GrubStreet runs on coffee, printer ink, and community. This series features just some of the Grubbies who make our community strong. In this edition, meet Grub Instructor Jennifer Crystal. You can catch Jenn in person this September, in 6 Weeks, 6 Essays, starting Thursday, September 7th, and Writing About Place, starting Monday, September 11th.

What author, living or dead, would you most like to have dinner with and why?
What an honor it would be to have dinner with Maya Angelou. Her words have spoken to me since I first read I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings in ninth grade ...

Twice a month, we feature our favorite literary links. As ever, we promise: You’ll laugh. You'll ponder. You won’t get any writing done.

From Early Bird Books, a new poem about this American life from Sherman Alexie.

"Hymn." 

Here at Grub HQ, we're always talking about the novels keeping us up at night, the poems that call to us over our morning coffees, and those un-put-down-able memoirs you'll find us reading while walking through four lanes of traffic [Ed.'s note: all walk-reading is performed by Grub's trained extreme readers; do not try this at home]. Every month, we'll share our staff's latest literary obsessions to add to your own never-ending reading list.

Welcome to the inaugural August 2017 edition of "Writing Life Essentials," a monthly hand-curated list of contests, grants, scholarships, submissions calls, and awards, with a focus on opportunities that are local, free to apply, and/or designed to give voice to under represented communities