The Asian American Writers' Workshop

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. 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.

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: aaww.org/opencityapply. 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.