1 Project. 100th Fellow. 1 Million Conversations.

Thank you for your continued, generous support of the Logan Nonfiction Program. Your contribution helps us meet our goal of empowering nonfiction storytellers to tell the true stories that change our world.

The past six months we've watched the world as we know it change rapidly, and we've been navigating through the uncertainty. A lot of it included just waiting to see what happens. As we mentioned in our last update, we postponed our Spring 2020 class of Logan Nonfiction fellows. Nine documentary filmmakers, writers, photojournalists and podcasters were expected to arrive mid-March, and instead we had to postpone until we felt it was safe for them to come to campus. This was obviously our top priority for the fall, while also thinking of future fellows.

As with every session we host with our program, we want to provide the most meaningful experience for our fellows—for their work, for their community, for their growth. That being said, we have some exciting plans for our fall residency, which we will be announcing very shortly.

Below are some additional programmatic updates from Logan Nonfiction:

• Applications for our Fall 2020 session closed on June 1, with nearly 100 applications from all over the world. We were happily overwhelmed to see this, especially with the pandemic. This was our most competitve class to date. 
• Logan Nonfiction was featured on WAMC, the local NPR affiliate, four times. The interviews can be heard here: https://www.wamc.org/post/observing-chaotic-world-peace-and-quiet (all episodes on this page)
• Many alumni have published their books this season and celebrated glowing reviews, including "The Hour of Fate" by Susan Berfield, "How to Drag a Body and Other Safety Tips You Hope to Never Need" by Judith Matloff, "What Can a Body Do?" by Sara Hendren and "Unforgetting" by Roberto Lovato.
• While most of the world has been on pause for nearly four months, Logan Nonfiction alumni have been on the frontlines, covering the coronavirus from all over the world. Stories include Alec Luhn (’19) for Vice, looking at Moscow’s facial recognition tech with COVID-19; Elena Horn (’17) and Alessandro Leonardi (’17) for The Guardian, following a coronavirus ambulance driver in Milan; and Julie Winokur (’19) for BBC, highlighting a new youth reporting project covering the virus. Read some of their work here: https://logannonfiction.org/logan-fellows-covering-covid-19/

In addition, Program Manager Carly Willsie has been furloughed due to the virus in order to take care of her two young children. Because of this, I (Zan Strumfeld) have taken on the role as Interim Program Manager until further notice.

We wish you and your loved ones well.

Links:

• Our new website
• Follow us on Instagram
• Follow us on Twitter

Thank you for your generous support of the Logan Nonfiction Program. Your contribution helps us meet our goal of empowering nonfiction storytellers to tell the true stories that change our world. While we are all living through this moment of uncertainty and anxiety, we are thankful that supporters like you recognize the power of journalism to be a guiding light through times of darkness. 

Due to the unprecedent spread of the coronavirus in New York and the wider world, we made the difficult decision to postpone our Spring 2020 class of Logan Nonfiction fellows. Twelve writers, photojournalists, podcasters and documentary filmmakers were slated to arrive to campus in mid-March with stays through the end of April. Instead, these nonfiction creators will join us for their residencies at a later date to be determined.

As a result, our campus is quiet. The only movement is from the dozens of deer that constantly roam our 100 acres. It’s a world away from what it’s like when our fellows are here: the lively dinners in the restaurant, the deep discussions around the fireplace, the busy typing on laptops throughout the days and the clinking of glasses at the brewery in the evenings. We’re looking forward to the day when we can welcome fellows to campus again and build the tight-knit community for which we’re known.

Below are some additional programmatic updates from Logan Nonfiction:

• We supported twelve writers, documentary filmmakers, podcasters and photojournalists in our February class of fellows. During their time in residence, fellows were at work on critical works of long-form nonfiction covering everything from climate change to Chinese birth tourism to the impact of incarceration on the families left behind. We welcomed several visiting journalists to campus during the fellowship for professional development events, including Rafil Kroll-Zaidi, contributing editor at Harper’s Magazine; June Erlick, editor of ReVista, the Harvard Review of Latin America; Alice Whitwham, publishing agent at Elyse Cheney Literary Associates; and Jacqueline Olive, award-winning documentary filmmaker.
• Logan Nonfiction was featured on WAMC, the local NPR affiliate, earlier this month. The interview can be heard here: https://www.wamc.org/post/observing-chaotic-world-peace-and-quiet
• Several alumni have published their books this season and celebrated glowing reviews, including “Wilmington’s Lie” by David Zucchino; “The Third Rainbow Girl” by Emma Copley Eisenberg; “Lurking” by Joanne McNeil;  “NRA: The Unauthorized History” by Frank Smyth; and “The Shadow System” by Sylvia Harvey.
• We’ve launched a new website and newsletter! You can find us online at logannonfiction.org and on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @logannonfiction. We’d love to connect with you.
• Applications are open for the Fall 2020 session, which is expected to begin in mid-October. Nonfiction writers, documentary filmmakers, photojournalists, podcasters and multimedia creators at work on deeply reported projects are invited to apply on our website by June 1.

Links:

• Find us on our new website
• Follow us on Twitter
• Follow us on Instagram