In 2016, after working as a hairstylist for over a decade, I returned to school to become a professional writer. In May 2020, I graduated summa cum laude from Columbia University with a Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing.
I am the recipient of Columbia’s 2019 Nonfiction Prize for my essay, “Heinrich Hofmann’s Christ,” which appeared in Quarto Magazine; the Edgar Richards Scholar Award; and NLGJA’s Leroy F. Aaron Journalism Scholarship Award.
I am an alumnus of NLGJA’s CONNECT Student Journalism Training Project and of cultural critic Meghan Daum’s Personal Essay and Memoir Master Class.
I have written for Newsweek, The Free Press, UnHerd, Washington Examiner, Queer Majority, and many other publications. My memoir, ‘Cis White Gay,’ about my experience in LGBT activism and Ivy League academia, will be published by Bombardier Books.
Contact me at benappelwrites@gmail.com and subscribe to my Substack newsletter.