Congratulations to all the Grubbies who were published in literary journals across the country, won awards and prizes, secured book deals, and so much more. Our community is closing October 2025 with twenty-two publications, six awards and prizes, and five book publications! Let us celebrate you: submit your good news to GrubStreet’s Department of Congratulations.

Novel Incubator graduate Emily Ross’s mystery / thriller Swallowtail will be published by Galiot Press on November 18th, 2025. She is very grateful to her fellow Novel Incubator grads and instructor Michelle Hoover for giving her feedback on early versions of this book. Elizabeth Schultz was named a finalist in both the General Fiction and Historical Fiction categories of the 2025 Writers' League of Texas Manuscript Contest for her novel The Inward War. The book takes place during the Vietnam War and focuses on three members of a family who must decide how far they’ll go to stop it.

Instructor and Memoir Incubator graduate Aimee Seiff Christian’s essay “Pistol Whipped" is in the latest issue of Hippocampus Magazine. She thanks her incredible writing group for their eagle-eyed edits. Mary E. Klug's memoir Butterfly Dreams: Delving Into China, Cross-Cultural Friendships, and the Environment launched in late July. Both GrubStreet and instructors notably Jennifer Crystal and Dorian Fox are highlighted on the acknowledgements page. Maggie Huff-Rousselle’s poem "Sonnet for a Dead Dog" was published in The Lyric Magazine, Vol 105, No. 3.

Jen Shepherd’s essay, “Sweet Lemon Grass,” was awarded tenth place out of 3,800 submissions in the Writer's Digest 2025 Annual Writing Competition. Additionally, she received two honorable mentions in the contest. Jen thanks her writing buddies Carol Marks Stopforth and Sana Fayyaz for their unwavering support as well as GrubStreet’s fabulous Katie Bannon for providing ongoing inspiration and guidance. Essay Incubator instructor Ethan Gilsdorf published his essay “50 years on, 'Rocky Horror' is still for us freaks and geeks” with WBUR’s Cognoscenti.

Incubator graduate Karen Wilfrid's essay "Les Misérables is 40 this year--and I've never loved it more" was published in WBUR’s Cognoscenti. She would like to thank instructor Dorian Fox and the "Memoir in Progress" cohort for their support and feedback on this piece. Cathy Wang (pen name "Cathy Lue-W") is thrilled to sign with Hannah Strouth of Sanford J. Greenburger Associates. She thanks Blair Hurley for sharing her brilliance in a crucial critique. BWOC member Marchaé Grair's essay "She/Not Her" was a Friday Feature in Torch Magazine. Novel Generator graduate Scherezade Khan's narrative poem "post-nightclub suhoor" was published in the Blue Minaret Literary Journal.

BWOC member Chital Mehta's manuscript Have You Seen Romit? has been chosen as the winner of the AWP 2025 James Alan McPherson Prize for the Novel judged by R. O. Kwon. Her book is scheduled for release in 2026 by the University of Nebraska Press. She would like to thank GrubStreet for the literary support fund that helped her cover submission fees and agent meetings/consultations. Denise Granniss had the first chapter of her YA sci-fi novel The Plague Ship published in the October issue of Embark: A Literary Journal for Novelists. She thanks instructor Stephanie K. Brownell and her online classmates in the “Speculative Series World-Building Workshop” for getting it off the ground. David Meerman Scott’s newest book The Fandom Playbook is being released by Entrepreneur Press in both a print book and as an interactive companion AI chatbot. They will also release a new paperback version of his book Fanocracy: Turning Fans into Customers and Customers into Fans.

B. B. Garin's flash fiction "Breadcrumbs" was published in the Moon Park Review. Additionally, her short story "After the End" was nominated for Best of the Net. She'd like to thank her writing group, formed at the Muse, for all their invaluable feedback. BWOC member and instructor Kayla Degala-Paraíso’s two poems, “Breakfast Tacos” and “The inconvenience store”, were nominated for a Best of the Net award. Randi P. Stern's essay, "Match Day: An Anxious Athlete's Logbook" was published at Racquet Magazine. She is grateful for the feedback she received from Neema Avashia, Ethan Gilsdorf, her classmates in the 2024-2025 Essay Incubator, and from Bessie and Brandon. Instructor and consultant Cara Benson interviewed author Elspeth Hay for Terrain Magazine about healing the human relationship with the natural world.

Judy McClure was interviewed by the Wild Roof Journal's Substack for her role as an assistant editor of Creative Nonfiction for Porcupine Literary. She thanks the Essay Incubator folks and the Friday morning writers group for keeping her motivated and on track. BWOC member and Incubator graduate Thuy Phan has been selected for a weeklong residency at Sundress Academy for the Arts (SAFTA) in Knoxville, Tennessee. She will attend SAFTA in March 2026 to work on her memoir-in-essays. Viktoria Shulevich's humor piece "I’m Excited to Join Your Run Club for All the Right Reasons" was published in Points in Case.

BWOC member Sahil Mehta's debut novel Love, Loss, and Lost Causes was published by Rebel Satori Press. He'd like to thank Milo Todd for his support and encouragement. Additionally, his short story “The Silent World of Jordi Soto,” which appeared in Tint Journal in Fall 2024, has received a special mention in the upcoming anthology Pushcart Prize XLIX: The Best of the Small Presses. Essay Incubator graduate Brandy E. Wyant's essay "To the Woman with Money to Give Away" was published at South 85 Journal. She thanks fellow Essay Incubator alum Judy McClure for her feedback and encouragement. BWOC member Ariel Vanece’s debut picture book, Searching for Mr. Johnson’s Song, launched on October 14th.

Instructor Karen Day's short story “Prodigies” was published this week in Pangyrus Magazine. It was a finalist for the magazine's annual fiction prize. Former board member, instructor, and forever student, Katherine Sherbrooke, is pleased to announce that her fourth novel, This Much is True, will be published by Sibylline Press in September of 2026. She'd like to thank the GrubStreet community of writers for their ongoing encouragement and support. Molly Akin's award-winning chapbook Hospice is now available. Called "a strong, memorable debut,” the collection traces a decade in the poet’s life marked by becoming a mother while supporting a terminally ill parent. Molly thanks GrubStreet instructors Tatiana Johnson-Boria, Angela Siew, and Aimee Suzara for their guidance and encouragement.

Essay Incubator graduate Akemi Ueda’s essay "After Her Brain Surgery, I Was Terrified My Mom Would Never Be My Mom Again" was published in Open Secrets Magazine. She'd like to thank her fellow Essay Incubator alum Andi Brown for his feedback on this essay. Memoir Generator student Paul R. Booth published his first book, Ethos, Pathos, and Alcohol: A Memoir of Childhood Trauma and Resilience, which is written in a braided style memoir. John DiCocco just published his debut novel, FU: A Novel of Foxton University, under the Vulpine Media imprint.

Short Story Incubator graduate Daniel Cohen's flash piece "Orange Juice" won the 2025 Peatsmoke Summer Editor's Prize and was published in their October edition. He thanks GrubStreet members Fran Cronin, Stephanie Erber, Janice Furlong, Daniel Motsinger, and Ann Russell for their useful comments along the way. Brittany Capozzi's personal essay "My Breasts are Not Verbs" was published in Belly Dance New England to bring awareness to breast health.

Memoir Incubator alum Nadia Ghent's memoir-in-progress, Music is Mostly Longing, has been longlisted for the Granum Foundation Prize. Teri Stein’s essay “Penumbra,” published in The Sun in October 2024, was selected as a notable essay in this year’s edition of the Best American Essays. Ayoung Kim's flash nonfiction essay "Breaking Rank" was published in Khora. She thanks her Advanced Essay instructor Ethan Gilsdorf.

BWOC member and Incubator graduate Thuy Phan's essay "In 'KPop Demon Hunters,' there’s something ‘Golden’ for all of us" was published in WBUR Cognoscenti. Consultant Cara Benson's personal essay "Cara Saves the World: Digressions on Failure" was published in the American Book Review. Molly Terrill's debut historical novel, The Violin Maker, will be published by Koehler Books in October 2026. She would like to thank GrubStreet instructor Nora Corrigan for her early guidance and feedback on the manuscript, as well as the members of her writing group and fellow GrubStreet students: Caitlin Andrews, Samantha Mangino, and Marlena Vitali.

Instructor A.J. Rodriguez's short story "Inocentes" was published in the October Issue of Guernica. It was also a finalist for the Adroit Journal Editor’s Prize in Fiction. Sarah Ignatius’s debut novel, The Kaleidoscope of Destiny, will be published by Koëhler Books in August, 2026. She'd like to thank GrubStreet’s community of talented writers, instructors, and consultants, and particularly recognize instructors Jackie Cangro, Diana Renn, and Ben Winters, as well as members Donna Gordon, Judith Saryan, and Susan Semedo for all the help, insights, inspiration, and encouraging words along the way.