Veteran BDN writer receives inaugural Nieman Fellowship

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Alicia Anstead of Castine, a veteran writer for the Bangor Daily News, has received the inaugural Nieman Fellowship in Arts and Culture Reporting from Harvard University’s Nieman Foundation for Journalism.

Anstead, 44, is the first reporter in the paper’s history to receive such a fellowship, considered one of the most prestigious in the industry.

“She represents exactly the kind of journalist we were hoping to attract: someone with a deep commitment to the local community who could use the Nieman experience to influence her impact on the future course of arts and culture in the community,” Bob Giles, the fellowship’s curator, said by phone Monday.

The cultural component is new to the program, which also offers 29 other national and international fellowships that allow reporters to delve deeply into an area of interest. According to Giles, this award underscores the value of the arts at a time when many newspapers are scaling back cultural coverage.

“The arts and culture are a critical part of the structure of a community, the spirit of the community. They’re one of the things that makes life more livable,” he said. “When you have someone on your staff who is an authority on such a subject, it makes the newspaper a more important vehicle to the community.”

Giles said Anstead’s dedication and enthusiasm set her application apart, as did her familiarity with the academic and cultural resources at Harvard and in the surrounding communities. To apply, Anstead submitted selections of her work, a professional biography and a project proposal on which she will focus her studies during the 10-month program.

Anstead’s proposal has its roots in the Blaine House Conference on the Creative Economy, which took place in Lewiston in 2004.

“It really fired my imagination to a side of the arts that I hadn’t explored very thoroughly, which is the economy of the arts, the business of the arts,” Anstead said. “I began at that point to read more, research more and head a little bit more in the direction of business. My proposal is the culmination of that exploration.”

Though Anstead’s academic background lies in the written word – she has an undergraduate degree in literature from American University in Washington, D.C., a master’s in English from the University of Maine and left a doctoral program in English at the University of Rhode Island to take a job at the BDN – her passion lies in the arts, in particular, live theater.

During her nearly 20-year tenure in Bangor, Anstead has set the tone for arts coverage in the region as a reviewer, feature writer and columnist. She has led a series of “Back Talks,” which foster public dialogue about performances, artists and cultural concerns. In addition, Anstead has served as a consulting editor for Inside Arts, a Washington, D.C.-based trade magazine.

In 2001, she was selected to participate in the National Arts Journalism Program at Columbia University, a highly selective, yearlong fellowship.

“Just when you think she’s reached the peak of her development as a journalist, as a writer, she surprises you and brings her experience to another level,” said A. Mark Woodward, the BDN’s executive editor. “She’s an exceptional journalist, one of the best we’ve ever had here. She’s a terrific representative of the journalists of Maine to go down to Harvard and represent us.”

Though arts are her area of expertise, Anstead is no stranger to state, national and world news. In 2003, she and her husband, journalist Peter Davis, traveled from Amman, Jordan, to Baghdad, Iraq. Throughout their journey, Anstead sent back first-person narratives and dispatches from her conversations with Mainers and those with Maine ties in the region. On their return, the couple led statewide, town-meeting-style talks about the experience.

“What’s most striking about the work I do is the level of interaction a writer is able to have on the ground with artists and readers in Maine,” Anstead said. “To be an intermediary between artists and readers has not only been a privilege, it has offered me cultural stimulation.”

In her absence, arts coverage will be divided among a host of reporters, an opportunity that Anstead thinks will be “exciting for readers.” She reports to Cambridge in August and will return the following June, a stipulation of the Nieman application.

Established in 1938, the Nieman is the oldest midcareer fellowship for journalists in the world. More than 1,200 people from 88 nations have come to Harvard as part of the program.

Among Maine’s better-known Nieman fellows is Richard Dudman, the longtime Washington bureau chief for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch who now lives in Ellsworth. Chris Cousins, a reporter from the Brunswick Times-Record, is a member of this year’s class.

Anstead says she’s eager to grow as a reporter and writer, and she looks forward to reporting on the business of the arts – and what the arts can teach business – when she returns. If she has any free time, she’ll likely spend it jogging along the Charles River or standing in line for Red Sox tickets.

“I’m excited and intrigued and full of anticipation about what this means for me, personally and professionally, about what it means for the newspaper, and about how I will bring it all home, what will happen on the other side,” Anstead said. “It’s not just about what happens there; it’s about what happens when I come back.”

For more information, visit http://nieman.harvard.edu.