This month, Grubbies were published in literary journals across the country, won awards and prizes, secured book deals, and so much more. Our community is closing July 2023 out with thirty-six publications, three awards and prizes, one book deal, and three book publications! Let us celebrate you: submit your good news to GrubStreet’s Department of Congratulations.

Boston Writers of Color member Andrew Zubiri published his personal essay "The Little Despairs of Despedidas" in World Literature Today. Paige Kaptuch's short story "San Rafael Swell" appears in the Summer 2023 Issue of Epiphany. She'd like to thank instructor Henriette Lazaridis for her enthusiasm and encouragement, as well as members of her novel-in-progress workshop who saw the first drafts of this story (also an opening chapter). Memoir Incubator graduate Meg Senuta's essay "Long Live Lois Lane" was published in Cognoscenti. She'd like to thank the Hive, the Three Writers group, and her accountability partners. Instructor Dorian Fox's flash essay "How to Build Resentments (List of Parts)" was published in Short Reads. Another essay of his, "You've Seen What Dogs Do to Rabbits," was a finalist for the Page Prize and will be published in The Pinch. He thanks the Nonfiction Narwhals for their invaluable notes.

Sara Letourneau's poem "Meditation for a Bicyclist" was recently published in Amethyst Review. Instructor Lisa Braxton completed a personal essay collection on the topic of grieving. Boston Writers of Color member Federico Erebia's debut novel, Pedro & Daniel, has received starred reviews from Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, and Shelf Awareness. Additionally, Federico was featured in a Kirkus Magazine profile article. Lynda Rushing's essay "How to Prepare for a Visit from Your Daughter and Her Fiancé" was published in The Summerset Review. She'd like to thank Ethan Gilsdorf and the students in last summer's "Intro to the Personal Essay" for their helpful comments. She'd also like to thank her writing coach, Carolyn Zaikowski, for her editing advice and encouragement and her daughter, Kira Gendlerman, for her willingness to be the subject of her mother's essays.

Memoir and Essay incubator graduate Linda Button's essay "Momo's Deadline" was published in Longreads, and she thanks her Incubator class and Ethan Gilsdorf's kind guidance. Donna Luff is thrilled to announce the publication of her book, co-authored with Lorraine Mangione, Mary Climbs In: The Journeys of Bruce Springsteen's Women Fans. The book has been reviewed in Publishers Weekly and featured in an article in The Guardian UK newspaper. A longtime Grubbie, Donna is grateful to many in the Grub community who have supported her on this book journey. Gil Israeli's story "Witness Seven" will appear in Issue 15 of The Spry Literary Journal and be anthologized in The Journal of Experimental Fiction. Additionally, Gil is rewriting his soon-to-be anthologized story ("Witness Seven") into a play during his current residency at the Dorland Mountain Arts Colony.

Essay Incubator graduate Ellen Braaten's essay "How Should Kids Spend Their Summer?" was published in Cognoscenti. She'd like to thank Ethan Gilsdorf and fellow Incubator students for their insights and support. Marcia Yudkin published her essay "The Spy I Wasn't" in The Raven's Perch. She workshopped it in "Six Weeks, Six Essays."

Jeffrey M. Feingold will be reading from his debut fiction collection, The Black Hole Pastrami (MFT Press, 8/1/23), for The Writers’ Room of Boston’s “Readings from the Room” on July 18. Additionally, stories from Feingold's The Black Hole Pastrami will be performed by members of the Screen Actors Guild in Los Angeles for The New Short Fiction Series on July 26.

On July 4, Carol Steinberg, along with others, had an op-ed in the Boston Globe on the theme of disabilities and freedom. Hers was called "Finding Freedom at the Head of the Class." She thanks Alysia Abbott and Michelle Seaton for getting her to write and submit. Sara Letourneau's poem "Where I'm From" was recently featured as part of Alyson Sheldon's Where I'm From Poetry Project. Watch the reading and interview on Instagram or YouTube.

Bev Stohl recently published her memoir Chomsky and Me, and it is now available for purchase. Bill Fried's essay "No Direction Home: An Accidental Trip Through Privilege" was published in CounterPunch. He thanks instructor Ethan Gilsdorf for his support.

Karen Samuelson's novel Weaving Dreams in Oaxaca was published this past May and is available on Amazon, the Book Rack in Arlington, and Porter Square Books in Cambridge. She thanks GrubStreet classes and students who have been a constant support along her writing path. Memoir Incubator graduate Margaret Woo published a nonfiction piece titled "100 years ago my grandfather emigrated from China. He never could have imagined a Mayor Wu" in Cognoscenti. She thanks her incubator classmates and Alysia Abbot for their encouragement and support. Memoir Incubator graduate Judy Bolton's essay "Rearranging My Nervous System" was published as part of Oldster Magazine's "Letter to My Younger Self" series.

Histria Books recently released the softbound edition of Sarah Patt's second novel titled Dakota. It is also available in hardcover and e-book formats. She is also enormously grateful it's in circulation at public libraries. Ted Flanagan's novel Every Hidden Thing was chosen by The Times of London as one of its Best Thrillers of July. Published in the US in 2021, No Exit Press is releasing its version of the book on July 27. Alyssa Hull's humor piece "Side Hustles of My High School Students or Second Jobs of My Teacher Friends?" was published by McSweeney's Internet Tendency. Viktoria Shulevich had her short humor piece "Tiny Delusional Love Stories" published in The New Yorker Daily Shouts.

Memoir and Essay Incubator graduate Kristen Paulson-Nguyen's collaborative essay, "The Sum of Us," written with Cedar Ridge Writers, is forthcoming in the Publish Her Anthology, Better Together: A Collection of Essays of Women Gathering, available now for pre-order. Memoir Incubator graduate Aimee Seiff Christian's craft essay "Where's The Heat?" was published in SmokeLong Quarterly. She thanks her 2022 GrubStreet "4 Weeks, 4 Essays" students for giving her the opportunity to do a deep dive into flash nonfiction. Essay Incubator graduate Lauren Rheaume published two flash creative nonfiction pieces in the forthcoming anthology called Stained: An Anthology of Writing About Menstruation. She thanks the Roof Writers, her Essay Incubator classmates, and Grace Talusan for all their support.

Sara Letourneau's poem "Bacon" was published in Portrait of New England, Volume 3. Jennifer Beard published her essay "Families make us who we are. What remains after they’re gone?" in Cognoscenti. Memoir Generator graduate Iris (Yi Youn) Kim's essay "'Past Lives' and my family know the true role of that almost mythological first love" was published in Salon. Memoir Incubator graduate Jason Prokowiew's essay "Good Art Friends" was published in Brevity. He thanks Lorena Hernández Leonard for helping inspire this piece. Monica Judge's essay "Still Life" was selected as the winner of Fourth Genre's Steinberg Memorial Essay Prize by Debra Gwartney. She drafted the essay for workshop with Shuchi Saraswat and is grateful for her feedback, as well as for the critiques of her classmates.

Jeffrey M. Feingold’s debut short story collection, The Black Hole Pastrami, is now available at Amazon and from the publisher, Meat For Tea Press. The book – as well as Jeffrey’s second short story collection, There Is No Death in Finding Nemo – will be for sale at Wellesley Books, in Wellesley, MA where Jeffrey will be doing book signings and a reading on September 18, 2023. WBUR's Cognoscenti published Novel Incubator graduate Tracey Palmer's essay "The Pure Joy of Being a 'Grown-up' BTS Superfan." She is grateful to fellow Novel Incubator and Cognoscenti editor Sara Shukla for her expert editing and encouragement. She thanks BTS ARMY for making the essay go viral on Twitter!

A segment of Memoir Incubator graduate Polly Ingraham's memoir manuscript, "Falling in Love, Over the Chasm," will be published by Unleash Press in September. Instructor Ethan Gilsdorf worked with Polly on a recent revision. Joanne Skerrett's new novel Island Man will be released August 1 by Red Hen Press and received a wonderful review from Kirkus.