NYU's Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute has established the Matthew Power Literary Reporting Award, which will provide $12,500 every year to a young journalist researching an important story that illuminates the human condition.
New York University’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute has established the Matthew Power Literary Reporting Award, which will provide $12,500 every year to a young journalist researching an important story that illuminates the human condition.
The award was created in collaboration with relatives, friends, and organizations touched by journalist Matthew Power, who died while on assignment in Uganda in the spring of 2014. It will provide the financial support needed by non-fiction writers to travel and cover a wide range of stories that will continue Power’s quest to seek out these narratives.
“Matthew Power’s singular set of skills allowed him to travel the globe, giving underreported stories the attention they deserve,” said Professor Ted Conover, a friend of Power’s who will coordinate administration of the award at the Carter Institute. “Young writers still building a reputation can’t always wrangle the financial commitments to do this kind of work. The award will perpetuate Matt’s legacy by allowing one a year to do so.”
The proposal deadline for the award is February 16, 2015, with a decision anticipated around mid-April. The Matthew Power Literary Reporting Award Committee, a panel of NYU journalism professors, outside writers, and editors, will review the applications and select a recipient. Recipients of the award will complete their projects by November 4, 2015. Judges will be looking for applicants with strong storytelling abilities and a commitment to those he/she is writing about, said Conover.
Power was an established freelance writer who contributed to such publications as GQ, Harper’s Magazine, Men’s Journal, National Geographic Adventure, and The New York Times. He also worked in broadcast journalism. Power was a three-time finalist for the Livingston Award for Young Journalists in international reporting. His work was frequently featured in annual anthologies such as Best American Travel Writing and Best American Spiritual Writing. Power died on March 10, 2014, while accompanying the explorer Levison Wood, who was trying to become the first person to walk the entire length of the Nile River. Wood completed the journey in August 2014.
Ineligible to apply are NYU affiliates, NYU graduates with degrees dated 2013 and after, and journalists holding staff positions at established media outlets that are in a position to fund such projects on their own. The award will not fund proposals to report on armed conflicts where journalists are already imperiled or projects that are mainly investigatory.
For application and details, click here.