WESTPORT, CT (June 22, 2022) – Bilingual journalist and writer Camila Vallejo has been awarded the inaugural Writer-in-Residence prize at the Fairfield County Story Lab, a shared workspace in Saugatuck for writers and creatives.

 

Vallejo, who lives in Norwalk, covers housing and social justice issues for Connecticut Public and WNPR, and is a Corps Member of Report for America. She has been a part-time producer for All Things Considered (read and hear some of her stories here) and has written for Connecticut’s Food and Farm magazine.

 

The FC Story Lab’s Writer-in-Residence prize is for early-career writers.

 

“Camila is dedicated not only to telling stories of underrepresented communities, she is committed to bringing diverse voices to the American media landscape,” said FC Story Lab Co-founder Carol Dannhauser. “It is our privilege to welcome her to the Lab.”

 

Vallejo’s work takes her statewide, from Hartford to New Haven to Fairfield counties, as she gets the inside story on housing issues, often reporting on housing disparities in Fairfield County. She tends to file her stories from a closet at home, she said.

 

“Unfortunately, this isn’t unusual today. For a host of reasons, many media companies have trimmed their newsrooms and all but eliminated their bureaus. This means that young reporters, especially, can’t experience the alchemy that happens in a newsroom, where people bounce ideas off of each other and offer suggestions when stories hit a dead-end,” said Dannhauser, a veteran journalist.

 

Vallejo’s residency will enable her to work for free at the spacious Story Lab, whose membership includes a community of veteran journalists, as well as writers, producers, editors and creatives of many stripes. The Lab plans to install a new media suite on-site so that Vallejo can record her radio pieces there.

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