Boston Public Library
Children's Writer-in-Residence Program
Associates of the Boston Public Library

The sixth Children's Writer-in-Residence Fellowship winner for the year 2009-2010 has just been announced by the Associates of the Boston Public Library. The award goes to Kelly Hourihan of West Roxbury, Massachusetts who says, “I want to offer all the thanks in the world to the Associates for selecting me for the Children’s Writer-in-Residence program for this coming year. I honestly can’t express how much this means to me as I work towards shaping my career as a writer. Thank you, and thanks to everyone who was part of making the decision; I hope I’ll have the opportunity to thank some of the others personally as well.”

The Associates would like to thank all applicants for the 2009-2010 year for their efforts and interest in this position. There were many qualified applicants and it was a challenging choice.

Kelly Hourihan was born and raised in Roslindale, and she considers herself a Boston girl through and through. After attending Boston Latin School for her high school years, Kelly moved on to Harvard College, where she obtained a BA degree in English in 2004. She’s been trying to strike a balance between writing and “jobs that pay the rent” since then, and is thrilled to have this opportunity to spend the bulk of her time on her writing.

Kelly has also spent a good deal of time doing volunteer work, both as a mentor to young adults and as a certified rape crisis counselor. These experiences have informed the writing of Springbound, a contemporary young adult novel focusing on the struggles of a troubled teen in an alternative high school.

The residency at the BPL will start in September of 2009 and the Associates will welcome the winner with a reception in the fall. Created to provide an emerging children's writer with the financial support and privacy needed to complete one literary work within a nine-month period, the fellowship will provide Ms. Hourihan with a work space in the central Library, plus a $20,000 stipend.

"The Children's Writer-in-Residence Fellowship is cause for celebration for several reasons," notes Associates President and Chair Vivian Spiro. "First, it will provide an exciting new literary talent with the support and public exposure necessary for success; and second, it marks a promising new stage in the evolution of the Associates of the Boston Public Library as an organization. Through the Children's Writer-in-Residence Program, the Associates will visibly further its mission of supporting the Boston Public Library and promoting the importance of writers, books and reading in our culture." The fellowship is funded by an anonymous gift.

The Associates of the Boston Public Library is a community based, non-profit group dedicated to expanding the role of the Boston Public Library in the intellectual life of the city. Every year, The Associates presents a series of public programs promoting awareness of the Boston Public Library's collections and appreciation of writers, writing and books. These include Literary Lights, an annual black tie dinner honoring twelve outstanding New England authors; Literary Lights for Children, a program at which four distinguished children's authors tell Boston schoolchildren why and how they became writers; a hundred year retroactive National Book Award competition, featuring a spirited debate by three former Literary Lights; plus readings, musical performances and receptions designed to enhance public awareness of the Library's holdings. The organization also oversees the David McCullough Conservation Fund, an independent fund dedicated to restoring and preserving the Library's many historic and artistic treasures.