Kenyon College playwright in residence Wendy MacLeod is one of two Knox County residents to receive a $5,000 grant from the Ohio Arts Council this year.
She won for a teleplay called "Granite Springs," MacLeod told the Mount Vernon News.
"It's about a bottled water company taking over a small New Hampshire town," she said.
She developed the screenplay at the Orchard Project, which is normally at Saratoga Springs, N.Y., but was held virtually because of COVID-19.
"You work with a sort of cohort of writers," she said. "Everybody is working on their own television project. It's about 10 writers."
"Granite Springs" tells the story of a woman who returns to a "blue blooded" community where people had looked down on her family, MacLeod said.
"She is investigating some arson that appears to be some environmental terrorism," said MacLeod. "She is investigating her mother's death. Her father is accused of killing her mother, and she doesn't believe it was her father."
The setting was familiar to MacLeod, who spends the summers in New Hampshire.
The grant arrived at a good time for MacLeod. Her husband runs the Kenyon in Rome program, and the couple will spend the fall in Italy.
"I'll be in Rome and I will certainly use the money to travel," she said. "Since I won't be making my salary next fall, it will be nice to have it."
For those who are interested in writing plays or screenwriting, MacLeod's advice to see and read as many of the great works as possible.
"See as much as you can and figure out how it works," she said. "See something, read it. See it again."
MacLeod, a Kenyon graduate, is now the James E. Michael Playwright in Residence at Kenyon, teaching play writing, television writing and contemporary dramatic literature.
She received a master's of fine arts from Yale University drama school.
Paul Newman, also a Kenyon graduate, wanted to honor his former teacher at Kenyon, James E. Michael, MacLeod said.
"So he partially funded a chair in [Michael's] name," she said. "They added a position to the drama program."
