Best international reporting in the print medium or digital showing a concern for the human condition
AWARD YEAR: 2023
AWARD NAME: 15 The Madeline Dane Ross Award 2023
RECIPIENT: Krithika Varagur
AFFILIATION: Harper’s Magazine
HONORED WORK: “Love in the Time of Sickle Cell Disease: What’s the Cost of Rolling the Genetic Dice?”
A powerful testament to love and family, this story forces readers to wrestle with a question most people never have to consider: What if nearly a third of the population were romantically off limits because of their blood? This gripping love story from Nigeria, known as the sickle cell disease capital of the world, shows what happens when universal human longings are entangled with governments, genetics, ethics and cold medical truths. By explaining without exploiting, the writer allows the central couple’s story to unfold with dignity and sensitivity.
Link to the winning work:
“Love in the Time of Sickle Cell Disease: What’s the Cost of Rolling the Genetic Dice?”
(No citation)