GrubStreet is thrilled to congratulate Jennifer Dines, alum of our Essay Incubator and Writing to Heal Intensive! Her essay, "Teaching in a ‘Sanctuary City’ Under Siege," was published in Current Affairs—and even caught the attention of Mayor Michelle Wu, who celebrated it on Bluesky.

We asked Jennifer how her time at GrubStreet influenced her accomplishment:

"As a full-time teacher and mother of three, I put off my creative life for a long time. I took my first class, "Six Essays, Six Weeks," with E.B. Bartels in the fall of 2019, and the community and excellent teachers have kept me going ever since. My acceptances in the Essay Incubator and Writing to Heal Intensive convinced me that my voice is an important one, and, since my time at Grub, thirty-three of my pieces have been published in print and online publications as well as in the anthology Gifted-ish."

Do you have writing news and want to be featured in the Department of Congratulations? Every Thursday, we feature the good news of GrubStreet community members in our newsletter, Spreading the Love. To be included, please fill out this form. Not only will you be featured in our weekly newsletter, you may be featured in a blog post on our website!