, the La Raza Cultural Days (LRCD) committee and the UC Davis Cross Cultural Center came together to present the 46th annual La Raza Cultural Days on campus.

The theme this year was “nuestros desafios fortalecen nuestra Resistencia,” which translates to “our struggles empower our resistance.”

Events started on April 27, with a kickoff flash mob on the Memorial Union patio. Event planners played music by Hispanic artists, such as Elvis Crespo and Juan Gabriel, to showcase the variety of dance styles and songs within the Latino/a community.

Delta Xi Phi multicultural sorority held a talk titled “Diversity in Spanish.” Francisco Gomez, a fourth-year animal science and management major and the inaugural student assistant to the vice chancellor of Student Affairs, spoke at the Student Community Center on educational rights for the Hispanic community.

On Tuesday, Hermanos Macehual, a Latino student group that provides academic and social support to UC Davis students, hosted a Danza Azteca workshop, which taught the origins, elements and deities of Danza Azteca ceremonies and engaged in the preservation and passing of sacred traditions.

The Department of Chicano/a Studies on campus gave a talk about Chicano/a Studies graduate school opportunities, and the Latino Fellowship organization held a program focusing on how faith and resistance are intertwined in light of recent events in the community and across the United States.

Sigma Lambda Gamma National sorority and Sigma Lambda Beta International fraternity also held “Zumba 101” to end the night.

On Wednesday, the Chicano/a Studies symposium held a discussion on Central America and cultural identity formation. Fraternities including Nu Alpha Kappa and Sigma Omega Nu held hosted a number of talks as well.

Thursday began with a youth conference held by Mujeres Ayudando La Raza, an organization focused on helping Hispanic females working within academia.

The Center for Health & Environment and Clinica Tepati held a talk titled “Nuestra Cultura Nuestra Salud,” which focused on health within the Latino community, and the Student Recruitment and Retention Center hosted an event titled “Queer Latinidad,” which celebrated the intersections of queer and Chicanx/Latinx identities.

On the evening of April 30, Gamma Zeta Alpha hosted “Noche de Estrellas,” which allowed students to showcase their talents and advocate their cultural pride.

On Friday, the Student Recruitment Center and the LRCD Planning Committee hosted the first “Comida, Cultura and Communidad,” a gathering for attendees to eat different Latino cultural foods. There were also talks held by Sac Girls Speak and Sigma Alpha Zeta.

On Saturday, the week ended with the 25th annual Cuauhtemoc 5/10k Run hosted by Movimiento Estudiantil Chican@ de Aztlan (M.E.Ch.A), a nonprofit student organization that strives for political, social and educational consciousness and equality. The funds raised went towards their Oscar E. Gomez Scholarship, a scholarship that helps graduating high school seniors pursue a higher education.

Later that day, the LRCD committee, Danzantes del Alma de UC Davis and the UC Davis Cross Cultural Center presented the 46th annual La Gran Tardeada and the 38th anniversary of Danzantes del Alma. The daylong event for the Chicano/a community had food, tradition, music and dance in order to celebrate all the intersections of the Hispanic identity. There were a variety of performances, food booths and activities for children. The night ended with a live performance by musical artist Raskahuele.

Graphic by Jennifer Wu.

UC Davis’ Women’s Resources and Research Center (WRRC) held its Gender Equity Awareness Week from April 27 to May 1. The week, which aimed to educate students about gender equity in the Davis community, included workshops such as “Genderism and Inclusive Language,” “Abortion Activism,” and “Understanding Inequity: Race and Ethnicity.” The WRRC also held a book fair throughout the week, which included women and gender studies books and novels written by female authors.

Aditi Shakkarwar, a fourth-year political science major who worked with the WRRC to publicize the week, said that her favorite event was the “What’s Keeping Women from Pursuing STEM?” workshop.

“This workshop shows us how ingrained messages about gender are in our society and the results that these messages cause,” Shakkarwar said.

The week’s events also included the 10th annual Davis Feminist Film Festival. This two-night festival, which featured multiple independent films each night, was created to provide an inclusive space to share films about gender, sexuality and race.

“Gender Equity Awareness Week is important for UC Davis because it shines a light on the massive amounts of gender inequity that exists both on campus and in the world,” Shakkarwar said. “[It] not only focuses on the gender inequity that currently exists, but it also envisions a future where gender equity is a reality and gives us action steps to reach this future.”

Graphic by Jennifer Wu.

On April 28, a reaffirmation ceremony was held for the Principles of Community in the Vanderhoef Studio Theatre at the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts.

The principles were created in April 1990 and have seen revisions in 1996, 2001, 2008 and 2010. Campus organizations such as the academic senate, Early Outreach Program, Affirmative Action Diversity Committee, UC Davis Medical Center, ASUCD and other groups came together to write the principles over an 18-month process.

In the most recent revision, the Principles of Community Reaffirmation Committee came together to get feedback and input from UC Davis students, faculty and staff. The committee worked on revising the principles in a way that it believed would continue to be relevant and best suited for the current student body.

“The UC Davis in 2015 is not like the UC Davis in 1990,” said Associate Executive Vice Chancellor Rahim Reed at the event. “We are a much more international community. We have grown to appreciate the multiplicities that people have,” Reed said.

Reed, along with Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi, Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Ralph J. Hexter, the Council of Deans and Vice Chancellors as well as the entire senior leadership team were asked to sign the principles document. The public was welcomed to sign the document at the reception after the ceremony.

“The document will serve us as long as people are inspired by it,” Reed said. “As long as people are inspired to reach for the aspirational values that are embedded in the document it will remain live, it will remain well and it will serve us well.”

Graphic by Jennifer Wu.