2025 recipients
Ruth Terry, Istanbul, Turkey, and Grand Rapids, Michigan
Ruth Terry is a freelance developmental editor for Sage, a leader in academic publishing, and a multi-award-winning journalist. She recently completed the University of Washington’s Certificate in Editing program. She plans to use her fellowship for training to hone her editing skills for commercial fiction.
Brittany Yost, Seattle, Washington
Brittany Yost is a freelance developmental editor and sensitivity reader with a master’s degree in publishing studies and a focus on inclusive and diverse manuscripts. She presented at ACES VCON24. She plans to use her fellowship funds to develop online courses in sensitivity reading and inclusive editing.
Rhonda Kronyk, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Rhonda Kronyk is an editor, writer, and advocate for culturally respectful publishing practices. She is a founding member of the Indigenous Editors Association and is developing three courses about diversity. She plans to use her Holden funds to complete three courses and to attend the 2026 Editors Canada conference.
Tanya Natalie Kurukulasuriya, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Tanya Natalie Kurukulasuriya runs an editing and proofreading business and co-owns a secondhand bookshop that doubles as her editing office and a space for local writers. She believes lifelong learning is essential for editors. She plans to use her fellowship for professional development that deepens her understanding of cultural sensitivities.
2024 recipients
Britt Camacho, Newark, New Jersey
Britt Camacho is the DEIA (diversity, equity, inclusion, and access) and communications senior copy editor for the American Booksellers Association, as well as a freelance editor and writer. She is committed to helping stories by diverse authors reach the readers who need them. She plans to use her fellowship for training in content, communications, and community.
Alicia Chantal, Edmonton, Alberta
Alicia Chantal is the sole proprietor of Fresh Look Editing, where she copy edits, proofreads, and does sensitivity reads for businesses, nonprofits, and independent authors. She was among the editors who formed Editors Canada’s Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Task Force. She plans to use her fellowship for training in health editing and in recognizing and undoing microaggressions in editing.
Guntaas Kaur Chugh, Saharanpur, India
Guntaas Kaur Chugh is a self-employed DEI/sensitivity and editorial professional whose clients include Disney, Pearson, the BBC, and Cambridge University Press. She has dedicated her career to making publishing as inclusive and diverse as possible. She plans to use her fellowship to attend editorial events and workshops.
Briana Gwin, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Briana Gwin provides freelance copywriting, proofreading, and developmental and line editing to independent clients, and is senior prose editor of The Seventh Wave magazine. She previously worked at Milkweed Editions and Guernica magazine. She plans to complete the Chicago Manual of Style Editing Certificate.
Shannon Scott, Elizabeth City, North Carolina
Shannon Scott owns Sage Editing LLC and is a fiction story coach and developmental editor who guides queer romance authors. She is co-president of the LGBTQ+ Editors Association. She plans to use her fellowship to complete the Club Ed Freelancers Certificate in Developmental Editing of Fiction.
2023 recipients
Adebe DeRango-Adem, Toronto, Ontario
Adebe DeRango-Adem is a freelance editor and sensitivity/equity reader with more than a decade of experience. She was the inaugural Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Adviser to Editors Canada, and her poetry collection Vox Humana won the 2023 Raymond Souster Award. She plans to complete a certificate in publishing and develop a book on equity in editing.
Rosalind Early, St. Louis, Missouri
Rosalind Early is a freelance writer and the former editor-in-chief of the Riverfront Times, an alternative newsweekly. In 2018, she was honored as a Rising Leader of Color by the Theatre Communications Group. She plans to use her fellowship to further report on marginalized communities in St. Louis.
Tiana Garrett, Portsmouth, Virginia
Tiana Garrett is an epidemiologist turned science copy editor and public health consultant, and a technical writer-editor for Tanaq Government Services on the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. She has more than 15 years of experience in copy editing, scientific writing, and data analysis. She plans to strengthen her medical editing skills and her proficiency with inclusive, person-first language.
Shavonne Mott, Odenton, Maryland
Shavonne Mott is a technical editor and assistant section supervisor of the editorial team at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. She has been active in DEI work for the lab’s communications department and led the development of its first internship program. She plans to strengthen her leadership skills in project management.
2022 recipients
Ambreia Meadows-Fernandez, Cheyenne, Wyoming
Ambreia Meadows-Fernandez is a health and parenting writer whose work focuses on the history of medical discrimination and Black women’s reproductive experience. She is associate editor of Kindred, a digital community for Black families, and won a 2018 Salute to Excellence Award from the National Association of Black Journalists. She plans to use her fellowship to highlight stories of Black people across their reproductive life spans.
Eryka Parker, Cleveland, Ohio
Eryka Parker owns a literary agency offering affordable editing for aspiring authors and works as a writing and book coach. She has ghostwritten or co-written almost a dozen books with visually impaired, juvenile, and disadvantaged BIPOC writers. She plans to use her fellowship to build relationships with industry professionals who can open doors for minority writers.
CaTyra Polland, Rochester, New York
CaTyra Polland is an independent author, freelance manuscript editor, copywriter, and speaker who launched a podcast on editing and writing and founded a scholarship for urban high school students. She is also a Bilingual Jr. Speechwriter with the City of Rochester. She seeks to ensure that Black authors have access to fair and accessible editorial services.