Introducing the Kratz 2022-23 summer writing fellowship winners

  • The 2022-23 Kratz summer fellowship writers. Back row, from left: Josiah Acosta-Ballard, Jupiter Berrysmith, Rory Sweeting, Jadyn Straigis, Spice Crawford, Devin Turk. Front row, from left: Brynn Mattsen, Allison Rose, Carolena Brazfield, Grace Braddock, Madeline Tredway. Studying abroad: Frances McPheely. Not pictured: Tess Landon, Luna Siegel.

Each year, the Kratz Center for Creative Writing at Goucher College offers summer writing fellowships that range from between $2,000 to $4,000. The Kratz Center is pleased to welcome the following new Summer Writing Fellows (in alphabetical order):

Josiah Acosta-Ballard will travel to Atlanta to conduct research for a murder mystery novel, which will be set in that location as well as in Baltimore.

Jupiter Berrysmith will create a solo writer’s retreat in Iowa City for two weeks to write a series of poems exploring themes of identity and growing up.

Grace Braddock will travel to France to research a series of short stories centering on a young dancer in early 20th century France.

Carolena Brazfield will craft a series of monologue poems exploring the concepts of spirituality, hauntings, and legacies, set against the backdrop of New Orleans, Louisiana.

Jalysia Crawford will travel to South Korea to conduct research on landmarks and artifacts for the expansion of an historical novel project.

Tess Landon will travel to Ireland to work on a novel set there in the late 2000s, drawing specifically on the country’s unique natural wonders and landscape.

Brynn Mattsen will produce a collection of poetry involving highly trafficked and commercialized attractions in Amsterdam.

Frances McPheely will backpack in the Scottish Highlands to create a chapbook of poems.

Allison Rose’s creative nonfiction project involves travel to Amsterdam to research how Dutch public policy approaches social taboos in comparison to U.S. public policy.

Annabelle Siegel will travel by boat from Vancouver to Alaska to write a collection of prose poetry involving nature and wilderness and its connection to the broader topics of grief and mourning.

Jadyn Straigis will travel to the Dell Writing Conference in Orlando, Florida, for work on original fiction.

Rory Sweeting will visit sites in Germany and Poland related to the Holocaust to produce a series of essays about the journey and his emotional experiences as a Jewish American.

Madeline Tredway will attend the writing workshop of the Juniper Institute (housed at UMass Amherst) to finalize short stories inspired by her time in London last fall.

Devin Turk will travel to Florence, Italy, to write a chapbook of poems inspired by local classical artwork and surrounding natural landscapes.