St. Louis writer Marie Wenya Burns and WashU undergraduate student Alethea Franklin are the second annual recipients of the Heartland Journalism Fellowships.
Established by WashU and the River City Journalism Fund, the Heartland Journalism Fellowships support development of aspiring minority and underrepresented writers. During their yearlong residency, which began July 1, Burns and Franklin will work with WashU faculty as well as staff of The Common Reader, the campus-based journal, to produce long- and short-form journalism dealing with issues of race, ethnicity and equity.
Burns is a resident of St. Louis’ Bevo Mill neighborhood and works for the St. Louis County Library. She was a Sparks Fellow at Park & Fine Literary and Media in New York and an editorial assistant at Notre Dame Review. Her writing explores the intersections of history and fiction genres in Asian American communities, forming a novel-in-progress she hopes to complete during her fellowship.
Franklin is a senior majoring in psychology and brain sciences, with a minor in writing, all in Arts & Sciences. She is also an executive board playwright with Black Anthology and a Gephardt Institute Fox-Clark Civic Scholar. Her writing explores the impacts of urban planning, design and infrastructure on housing and health outcomes in ethnic communities.
Read more on the Common Reader website.
