fellowship programimage

Our 2022 Fellows​

Anita L. Guerra
WLT 2022 Fellow

Anita L. Guerra is a writer in Laredo, Texas.

“My focus is creative nonfiction and narrative fiction, including short stories. The artistic intent of my writing is to re-imagine current and past social cultural history and refocus on quotidian yet also extraordinary lives.”

Leilani Lamb
WLT 2022 Fellow

Leilani Lamb is a writer in Austin, Texas.

“I work in mental health advocacy, and I largely approach my writing as an extension of that work. Fiction is an opportunity to explore underrepresented aspects of my identity and lived experience, so that I can weave those truths into my stories. Developing a greater shared understanding among people is often the first step in doing better by each other, so I try to devote my time to building that empathy on and off the page.”

Rosie Ninesling
WLT 2022 Fellow

Rosie Ninesling is a writer in Austin, Texas.

“I write so that I can see for myself how interconnected, dependent, and related I am to both others and my environment.”

Damilola Oyedele
WLT 2022 Fellow

Damilola Oyedele is a writer in Austin, Texas.

“My work as a writer is inspired by female identity, unconventional pathways to making a family, representation, and how faith is gained and lost.”

Amy Sugeno
WLT 2022 Bess Whitehead Scott Creative Writing Fellow

Amy Sugeno is a writer in Round Mountain, Texas.

“I began writing three years ago with the intention of crafting a collection of short nature essays. However, after about a year, it became clear my writing had different ideas, nudging me instead towards a memoir. Since then, my essays mostly explore the complexities of adoption, as an adopted person and adoptive parent, and finding attachment and comfort in nature.”

About the Bess Whitehead Scott Fellowship: Formerly a scholarship, the Bess Whitehead Scott Fellowship is awarded to one writer over the age of 40 every year, selected from the pool of fellowship applicants, who we believe embodies the spirit of Bess Whitehead Scott, a Texas writer, a friend of the WLT, and a trailblazer who served as inspiration to so many. You can learn more about Bess and her legacy here.