Every month, we celebrate successes of all stripes! In January, Grubbies were published in literary journals across the country, won awards and prizes, published books, and so much more. Our community is closing January 2023 out with 43 publications, seven book publications, and two awards & prizes! Let us celebrate you: submit your good news to GrubStreet’s Department of Congratulations.

Amit Shah's essays “Cold Case” and “Watching the Fog,” both developed in classes with Samantha Shanley, were published in The Monograph Magazine. Robin Hennessy's personal essay "Ask Jimmy" was published in The Boston Globe Magazine's “Connections” column. She thanks instructor Ethan Gilsdorf and her classmates from the "Developing your Personal Essay" class for their revision ideas and encouragement.

Fairyland, the Sofia Coppola-produced film based on instructor Alysia Abbott's award-winning 2013 memoir of the same name, will be premiering at this year's Sundance Film Festival in January. The film stars Emilia Jones, Scoot McNairy, Cody Fern, and Geena Davis. Alysia will be leaving her position leading GrubStreet's Memoir Incubator at the end of this term in order to focus on promoting the film and other projects. Instructor Olivia Kate Cerrone co-authored a pedagogical essay on incorporating multiethnic literature in the creative writing workshop, which appeared in the latest print issue of Diasporic Italy. She thanks Christopher Castellani for the support and generosity he has shown toward her students over the years. Pete Prokesch's short story "You Don't Get a Happy Ending" was published in Ponder Review. He thanks his friend Jack Schiff for feedback on the piece. Short Story Incubator Graduate Lesley Mahoney O'Connell's essay "Miles and Music" was published in Contrary Magazine. She is grateful for the guidance and inspiration of instructor Ethan Gilsdorf (“6 Weeks, 6 Essays”) and thanks her devoted writing groups for workshopping this piece to the finish line.

Desiree Browne's essay "Hasta el amanecer," which she workshopped in Tatiana Johnson-Boria's “Nonfiction: Hybrid Texts,” was published in Gotham Writers’ Workshop's magazine, The Razor. Janet Banks’ poem "The Day After Martin Luther King's Assassination" was published in a collection by Lucky Jefferson Press. She thanks instructor Walter Smelt for inspiring her to give poetry a try in his class, “Happy Accidents: Poetic Inspiration.” She’s never looked back. Gary Duehr’s story "Abnormal, Illinois" was published in Apocalypse Confidential. It was kickstarted by workshops with Peter Medeiros on horror and narrative strategies. Memoir Incubator Graduate Tamara MC’s interview with Uncultured author Daniella Mestyanek Young was published in BOMB Magazine. Her review of the memoir was published in DIAGRAM. She's grateful to her Memoir Incubator colleagues, including Julie Brill, Robert Laubacher, and Patty Mulcahy.

Amory Rowe Salem's essay "Letter to a Father of a Motherless Daughter" was published in Pangyrus. She's grateful to Samantha Shanley and her “Writing Motherhood” classmates for their feedback on the piece. Sherra Wong's short story "The Ask" was published in The Florida Review. She thanks her classmates and instructors, Jonathan Escoffery and Colin Corrigan, for their advice and encouragement. Instructor Catherine Parnell's short story "Last Call" was published in The Hyacinth Review. Boston Writers of Color Member Amitha Jagannath Knight has two poems forthcoming in the Writer's Loft poetry anthology for children. She thanks Sara Daniele Rivera and her virtual “6 Weeks, 6 Poems” class from 2018, which helped her to build her confidence to start submitting her poetry. Boston Writers of Color Member Andrew Zubiri’s review of “Florida, Farewell” by J. Martin Daughtry was published online in AGNI.

Boston Writers of Color Member Melissa A Watkins’ sci-fi short story "Mothership Connection" was published in khōréō magazine. Claire Wahmanholm's third poetry collection, Meltwater, will be released this spring by Milkweed Editions. It’s available for pre-order now! Boston Writers of Color Member and 2021 Emerging Writer Fellow Tochukwu Okafor was awarded a 2023 Elizabeth George Foundation grant to complete his book. He would like to thank Dariel Suarez and Meghan Lamb for their support. Boston Writers of Color Member Federico Erebia was chosen to be in the inaugural “Get the Word Out” Poets & Writers publicity incubator for debut authors. He learned about Poets & Writers when he became a GrubStreet writer and member. Memoir Incubator Graduate Doug Smith’s flash essay "Do you know what I keep thinking about?" was published in Under the Gum Tree. He is grateful for feedback from Dorian Fox, Rachel Zimmerman, Katie Liesener, and Aimee Christian.

Christine Eskilson's short story "The Day She Was Gone" was published in Guilty Crime Story Magazine. Alexandra Grabbe’s review of The Distortions, a short story collection on the legacy of war by Christopher Linforth, was published in Heavy Feather Review. Instructor Mary Carroll Moore's short story "Pilots" was awarded an honorable mention in the Etched Onyx fall writing contest, judged by Katie McDougall of The Porch in Nashville. It was published this week via podcast, the story read by Meredith Lyons with an interview where Mary discusses her writing process and how she transitioned from professional food writer to fiction writer. Boston Writers of Color Member Tanya Sangpun Thamkruphat's second poetry chapbook, It Wasn't A Dream, was published by Fahmidan Publishing & Co. Mary Dittrich Orth's essay “In the Grip” was published in Halfway Down the Stairs. She is thankful to the crew of dedicated writers in Ethan Gilsdorf's “Developing Your Personal Essay,” whose close reading and insightful feedback was key in finalizing this piece.

Boston Writers of Color Member Kaija Langley’s debut MG novel, The Order of Things, will be released on June 6, 2023 by Nancy Paulsen Books/Penguin Young Readers. Kaija read an early excerpt of this book as part of the GrubStreet LitUp 2020 fundraising event. Jennifer Luh's debut short story, “Guai Guai,” was published in Chestnut Review. She thanks her GrubStreet instructors Yu-Mei Balasingamchow (“6 Weeks, 6 Stories”), Katherine Yeh (Advanced Short Fiction Workshop), and her classmates and friends for the support and feedback. Sohana Manzoor’s short story “Babu” was published in Parentheses Journal. She wrote the first draft in Stacy Mattingly’s “6 Weeks, 6 Stories” class. She thanks Stacy and her classmates for their feedback and encouragement.

Jeffrey Feingold was accepted as a new member of The Writers Room of Boston. Edward A.Iannuccilli’s book Essays on the Art and Pain of Downsizing was released. He was helped by taking the class on humor in writing. Allison Ijams Sargent’s essay “In this celestial infinity, we are here” was published in WBUR’s Cognoscenti. Allison thanks her Grub instructors for their warm encouragement and their exhortations to submit, submit, submit! Andrea Caswell's essay "The Perfect Age" was published in Hags on Fire. She's grateful to Dorian Fox for his excellent class on flash CNF. Pete Prokesch's flash-fiction story "Expecting" was published in Across the Margin.

Shiva Saboori’s essay “Moman's Secret Agenda” was published in Fourth Genre: Explorations in Nonfiction. She is grateful to Dorian Fox for patiently reading multiple versions of the essay and making spot-on suggestions. Memoir Incubator Graduate Tamara MC’s flash essay “A Monstrous Boy” was published in Dorothy Parker's Ashes. John David Ferrer’s fourth novel and sequel to Barcelona Borinquen, My Beloved Borinquen, will be published by Amazon.com. Instructor Mary Carroll Moore's short story "Casting" was published in Barely South Review. Kaecey McCormick's experimental flash fiction story "The Number of Things," which they started in “6 Weeks, 3 Stories” with Meghan Lamb, has been accepted for publication in Clockhouse.

Thanks to the great classes offered by Grubstreet, Sona Mohammadi’s (pen name: FM Deemyad) debut novel, The Sky Worshipers, was released as audiobook on Audiobook.com, Audible, Spotify, and other venues. If you’re interested in receiving a complimentary copy while giveaways last, please email: [email protected]. Frances McNamara’s book Molasses Murder in a Nutshell, set in Boston during the 1919 molasses flood, was released January 10th by Level Best Books. It is the first of three books in the Nutshell Murder Mystery series.