The Mary Withers Rural Writing Fellowship is an innovative alternative to the traditional journalism summer internship, where writers are expected to churn out articles and social media posts daily. The Mary Withers Rural Writing Fellow is allowed to focus on two or three long-form articles that are published in the Louisville Courier-Journal and given the option to explore and develop other writing ideas along the way.
Winners of the fellowship are awarded a $3,000 fellowship and provided with free housing and office space for the summer. For 12 weeks, the fellow lives at a historic family farm in Boyd, Kentucky, and works out of the Boyd’s Station Gallery in downtown Cynthiana, Kentucky. The winner shares the home with two college photographers who receive the Reinke Grant for Visual Storytelling and Tim Dillon Grant for Storytelling to participate in Project 306.36, an annual visual documentary project in Harrison County.
The fellowship is directed by Alan Gomez, a former bureau chief and foreign correspondent at USA Today, who serves as the editor/mentor for each winner. The fellow is also supported by a team of editors, mentors, and former fellows who remain a part of the Boyd’s Station family. The fellow also works with an editor at the Louisville Courier-Journal, the largest newspaper in Kentucky, as they prepare each article for publication.
Past Mary Withers Fellowship alumni and published works: https://www.boydsstation.org/marywithersalumni
Applicants must be current college students or recent graduates. The winner is encouraged to develop their own story ideas each summer that highlight an aspect of rural life in America. Past fellows have written about the economics, environmental concerns, mental health, and history of people living in Kentucky as they grapple with a fast-changing world.
Application Instructions
Applicants must submit three writing samples and a short essay explaining why they want to participate in the program. Application Deadline – Monday, February 12, 2024.