Grantee highlight: Emma Akpan to publish short story from DC‑set collection

Emma Akpan, a short‑story writer and journalist who has lived in Washington for about eight years, was featured as a grantee highlight at the Feb. 23 Commission meeting.

Akpan described her project, Metropolitan, a short‑story collection set in a speculative future DC transformed by cashless ‘walk‑out’ technology. The collection explores themes of overpolicing, cultural appropriation of local language, and digital surveillance; Akpan said the opening story in the collection will appear in the journal Killen’s Arts and Letters (Center for Black Literature) in March.

Akpan told commissioners the Commission’s grant supported her attendance at residencies and workshops and helped her secure feedback that improved her work. She said CAH staff introductions connected her with local artists and communities central to her research and writing.

‘This is my first short story that’s getting published in a journal, and that’s really huge because that’s how agents find you,’ she said, thanking the Commission for its support. The commission offered congratulations at the meeting.

Akpan said the work draws on interviews and community engagement across DC and that grant funds have been used for residencies, workshops and professional feedback.