New York University’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute has named Shayla Love, a contributor to the Guardian, the winner of its 10th Matthew Power Literary Reporting Award.
Love will use the grant to pursue a story on non-traditional, and controversial, pathways to develop new medications and health treatments.
The Carter Journalism Institute established the award in the fall of 2014 to commemorate the life and work of journalist Matthew Power (1974-2014). Given annually and funded by more than 650 separate donations, it provides $12,500 to an early-career journalist researching an important story that illuminates the human condition.
“I’m especially gratified that Shayla was personally inspired by Matthew Power, who visited her class and whom Shayla emailed afterward and remembers vividly,” said Journalism Professor Ted Conover, a friend of Power.
This year’s judges were Conover, Suketu Mehta, Jessica Benko, Christopher Cox, Meera Subramanian, and Roger Hodge.
Love, also a contributor at Psyche, writes primarily about science and health and is interested in how history, culture, and philosophy interact with present day research. Love was previously a senior staff writer at Vice, and she has a master's degree in science journalism from Columbia University and a bachelor’s degree in journalism and art history from NYU—her undergraduate capstone project was published by Bklynr. Her work has also appeared in the New Yorker, Scientific American, the New Republic, Harper’s Bazaar, Wired, Esquire, and Nautilus, among other publications.
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.
For details on the Matthew Power Literary Reporting Award, visit the award page. Applications for next year’s competition may be submitted starting in November.
