Current Cheuse Fellows
Arpita Roy is a second year MFA student in Creative Writing Poetry. She completed her BA and MA in English from Jadavpur University. Born in West Bengal, Arpita spent her childhood in various cities in India, though Kolkata occupies a special place in her heart.
With the Cheuse Center Fellowship, Arpita intends to investigate the relationship between solitude and community. She is interested in understanding and responding to the poetic portrayals of this relationship as done by the English Romantics and Modernists, visiting specifically the places of relevance in Britain and Ireland.
Ashlee Green (she/they) is a first-year MFA candidate in nonfiction writing. The former managing editor of a community newspaper in Pittsburgh, Pa., she holds a B.A. in creative nonfiction writing from the University of Pittsburgh. In her free time, she enjoys practicing handstands, visiting art museums, stoking bonfires, and napping in her hammock.
Green will use their Cheuse Travel Fellowship to travel to Norway and research the country's history of anarchism, naturism, and sauna culture. They plan to conduct on-the-ground interviews with Norwegian anarchists, naturists, academics, and historians for a zine of collected perspectives regarding body politics and the natural world.
Judy Leserman is a first-year candidate in Poetry Writing and holds a BA from Yeshiva University and an MA from CUNY Lehman College. Currently, she works as an editorial intern for
Poetry Daily and as a speech therapist for children with hearing loss using listening and spoken language.
With her fellowship, Leserman will be traveling to Antananarivo, Madagascar and surrounding areas to investigate the history and culture of a small community in Madagascar's capital that converted to Judaism despite linguistic, cultural, and geographic barriers. In her writing, she hopes to explore topics of identity, otherness, and the joy this community has expressed in their found identity and lifestyle. She is grateful for the opportunity to spend time with this gracious community, document their personal accounts, and share her experiences with them through poetry.
Arpita Roy is a second year MFA student in Creative Writing Poetry. She completed her BA and MA in English from Jadavpur University. Born in West Bengal, Arpita spent her childhood in various cities in India, though Kolkata occupies a special place in her heart.
Ashlee Green (she/they) is a first-year MFA candidate in nonfiction writing. The former managing editor of a community newspaper in Pittsburgh, Pa., she holds a B.A. in creative nonfiction writing from the University of Pittsburgh. In her free time, she enjoys practicing handstands, visiting art museums, stoking bonfires, and napping in her hammock.
Judy Leserman is a first-year candidate in Poetry Writing and holds a BA from Yeshiva University and an MA from CUNY Lehman College. Currently, she works as an editorial intern for Poetry Daily and as a speech therapist for children with hearing loss using listening and spoken language.