Rensselaerville, N.Y. — The Logan Nonfiction Program is excited to announce the arrival of a new group of fellows at its upstate New York campus. The latest cohort consists of twelve distinguished journalists and documentary filmmakers hailing from four different countries and seven U.S. states. These fellows will be in residence at the Carey Institute for Global Good in mid-July and again in mid-September, working on long-form nonfiction projects focused on the world’s most pressing issues.
Chosen from a record number of applicants, these fellows were selected based on the significance and relevance of their projects, as well as their storytelling excellence and the depth of their research. The works they are producing will address some of the most critical topics facing both the U.S. and the world today.
Joshua Friedman, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and founding trustee of the Logan Nonfiction Program, expressed his support for the incoming fellows, stating, “There is no better response to mounting societal challenges than the kind of work being produced by these Logan Nonfiction fellows. We are proud to host them.”
The new fellows include Nikhil Eapen, a journalist from India working on a book about the biodiversity crisis in South Asia; Scott Faris, co-director of Impossible Town, a documentary exploring the health crisis in a rural West Virginia town affected by toxic chemicals; Julia Harte, a journalist writing Undomesticated: An Alternative History of American Radicalism, which examines U.S. activists who joined revolutionary movements abroad; Suzannah Herbert, a filmmaker working on a documentary about history and fantasy in the American South; and Peter Klein, a filmmaker creating a documentary about global commerce and its inherent corruption.
Other fellows include Oscar Lopez, a New York Times journalist writing about forced disappearances in Mexico; Molly O’Toole, an author completing a book on the new migrant underground; Ariel Ritchin, a filmmaker documenting the water contamination crisis in Hoosick Falls, N.Y.; Emmy-nominated filmmaker Jiayan “Jenny” Shi, working on a new undisclosed project; John D. Sutter, a filmmaker documenting children growing up during the climate crisis; Pilar Timpane, exploring the changing role of women in the Catholic Church through film; and Julie Wyman, creating a documentary about the ethical implications of drugs used to increase height in people with dwarfism.
Carly Willsie, head of Logan Nonfiction, shared her enthusiasm for the program, saying, “We are honored to support the work of these brilliant writers and filmmakers. By providing nonfiction creators with time, space, and community, we hope to support the distribution of groundbreaking works of journalism, which are the foundation of a democratic society.”
This class represents the 15th cohort of Logan fellows since the program’s founding in 2015. While traditionally an in-person residency, the fellowship had to shift online in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19. This year, the program is hybrid, combining two week-long in-person residencies at the Carey Institute with eight weeks of virtual programming. Fellows will receive focused workspace, mentorship, workshops, and networking opportunities, as well as lodging, office space, and meals during their time on campus in Rensselaerville.
Logan Nonfiction alumni have produced more than 50 films and books, many of which have earned prestigious accolades, including Sundance awards, the Hillman Prize, the J. Anthony Lukas Prize, and multiple Pulitzer Prizes. Most recently, alumna Andrea Elliott won the Pulitzer Prize in General Nonfiction for her book Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival, and Hope in an American City.