CA/T and The Narrative Justice Project Announce Columbia’s First Justice Reads Fellows

In collaboration with Columbia Artist/Teachers (CA/T), The Narrative Justice Project has selected three MFA Writing students—Britt Middleton, Rachel Mikita, and Jessica Hoppe—as the inaugural New York Women’s Bar Association Foundation Justice Reads Fellows. 

Justice Reads is an online journal of literature, voice, and justice launched by Delaware Law Professor and Writing alum Geeta Kohli '17 under the umbrella of the non-profit Narrative Justice Project, also founded by Kohli, which is sponsored by the New York Foundation for the Arts. The Narrative Justice Project examines how poems, short stories, novels, oral histories, and creative essays intersect with and reshape debates in law, business, and policy. 

Reflecting on the project’s origins, Kohli shared, "When I dived back into a legal career after being a stay at home mother for eight years, I immersed myself in the study of literature. I became fascinated with the intersection of art and justice, filling a void I did not know I could fill. I exposed myself to work by artists in different genres—flash fiction, poetry, memoir—and found that artists’ work in each of these genres could be utilized to humanize the changes in law and policy we seek to make, such as the advancement of women’s rights. There is a poetry collection by Terrence Hayes called American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin and in this collection, he writes about experiences within the African American community. Reading and sharing work like this inspired me to create a space where we can read and discuss creative work, and individual stories, and how they relate to law and policy. So in 2019, I founded the project on the belief that storytelling is a tool for empowerment and that NJP will serve to create space for narratives of social justice and feminist culture. Voice and empowerment are critical to the effective practice of law and justice."

The new Justice Reads Fellowship is an innovative grant demonstrating an interdisciplinary commitment to exploring the intersections of storytelling and justice, and will play a role in building a vibrant community of artists, writers, and activists who contribute their creative voices to Justice Reads. Each of the three fellows will receive a term-based stipend from the New York Women’s Bar Association.

For the selected fellows, the recognition is both reward and responsibility. "I know from my own life the power of writing in the midst of facing challenges and injustice," said Mikita. "Now, as an editor and fellow for Justice Reads, I get to be in a place of reading and listening, and helping to elevate the voices of others. I am so honored to be a part of creating a space where the law and writing communities can come together to understand how narrative and storytelling can be a powerful tool for empowerment and creating a sense of justice."

Middleton shared, "I'm so honored to be named as one of Columbia's inaugural NYWBA Justice Reads Fellows. As a former journalist-turned-novelist, I have dedicated my career to uncovering new perspectives. Justice Reads is a powerful bridge between literature and social justice, and I'm thrilled to have a small part in supporting equality for people across all identities."

"I was so inspired by the mission at Justice Reads to advocate for those unfairly relegated to the margins through the power of narrative storytelling," added Hoppe. "Their belief in the ability of narratives to raise consciousness and create meaningful change is one I share. My work as a writer and dedication to community service are in constant conversation—both essential to the development of my praxis as a literary citizen, which is why I was honored to be selected as one of the Inaugural NYWBA Justice Reads Fellows."

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Professor Geeta Kohli is presently the H. Albert Young Fellow in Constitutional Law. Her legal scholarship centers on narrative justice: incorporating marginalized perspectives into the study and practice of contract and business law. She holds a Master of Fine Arts from Columbia University School of the Arts, a law degree from Fordham Law School, and a Bachelor of Arts from Cornell University. Kohli’s short stories and poetry have been published in literary magazines such as Granta, New England Review, The Southern Review, and nominated for a Pushcart Prize.

Britt Middleton is a novelist, poet, and journalist from Los Angeles. Exploring pop culture, reproductive rights, and racial justice, her work has been published by Black Entertainment Television (BET Networks), Refinery29, Popsugar, NYLON, and internationally with Nine Network Australia, among others. She is an alum of the Yale Writers’ Workshop and a former finalist of Disney Entertainment Television’s Writing Program (Comedy). Britt is currently pursuing her MFA in Fiction at Columbia University.

Rachel Mikita is a writer and poet from Blacklick, PA, and Flint, TX, currently based in Brooklyn, NY. She was the winner of the Columbia Journal 2022 Print Poetry Contest, and a finalist for The Plentitudes 2023 Prize in Poetry. Her work has been published in Love and Squalor, The Coal Hill Review, Thimble Literary Magazine, and JMWW. She has received support from the Sewanee Writers’ Conference and the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference. A graduate of Sarah Lawrence College, she is currently a candidate for an MFA in Poetry at Columbia University.

Jessica Hoppe is a Honduran Ecuadorian writer and the author of First in the Family (Flatiron Books, 2024), which was longlisted for the Brooklyn Public Library Book Prize and selected by Esquire, People, San Francisco Chronicle, Marie Claire, Latina Media, and HipLatina as one of the best books of 2024. Named a writer to watch by Publishers Weekly (Fall 2024), Hoppe's work has appeared in The Latino Book Review, The New York Times, Vogue, and elsewhere. She is currently pursuing an MFA in Nonfiction at Columbia University.