This new year started strong with many community success stories! Grubbies were published in literary journals across the country, won awards and prizes, secured book deals, and so much more. Our community is closing January 2024 out with forty-three publications, twelve awards and prizes, two book deals, and eight book publications! Let us celebrate you: submit your good news to GrubStreet’s Department of Congratulations.

A writing group comprised of GrubStreet students was recently featured in the Boston Globe. After Judah Leblang’s "Memoir in Progress" class finished in 2017, six class members formed a writing group. Six years later they still meet regularly and three became published authors. Laura Beretsky, Jean Duffy, and Bev Boisseau Stohl are grateful to fellow writing group pals Marcie Kaplan, Margaret Lowe, and Susan Schirl Smith.

Instructor Natalie Serber's flash creative nonfiction piece "A Bleeding Body" appeared in INSCAPE Literary Journal, and her piece won Best In Show for CNF. Andrea Caswell's essay "What to Do to Go to Hell" was published in Word West Revue's inaugural issue. She is grateful for Ethan Gilsdorf’s classes. Jeffrey M. Feingold will be the guest on the January 7th edition of the podcast Too Jewish; he will be interviewed about his 2023 debut short story collection, The Black Hole Pastrami, and his follow-up collection, There Is No Death in Finding Nemo.

Instructor A.J. Rodriguez’s short story “Raíces” was published in the emerging writers' issue of New England Review. Boston Writers of Color member Shirley Jones Luke has published a book called Traumaland. Susan Dwyer's memoir essay "The Last Laugh" was published in Months to Years. Her experimental fiction piece was also published in Bindweed Magazine's Winter Wonderland 2023 Anthology. Additionally, Susan Dwyer's short piece "Earnest Correspondence" on the theme of gratitude was published in The Sun. She is grateful to instructors Dorian Fox and Ethan Gilsdorf and the “Memoiristas” for all their support.

Memoir Incubator graduate Tamara MC published an essay, "My boyfriend broke up with me on Christmas after telling me I was his dream girl," in Business Insider. Oona Metz's essay “Why don't we talk — really talk — about divorce?” was named one of the 10 most read articles of 2023 by WBUR's Cognoscenti. Incubator graduate Jason Prokowiew won the 2023 Lascaux Prize in Creative Nonfiction for his essay “The Demulcent of Shame,” originally published by Roxane Gay in her emerging writer series. He thanks his memoir incubator cohort and GrubStreet writing group for their support.

BWOC community member Federico Erebia's debut novel, Pedro & Daniel, is a 2023 Nerdy Book Club YA Fiction award winner. Instructor Carolyn Roy-Bornstein's opinion piece "Burnout Relief, Made Easier" appeared recently in MedPage Today. She thanks instructor Ethan Gilsdorf for his wise op-ed advice. "The Contract," a short story by Imogen Arate, a BWOC Literary Support stipend recipient, was published in the Châteaubriand issue of Meat for Tea.

Emerging Writer Fellow Stevie Billow will be a 2024 Edith Wharton Writer-in-Residence at the Mount. They would like to thank Vanessa Mártir and their "Developing Your Personal Essay" cohort for supporting the development of their creative nonfiction. Instructor Tina Tocco's flash fiction story "Reinvention," previously published in Fiction Fix, was longlisted in SmokeLong Quarterly's Grand Micro Competition. Her flash fiction story "Unsaid," previously published in Hobart, was longlisted for The SmokeLong Workshop Prize.

Irene Stern Frielich’s memoir, Shattered Stars, Healing Hearts: Unraveling My Father's Holocaust Survival Story is now available. She is grateful to her GrubStreet editors and memoir-writing instructors. Muse attendee Christine Eskilson’s flash fiction, “Sabrina,” appears in Deep Overstock Issue 23: Ghosts. Amy Johnson's poem "The Mummy Gets Adopted" was published in Small Wonders. Kitty Beers’ latest short story appears in the December issue of Constellations, A Journal of Poetry and Fiction.

Muse attendee Barbara Ross announces her novella publication in Easter Basket Murder, along with stories by Leslie Meier and Lee Hollis. The novella is part of her long-running Maine Clambake Mystery series. Memoir Incubator graduate Anne Falkowski’s Flash Essay “Cherry Tomatoes” is shortlisted for the DeMott Prize, judged by Dianne Seuss, and will be published in Quarter After Eight.

Incubator graduate Karen Kirsten's OpEd about anti-Jewish and anti-Arab hate was published by the Sydney Morning Herald, The Melbourne Age, The Brisbane Times, and WA Today. She wishes to thank Ethan Gildsdorf and her "Six Weeks, Six Essays" classmates. Amory Rowe Salem's essay "Hope Is the Thing With Feathers," about parenting and chicken-keeping, was published in Longreads. She's grateful to teacher Madhushree Ghosh and her "Jumpstart Your Memoir" classmates for their feedback and support. BWOC community member Melissa A. Watkins has an essay about academic inequality in the new anthology Gifted-ish, edited by Kaitlin Ugolik Phillips. She thanks fellow Grubbie Angie Chatman for her guidance and feedback on early drafts of the piece.

Memoir Incubator graduate Priscilla F. Bourgoine had a flash memoir piece published in the literary journal Where the Meadows Reside. She thanks Alex Marzano-Lesnevich and Ethan Gilsdorf. A chapter from BWOC member Rolando André López’s novel-in-progress, La Grobinita: The First Marmorado Romance, will be published in Not Your Papi's Utopia, a fiction anthology celebrating the work of Latinx authors, edited by Matthew David Goodwin, Sara García, Alex Hernandez and GrubStreet veteran Sara Rivera. The novel will be published by Mouthfeel Books, a Latinx, woman-owned press. BWOC member and Instructor Lisa Braxton is under contract with Sea Crow Press for her memoir in essays, Dancing Between the Raindrops: A Daughter's Memoir of Love and Loss. Publication date is May 7.

BWOC member Andrew Zubiri published his essay “Fibers of Being” in the True Stories column of the Virginia Quarterly Review. Frances McNamara announced the publication of Molasses Murder in a Nutshell, book two of her Nutshell Murder Mysteries, featuring Frances Glessner Lee, the "Mother of Forensic Science." BWOC member Heather Watkins’s poem "Exhaling: The Luxury" was published in the Nov/Dec '23 historic issue of African Voices magazine entitled Hiphop at 50: Where Do We Go From Here, guest edited by Grammy-nominated poet Kevin Powell.

Muse attendee Sylvia Baedorf Kassis published her first flash fiction story in Beyond Words Literary Magazine's My Greatest Fear anthology. She would like to thank Shubha Sunder and fellow writers Daniel Cohen, Rose Darline, Anna Farro Henderson, and Emily Green for reviewing many iterations of this piece. Leah Berkenwald's comedic play "A Feminist Romance Novel, Live!" has been adapted and launched as a four-episode audio drama, "A Feminist Romance Novel, Podcast! Temptations at Sweetwater Creek". Leah thanks her many Grub teachers and classmates for their support over the years. Christina Ganim published her essay “I love you anyway, MBTA," which she wrote during Ethan Gilsdorf's personal essay class, in WBUR's Cognoscenti this week.

Memoir Incubator graduate Tamara MC published an interview with Adiba Nelson about her memoir, Ain't That a Mother in Adanna, a journal for women by women. Jim Berkman published his third novel, a paraquel of The Ambassadors by Henry James, called In the Presence of Chad Himself. Instructor Catherine Parnell's review of Sarah Freligh's collection of short stories, A Brief History of Natural Women, appeared in Heavy Feather Review. Janay Garrick worked with instructor Ethan Gilsdorf to revise a personal essay published in Newsweek, "I Found Love in My Forties—It Was Too Late For Kids."

Giulietta Nardone's itty bitty story, "Trip Of A Lifetime," appeared in 50-Word Stories and was named their co-story of the week. Dawn Cusick’s middle-grade book The Astrochimps: America’s First Astronauts, which will be released in February, was reviewed by Kirkus Reviews. Essay Incubator graduate Kendra Stanton Lee was interviewed about her essay on This American Life for episode 821, "Embrace the Suck." Instructor Aimee Seiff Christian’s essay "I Wanted My Child to be a Child" was included in the anthology Gifted-ish: Women and Nonbinary Writers on Intelligence, Identity and Education.

BWOC member Avie Feilds's article 'Wearing Our Mark: When Mary Ann Plays in The Devil’s Advocate" was recently published in the Winter 2023 edition of Monstrous Femme Magazine. Instructor Tim Weed's novel The Afterlife Project, a finalist for the Prism Prize in Climate Literature, will be published by Podium in early 2025. Tim would like to salute participants in all his GrubStreet novel classes for their brilliance, patience, and persistence. BWOC member Melissa A Watkins’s radio play "Denver Was Different" is being produced as a part of the Denver Art Museum's Artist Takeover Event on January 26. She thanks instructor Mark Fogarty and his screenwriting classes for getting her started on writing for performance.

Megan Beltran was published in 50-Word Stories last September. She is grateful to her GrubStreet writing group members for showing up every week. Memoir Generator graduate Iris (Yi Youn) Kim published a critique, “The Academy Was Right to Snub This Dehumanizing Documentary,” in The Daily Beast. Instructor Kelly Dalke published her short story “Dear First Time Mother Having Your Baby Shower at the VFW” in The Adroit Journal. Kitty Beer's short story "Genesis II," appeared in the December issue of Constellations magazine.

Emily Farris's debut essay collection, "I'll Just Be Five More Minutes: And Other Tales from My ADHD Brain," is out from Hachette on February 6. The book has received early praise from Kirkus Reviews and Publishers Weekly. Some of the essays were built upon works created in "6 Weeks, 6 Essays" with Nancy Agabian in the fall of 2022. Pete Prokesch's flash-fiction story "My Daddy Issues Drove Me to the Monastery" was published in Bull. John Bullitt's essay "Finding Wildness" was published in WBUR Cognoscenti.

Katy Abel's story "Them Dreams" appears in the Winter Issue of October Hill Magazine. The story was first developed in Yu-Mei Balasingamchow's "6 Weeks, 6 Sories"; Katy thanks Yu-Mei for encouragement! Incubator graduate Rachel Zimmerman's essay, "At 59, I needed a fancy gown. Should I go for sexy or mother of the bride?" was published in The Washington Post. She thanks fellow Memoir Incubator alums Aimee Seiff Christian and Katie Liesener for their feedback. BWOC member Samia Chandraker was shortlisted for the Scottish Kavya Prize for a new and emerging writer of color of distinction. She is grateful for the support of her writing group, the Dream Thieves.

Novel Immersive for LGBTQ+ Writers instructor Milo Todd's debut novel, The Lilac People, sold to Counterpoint and is expected to be published in Spring 2025. This work of historical fiction centers on a trans man who must give up the freedoms of early 1930s Berlin to live a life hiding in plain sight — first from the Nazis, and then from the Allied forces. Milo wants to thank the Grub and Novel Incubator communities, most especially Michelle Hoover, Julie Carrick Dalton, and the Season Sixers. Instructor Ron MacLean has won the Black Warrior Review Fiction Prize for his story “Forks of Buffalo.” Thanks to all at BWR, guest judge Michael Martone, and to his friends at Grub for the ongoing support!

C.M. Green’s debut chapbook, “I Am Never Leaving Williamsburg,” will be published in 2025 with fifth wheel press. Keith Aron's essay "A 21-Gun Salute," which he wrote during Carolyn Zaikowski's "6 Essays, 6 Weeks" workshop, has been published in the Fall/Winter 2023 issue of Hypertext Magazine. Memoir Generator graduate Jeanette Tran published "Bánh Mì for Beginners" in River Teeth's Beautiful Things.