2026 Fellowship Award

Thekkumkattil will create Abolish the Hospital, an anthology of essays and speculative work by abolitionist healthcare workers, people practicing care outside the health care system, and underrepresented care workers.

2023 Project Award

Thekkumkattil will complete a creative nonfiction essay collection, “The Sexuality of Care,” weaving their experiences as a trans, nonbinary critical care nurse with queer theory, disability justice and Malayali homeland wisdom. They will document histories of care across cultures, examine violence within the current healthcare systems, and explore innovative ways of practicing care work.

Thekkumkattil will enroll in the Unicorn Authors Club, an online community and ecosystem of support for people of color to help authors complete their books. They will talk about their writing with others, grapple with what they see as the harm and violence of nursing within a trusted circle of peers, and take the next steps in writing with guidance from mentors.