Every month, we celebrate successes of all stripes! In August, Grubbies were published in literary journals across the country, won awards and prizes, published books, and so much more. Our community closed August 2024 out with seventeen publications, two fellowships, and three book publications! Let us celebrate you: submit your good news to GrubStreet’s Department of Congratulations.

Boston Writers of Color member Melissa A. Watkins has joined the staff of Lightspeed Magazine as a book reviewer.

Janet Smeltz recently had a short essay published in the "Readers Write" section of the July 2024 edition of The Sun Magazine. The essay was written in response to the magazine's prompt, "Shaving." Janet thanks past GrubStreet class participants and instructors, especially Ethan Gilsdorf and Jennifer Crystal.

Instructor Javier Sinay published the book Después de las 9:53 (After 9:53) by Penguin Random House in Argentina on July 1. It's a 432-page crónica: narrative journalism about a terrorist attack in 1994 in Buenos Aires that killed 85 people.

Memoir Incubator alum Jason Prokowiew was awarded a Fellowship to the Key West Literary Seminar to work with Safiya Sinclair.

Christopher Vrountas' short story "The Last Word" was published in the August 2024 issue of Books 'N Pieces Magazine. This marks his second short story publication this year, following "The Photo," which appeared on February 2, 2024, in The Academy of the Heart and Mind. He extends his gratitude to Nora Corrigan for her consultation on both pieces.

Essay Incubator instructor Ethan Gilsdorf appeared on GBH’s Culture Show to talk about the 50th anniversary of Dungeons & Dragons.

Sylvia Baedorf Kassis's fiction piece entitled "The Dream Diner" won second prize and was published in The Molotov Cocktail's Killer Flash 2024 issue.

Marilyn I. Bellemore’s article "Preserving Fruits and Flowers" was published in Llewellyn's 2025 Herbal Almanac.

Christopher Vrountas’s short story “The Last Word” was published in the August, 2024 issue of Books 'N Pieces Magazine. He would like to thank instructor and consultant, Nora Corrigan, for her thoughtful insights and encouragement.

Instructor Christine Meade published her second novel, The Moon, Her Crown.

BWOC member and instructor Lisa Braxton has received a silver medal from Living Now Book Awards in the mature living/caregiving category for her memoir-in-essays Dancing Between the Raindrops: A Daughter's Reflections on Love and Loss.

Writing to Heal instructor Jennifer Crystal was interviewed by CanvasRebel Magazine about her career as a writer and educator and about her forthcoming book, One Tick Stopped the Clock. Alison Goldberg's picture book Eighteen Flowers for Grandma, illustrated by Jesse White, will be released from Red Comet Press in September. I

nstructor Ethan Gilsdorf will be a featured reader for "Stranger Stories, A Live Lit Night of True Stories by Local Writers" September 4 at Askew in Providence, RI.

Incubator graduate Linda Button’s memoir-in-progress Fight Song was runner-up in Unleash Press’s inaugural Work-in-Progress contest. She thanks her tirelessly supportive Memoir Incubator class and fellow essay writers.

NmaHassan Muhammad’s short story “A Strange Thing We Saw” has been reprinted recently by Poetry Journal.

Virginia Pye was honored to be a 2024 judge for the James Jones First Novel Fellowship, a generous award that every incubator graduate and novelist should consider.

Memoir Incubator graduate Linda Cutting has been awarded a VCCA Fellowship.

Cat Green's review of Anthony Oliviera's novel Dayspring was published in manywor(l)ds magazine.

Essay and Memoir Incubator graduate Nellie King had her essay “My only child died of a drug overdose. She's one of 1.1 million Americans lost since 2000” published by WBUR Cognoscenti. She would like to thank instructors Ethan Gilsdorf, Dorian Fox, Xujun Eberlein, and Alysia Abbott. She is also grateful to all her fellow incubees for their support; special thanks to Nadia Ghent, Terry Yanulavich, and Ruth Bayer for feedback on this essay.

Nancy Grossman’s op-ed "Gaza and Lies: How to keep right on killing" was published in The Daily Hampshire Gazette (Northampton, MA) and The Recorder (Greenfield, MA).

Instructor Catherine Parnell's short story "Birds We've Known" appeared in Cutleaf Journal.

Writing to Heal and Essay Incubator graduate Mallika Iyer’s short essays "How I Found A Beautiful Identity Beyond My Trauma" and "3 Important Things to Remember When People Are Mean" have been published on Tiny Buddha. Additionally, Mallika's essay "Invoking the Buddha at the Auto Body Shop" has been published by Tricycle: The Buddhist Review. She would like to thank her classmates and instructors, Ethan Gilsdorf and Jennifer Crystal, for their brilliant artistic guidance and for building her practice and confidence.