The 2023 Editorial Fellow

We are delighted to announce Lydia Mathis as the 2023 A Public Space Editorial Fellow. This March, she begins a nine-month fellowship, which includes mentorship, hands-on experience, and the opportunity to develop a portfolio for the magazine.

In her application, Lydia discussed form and structure in Steven Dunn's novel Potted Meat, the nuance and depth Kathleen Collins brings to her characters, and José Saramago's sentences. We're excited for her to bring her talent for close reading, ear for language, and commitment to seeking out work from the margins to the fellowship this year at A Public Space.

The Editorial Fellowship at A Public Space was established with the support of the 2018 Whiting Literary Magazine Prize. The program aims to support the next generation of editors who will create an ever more diverse and vibrant publishing community—culturally, aesthetically, economically—and to develop a framework for the art of editing, bridging tradition and evolution.

We are grateful to the individual donors and foundations who share our commitment to this mission, and to New York City's Department of Cultural Affairs for their support of the 2023 Editorial Fellowship. Our thanks to everyone who promoted and shared news of this program. And a special thank you to all of the applicants, whose talent and imagination give us hope for the future.

Lydia Mathis is completing her MFA in fiction at New York University. She has worked with Teach for America in Memphis and as a teaching fellow at Coler-Goldwater Hospital in New York City. She received a BA in English literature with a minor in classical civilizations from Agnes Scott College.