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MIT Graduate Program in Science Writing
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Congratulations to Will Dowd, ’07, for winning the 2022-2023 Woodberry Poetry Room Creative Grant. Dowd will receive a $2,000 stipend to create a multidisciplinary piece called “Dreamfall” that will combine critical essay, art, and poetry. Using Dormio, a wearable technology created at the MIT Media Lab that’s designed to help users harness the creative power of dreaming, Will will spend the upcoming academic year using the Woodberry Poetry Room’s collection of literary recordings to influence his dreams.

“This project was inspired by Dowd’s vision disorder, which has deprived him of the unique feeling of transport that comes from reading great poetry,” according to the Woodberry press release. “He hopes to find a novel use for emerging dream technologies and pioneer a new reading experienceespecially for the print-disabled.”

Congratulations, Will!