Anais Bouchatta

Anais Bouchatta, the daughter of Djilalli Bouchatta of the Newark Renaissance Inn, won a $1,000 prize in the fiction/non-fiction narrative category for telling us about immigration from the eyes of an immigrant — herself. She wrote about being one of the winners of the visa lottery that allows legal immigration to the U.S., in Anais's instance from Algeria. Our country, which is now Anais's country, is wondrous to her, she says. She expresses gratitude to her family and friends for their support and she is certain her life is better here than it would have been if the lottery had not been so kind to her. She concludes that she is meant to be here, writing, "there's no doubt about it." We agree, Anais! You are indeed meant to be here and there is definitely no doubt about it.