Past-Year Memoir Contest — 2022

Specifically, we want you to tell us a true story from your life in 2021…in 21 words or fewer.

We want a personal story from your life, which can be hilarious, heartbreaking, puzzling, uplifting, or just plain strange. Look for something intriguing, perhaps something with emotional or intellectual resonance. It’s fine if you want to include current events from the year, as long as it’s mostly about you, or how you feel about it.

Whoever writes the memoir that most captivates us will win a free Gotham class of their own choosing.

As inspiration, here are some of our best entries from when we last ran this contest, looking back at 2017, only allowing 17 words or fewer:

We stood in the yard smoking cigars while fireworks laced with Tio’s ashes burst over the neighborhood.
    — Amelia Rodriguez, Hamilton, NJ

Guys in the meeting curse, then turn to me and apologize. I’m a flower, not a colleague.
    — Suzanne Mattaboni, Northampton, PA

As the floodwaters rose, I hotfooted it to the supermarket for emergency wine. It was closed. Disaster!
    — Nicola Moses, Limavady, United Kingdom