Deadline: 2 March 2012
UPDATE: Fellows will now receive a stipend of $5,000, an artist retreat at Blue Mountain Center in the Adirondacks, and career lunches with Rebecca Solnit, Wyatt Mason, Jennifer 8. Lee & others. Fellowship starts: April 2, 2012
Open City, a new online magazine published by the Asian American Writers' Workshop, will document the pulse of metropolitan Asian America as it’s being lived on the streets of New York right now. We’re looking for Creative Nonfiction Fellows to write and produce editorial content on the vibrant immigrant communities of Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens. We will tell the stories of evicted tenants and local organizers, domestic workers and immigrant elders. We will tell the stories from the multi-ethnic Asian neighborhoods that now comprise one million New Yorkers. In a time when Occupy Wall Street is shedding a harsh light on economic inequality, Open City offers a unique platform for writers to tell the stories of low-income Americans too often ignored or misrepresented. If you’re an emerging creative nonfiction writer looking for financial support, a work space and career mentorship, apply to become a Creative Nonfiction Fellow. You’ll help us expose the rapidly growing, transforming and challenging experience of what it means to be Asian American in urban New York today.
Applications are due on March 2, 2012.
What is Open City?
Open City started off as an anti-gentrification blogging initiative aimed to expose the stories of voiceless immigrants in New York City. We're re-launching it this spring with that same goal in mind—and then some. The new magazine—edited by Kai Ma, New America Media award-winner and former editor-in-chief of KoreAm magazine—will offer smart takes on Asian American (particularly immigrant) culture as it's lived in New York right now.
Imagine stories on: the proliferation of x-rated video stories in Sunset Park, migratory patterns of Little Pakistani residents, karaoke bar culture, gentrification in Chinatown, or how Korean taco trucks define ethnic borders and space.
About the Open City Fellowship
Open City seeks to foster emerging writers and develop their exposure and brand as professional writers. Perhaps you have a personal interest in one of these neighborhoods, and you want to help shape its coverage—while also developing a journalistic beat or area of expertise in gentrification, immigration or urbanism. Or you’re a writer that’s published a handful of times, and need a kick in the pants to get your career where you want it to be. Or you’re just hungry for creating stories that you and your friends actually care about. Then this fellowship is for you.
Each fellow will focus on ONE of the following neighborhoods: 1) Manhattan’s Chinatown/Lower East Side, 2) Flushing, Queens, 3) Sunset Park, Brooklyn, 4) Jackson Heights, Queens, and 5) Richmond Hill, Queens. The neighborhood, and the issues and people therein, will become your beat. The news, stories and information you produce are compelling conversation starters about issues that matter to you, the residents and community members you’ll be working closely with. It’s your opportunity to cover a community, and to do so creatively.
And that’s where “creative nonfiction” comes in. Open City is an outlet for original stories with creative flair. This fellowship allows emerging writers to hone their storytelling and “new journalism” skills by placing an emphasis on creative nonfiction—the literary child of muckraking and poetry. Either you need a gateway into this celebrated genre or you’re a creative writer-meets-citizen journalist. If so, we want to hear from you.
This is a yearlong fellowship that starts April 2, 2012. Each fellow will report directly to the Open City editor.
Who We’re Looking For
We're looking for talented Asian American emerging writers looking to hone their creative nonfiction skills by engaging directly with contemporary New York. Past Open City Fellows have included Deanna Fei, whose novel, A Thread of Sky, has been praised by the New York Times as “timeless and of the moment,” and Sahar Muradi, the editor of One Story, Thirty Stories, an anthology of contemporary Afghan American literature. The ideal fellow:
- Demonstrates excellent literary/journalistic merit. You are emerging writers who would benefit from the fellowship.
- Possesses a deep interest in Asian American issues, social issues, social justice, low-income populations, race, culture, immigration, gentrification, urban landscapes, neighborhood blogging, and hyperlocal reporting.
- Can produce creative work around these themes, while offering sharp commentary and analysis.
- Is a curious, self-motivated go-getter that can re-imagine a neighborhood in innovative ways, while generating creative story ideas and ways to tell those stories.
- Represents a diverse set of interests, backgrounds and experiential contexts.
What You’ll Do
1. Blog once a week on your designated neighborhood.
2. Produce two long-form feature stories for the year (one published every six months) OR two new media projects.
3. Meet once a month with the Open City editor.
4. Collaborate with the other fellows on four (seasonal) broader projects or packages that focus on a particular theme, including but not limited to: transportation, gentrification, housing, education, health, labor, environment, gender, organizing, and local politics.
What You’ll Get
-A one-year stipend of $2,500 $5,000 (stories/projects completed in addition to the fellowship requirements stated above may be offered a freelance rate);
-A 1-2 week artist retreat at Blue Mountain Center in the Adirondacks, for which AAWW will grant $500 travel stipends for each fellow;
-Access to the “Writer Gym,” a work area and personal desk space at the Asian American Writers' Workshop in Chelsea to work on both Open City and personal projects (value $3,000);
-Private career lunch sessions with notable literary, journalism or publishing industry professionals, including Rebecca Solnit, arguably one of the most celebrated creative nonfiction writers in America; Wyatt Mason, a contributing editor at Harper’s Magazine; Siddartha Deb, author and a contributor to The Nation and the New York Review of Books; Kirby Kim, a literary agent at William Morris Endeavor featured on the cover of Poets & Writers as a “Breakthrough Agent”; and bestselling author and New York Times reporter Jennifer 8. Lee;
-A personal critique and editing session so that you exit the fellowship with a strong portfolio of work;
-Free membership to the Asian American Writers' Workshop and free access to its events (value $45);
-One free writing workshop of your choice at the Asian American Writers' Workshop (value up to $200);
-Opportunities to pitch stories to all of the Workshop’s new online magazines;
-Opportunity to have your feature story nominated for New America Media Award (the Pulitzer of ethnic press);
-Opportunity to have your work featured at an AAWW-sponsored reading or event themed around Open City. Past Open City Fellows participated in readings at the New Museum Festival of Ideas of the New City, the Museum of Chinese in America, and PAGE TURNER: The Asian American Literary Festival;
-Opportunity to be featured on AAWW’s Kindle Singles platform;
-Consistent exposure, editing and mentorship.
Interested?
1. Please email us a resume, work statement and work samples. The work statement should be limited to one page and describe your interest in Open City, relevant background, and your trajectory as a writer. Include at least three writing or media samples (links or PDFs preferred) that best match the work you would produce for Open City. Please send the above to Open City Editor Kai Ma at kma@aaww.org with your name and “Open City Creative Nonfiction Fellow” (e.g., “John Smith - Open City Creative Nonfiction Fellow”) in the subject line.
2. Fill out our application form here. Applicants who do not fill out the form and submit the required application materials (resume, work statement and at least three clips) will NOT be considered. No phone calls, please. For more information, please visit aaww.org and openthecity.org. It is highly recommended that applicants spend time on selecting creative nonfiction writing samples and developing story pitches and ideas for content creation, as these items will be strongly reviewed by a judging pool of notable writers and editors.
CONTACT INFORMATION:
For inquiries: kma@aaww.org
For submissions: kma@aaww.org and fill out the application form here
Website: http://openthecity.org/
UPDATE: Fellows will now receive a stipend of $5,000, an artist retreat at Blue Mountain Center in the Adirondacks, and career lunches with Rebecca Solnit, Wyatt Mason, Jennifer 8. Lee & others. Fellowship starts: April 2, 2012
Open City, a new online magazine published by the Asian American Writers' Workshop, will document the pulse of metropolitan Asian America as it’s being lived on the streets of New York right now. We’re looking for Creative Nonfiction Fellows to write and produce editorial content on the vibrant immigrant communities of Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens. We will tell the stories of evicted tenants and local organizers, domestic workers and immigrant elders. We will tell the stories from the multi-ethnic Asian neighborhoods that now comprise one million New Yorkers. In a time when Occupy Wall Street is shedding a harsh light on economic inequality, Open City offers a unique platform for writers to tell the stories of low-income Americans too often ignored or misrepresented. If you’re an emerging creative nonfiction writer looking for financial support, a work space and career mentorship, apply to become a Creative Nonfiction Fellow. You’ll help us expose the rapidly growing, transforming and challenging experience of what it means to be Asian American in urban New York today.
Applications are due on March 2, 2012.
What is Open City?
Open City started off as an anti-gentrification blogging initiative aimed to expose the stories of voiceless immigrants in New York City. We're re-launching it this spring with that same goal in mind—and then some. The new magazine—edited by Kai Ma, New America Media award-winner and former editor-in-chief of KoreAm magazine—will offer smart takes on Asian American (particularly immigrant) culture as it's lived in New York right now.
Imagine stories on: the proliferation of x-rated video stories in Sunset Park, migratory patterns of Little Pakistani residents, karaoke bar culture, gentrification in Chinatown, or how Korean taco trucks define ethnic borders and space.
About the Open City Fellowship
Open City seeks to foster emerging writers and develop their exposure and brand as professional writers. Perhaps you have a personal interest in one of these neighborhoods, and you want to help shape its coverage—while also developing a journalistic beat or area of expertise in gentrification, immigration or urbanism. Or you’re a writer that’s published a handful of times, and need a kick in the pants to get your career where you want it to be. Or you’re just hungry for creating stories that you and your friends actually care about. Then this fellowship is for you.
Each fellow will focus on ONE of the following neighborhoods: 1) Manhattan’s Chinatown/Lower East Side, 2) Flushing, Queens, 3) Sunset Park, Brooklyn, 4) Jackson Heights, Queens, and 5) Richmond Hill, Queens. The neighborhood, and the issues and people therein, will become your beat. The news, stories and information you produce are compelling conversation starters about issues that matter to you, the residents and community members you’ll be working closely with. It’s your opportunity to cover a community, and to do so creatively.
And that’s where “creative nonfiction” comes in. Open City is an outlet for original stories with creative flair. This fellowship allows emerging writers to hone their storytelling and “new journalism” skills by placing an emphasis on creative nonfiction—the literary child of muckraking and poetry. Either you need a gateway into this celebrated genre or you’re a creative writer-meets-citizen journalist. If so, we want to hear from you.
This is a yearlong fellowship that starts April 2, 2012. Each fellow will report directly to the Open City editor.
Who We’re Looking For
We're looking for talented Asian American emerging writers looking to hone their creative nonfiction skills by engaging directly with contemporary New York. Past Open City Fellows have included Deanna Fei, whose novel, A Thread of Sky, has been praised by the New York Times as “timeless and of the moment,” and Sahar Muradi, the editor of One Story, Thirty Stories, an anthology of contemporary Afghan American literature. The ideal fellow:
- Demonstrates excellent literary/journalistic merit. You are emerging writers who would benefit from the fellowship.
- Possesses a deep interest in Asian American issues, social issues, social justice, low-income populations, race, culture, immigration, gentrification, urban landscapes, neighborhood blogging, and hyperlocal reporting.
- Can produce creative work around these themes, while offering sharp commentary and analysis.
- Is a curious, self-motivated go-getter that can re-imagine a neighborhood in innovative ways, while generating creative story ideas and ways to tell those stories.
- Represents a diverse set of interests, backgrounds and experiential contexts.
What You’ll Do
1. Blog once a week on your designated neighborhood.
2. Produce two long-form feature stories for the year (one published every six months) OR two new media projects.
3. Meet once a month with the Open City editor.
4. Collaborate with the other fellows on four (seasonal) broader projects or packages that focus on a particular theme, including but not limited to: transportation, gentrification, housing, education, health, labor, environment, gender, organizing, and local politics.
What You’ll Get
-A one-year stipend of $2,500 $5,000 (stories/projects completed in addition to the fellowship requirements stated above may be offered a freelance rate);
-A 1-2 week artist retreat at Blue Mountain Center in the Adirondacks, for which AAWW will grant $500 travel stipends for each fellow;
-Access to the “Writer Gym,” a work area and personal desk space at the Asian American Writers' Workshop in Chelsea to work on both Open City and personal projects (value $3,000);
-Private career lunch sessions with notable literary, journalism or publishing industry professionals, including Rebecca Solnit, arguably one of the most celebrated creative nonfiction writers in America; Wyatt Mason, a contributing editor at Harper’s Magazine; Siddartha Deb, author and a contributor to The Nation and the New York Review of Books; Kirby Kim, a literary agent at William Morris Endeavor featured on the cover of Poets & Writers as a “Breakthrough Agent”; and bestselling author and New York Times reporter Jennifer 8. Lee;
-A personal critique and editing session so that you exit the fellowship with a strong portfolio of work;
-Free membership to the Asian American Writers' Workshop and free access to its events (value $45);
-One free writing workshop of your choice at the Asian American Writers' Workshop (value up to $200);
-Opportunities to pitch stories to all of the Workshop’s new online magazines;
-Opportunity to have your feature story nominated for New America Media Award (the Pulitzer of ethnic press);
-Opportunity to have your work featured at an AAWW-sponsored reading or event themed around Open City. Past Open City Fellows participated in readings at the New Museum Festival of Ideas of the New City, the Museum of Chinese in America, and PAGE TURNER: The Asian American Literary Festival;
-Opportunity to be featured on AAWW’s Kindle Singles platform;
-Consistent exposure, editing and mentorship.
Interested?
1. Please email us a resume, work statement and work samples. The work statement should be limited to one page and describe your interest in Open City, relevant background, and your trajectory as a writer. Include at least three writing or media samples (links or PDFs preferred) that best match the work you would produce for Open City. Please send the above to Open City Editor Kai Ma at kma@aaww.org with your name and “Open City Creative Nonfiction Fellow” (e.g., “John Smith - Open City Creative Nonfiction Fellow”) in the subject line.
2. Fill out our application form here. Applicants who do not fill out the form and submit the required application materials (resume, work statement and at least three clips) will NOT be considered. No phone calls, please. For more information, please visit aaww.org and openthecity.org. It is highly recommended that applicants spend time on selecting creative nonfiction writing samples and developing story pitches and ideas for content creation, as these items will be strongly reviewed by a judging pool of notable writers and editors.
CONTACT INFORMATION:
For inquiries: kma@aaww.org
For submissions: kma@aaww.org and fill out the application form here
Website: http://openthecity.org/
