Every month, we celebrate the writing wins of our community! This month, Grubbies were published, won awards and prizes, secured book deals, and so much more. Our community is closing out December 2023 with thirty-seven publications, six awards and prizes, one book deal, and seven book publications! Let us celebrate you: submit your good news to GrubStreet’s Department of Congratulations.

Muse Attendee Stephanie Schorow, has published her first novel, Cat Dreaming: A Story of Friendships and Second Chances with Small Town Girl Publishing. Joy Winkie Viola announced publication of her 30-page full color Children's Picture Book, Whichi the White Chipmunk, which is drawing 5 star reviews on Amazon. Michal Regunberg’s crime novel Crossing the Lines is out on Amazon. Self-published by American Real Publishing. He started the novel during the Jumpstart Your Novel class at GrubStreet.

Memoir Incubator grad Ann MacDonald published an essay, "Write a Letter, Develop Your Voice," in the Brevity Blog. She thanks her writing group, the Hive, for their ongoing encouragement. Viktoria Shulevich's short humor piece "We Can't Wait to Be Part of Your Neighborhood, But First We Need to Dig This Massive Hole" was published in McSweeney's Internet Tendency. BWOC community member, Amitha Jagannath Knight has published two poems, "Shesha Naga" and "Navagunjara, the Masterpiece," in the children's poetry anthology Gnomes and Ungnomes: Poems of Hidden Creatures.

Former Muse Teaching Scholar and BWOC member, Lydia X. Z. Brown's article "Hiring Discrimination by Algorithm: A New Frontier for Civil Rights and Labor Law" was published in the American Bar Association's quarterly Human Rights magazine. Stephanie Mohr shares that her creative nonfiction piece "Soles," which began as a response to a class assignment in Meghan Lamb's Six Weeks Six Essays class, has been published in Open: Journal of Arts & Letters. Martha Bonnie, a student in Kristen Paulson-Nguyen’s 6 Weeks, 6 Essay class, published her essay, "Leo the Lion" in The Keepthings. The Dutch edition of Vinod Busjeet's novel "Silent Winds, Dry Seas" was published by Sampreshan Publishers. His Dutch book tour included the Hague, Maastricht and Amsterdam. A French edition is underway and it was on the Longlist for the 2023 Dublin Literary Award.

Muse attendee David Hallock Sanders recently received a top finalist screenplay award and public staged reading of his short film script, "The New Moon in the Old Moon's Arms," at the Pittsburgh International Film Festival. David's novel Busara Road benefitted from several Muse workshops and Manuscript Mart sessions while in progress, leading to eventual publication. Instructor Deborah Sosin's essay, "I was in 4th grade when JFK was assassinated. I remember it like it was yesterday," appeared in WBUR's Cognoscenti on November 22, the 60th anniversary of the event. Mee Ok's essay "Adoptable" was published in Afterlives: An AGNI Portfolio of Asian Adoptee Diaspora Writing.

Instructor and manuscript consultant, Cara Benson has an essay in the Winter 2023 issue of Orion Magazine about birds, her beloved partner, and his birding book. Two of John W. Farrell’s latest poems “Origins” and “Insolvent Trees” were sold to U.S. Catholic and will appear in separate issues in 2024. Incubator graduate Linda Button’s essay, “Why We Fight” was nominated by Pangyrus for the Pushcart Prize. She is grateful for the support of her friends in both the Memoir and Essay incubator programs.

G.G. Silverman, a Muse attendee, was named a shortlist honoree for the Dzanc Short Story Collection Prize for her proposed short story collection, The Blood Year Daughter. She was also named a finalist for the 2023 St. Lawrence Book Award for the collection. Andrew LeCompte, graduate of Aimee Christian's writing class, is celebrating the publication of his book, Creating Harmonious Relationships: A Practical Guide to the Power of True Empathy. BWOC member Chenoa Baker has won first place in the 2023 AICA Incentive Award for Young Art Critics for her essay, “Traveling Somewhere Warm in Our Minds: 1 Review of Presence in the Pause: Interiority and its Radical Immanence”.

Muse attendee Susan Phillips’s short story "But That Was My Idea!" is online at Grande Dame Literary. She thanks instructor Shelby Kinney-Lang for his great prompts in his 6 weeks, 6 stories class. Essay Incubator alumni Jennifer Dines's article “Prioritizing Mental Health and Trauma Supports in Schools" was published by Boston Medical Center in their HealthCity blog. Marcia Yudkin's essay, "Trespassers" which she workshopped in Leora Fridman's Advanced Personal Essay class, was published in the print publication Meat for Tea.

Tom Elliott's essay "Silence" has been published in The Linden Review. He is grateful to all those who have helped over the piece's long road to publication, especially Grace Talusan, Judah Leblang, and Caitlin McGill. BWOC member Thuy Phan's essay "Mirrors" was nominated for the Pushcart Prize by Pangyrus. Indigo Kinsella has published xyr debut chapbook, Bastard of Fog via Bottlecap Press. Many of the poems, dealing with themes of indoctrination and adoption, were generated in different workshops at Grub Street. Nazli Kibria's personal essay “The Autism Talk" has been published in the Winter 2023 issue of The Coachella Review. The essay was generated during a creative nonfiction class led by Dorian Fox.

Viktoria Shulevich's short humor piece "Tips for Enjoying Our Holiday Market While You Wait in Line to Get In" was published in Points in Case. BWOC member Andrew Zubiri was named a finalist for the 2024 Periplus Fellowship. Angela Thoma and fellow graduates from Trinity College have launched a new literary magazine, The Wild Umbrella. The magazine publishes short fiction, creative non-fiction, and poetry. Submissions are free. Dr. Tamara MC, former cult member, interviews Christina Ward about Holy Food: How Cults, Commune, and Religious Movements Influenced What We Eat, An American History. BWOC member Sofia Romero had her article "7 Spooky Short Story Collections by Latina Writers" published by Electric Lit.

Grubbie Debut author and BWOC member, Federico Erebia's debut novel Pedro & Daniel is a Kirkus 2023 BEST YA BOOK. Past Muse presenter Katherine Howe's new novel A True Account: Hannah Masury’s Sojourn Amongst the Pyrates has been published by Henry Holt. It is even an IndieNext Great Read for December! Instructor Nadia Colburn has published a new collection of poems, I Say the Sky: Poems. Melanie Winklosky's essay, "An Open Letter to the Eleven Adults Responsible for the Majority of Book Bans in Schools" was published by McSweeney's Internet Tendency. She is grateful for the support from her small but mighty writing group she met in Ethan Gilsdorf's Op Ed class. Litro Magazine published instructor Catherine Parnell's short story, "Eurydice." Memoir Incubator graduate Jason Prokowiew will be a 2024 Edith Wharton Writer-in-Residence at the Mount.

Sharon Podobnik published her book It's Not (All) Your Fault, a deeply personal yet thoroughly researched investigation into self-help. She has taken Ethan Gilsdorf's "6 Weeks, 3 Op-Eds" class, Katie Bannon's "Writing About Mental Health: Nonfiction Intensive" and "Raising the Stakes in Nonfiction" classes which have shaped her writing immensely. Marcia Yudkin's personal essay, "Excavating the Past," appears in the most recent issue of Grande Dame Literary. Anne Falkowski’s essay “Counting To Four” was awarded 8th Place in the 2023 Writer's Digest Personal Essay Awards. She thanks Alysia Abbott and the rest of her classmates. Alyssa D. Metcalfe's debut novel Street has launched on Amazon. BWOC member and Essay Incubator graduate Thuy Phan’s essay "Life lessons from Josh Groban, 365 days a year" was published in WBUR Cognoscenti. She thanks her fellow Essay Incubator alumna Sara Schreur for reading drafts and providing thoughtful feedback during the revision process.