In the fall of 2022, in response to the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, GrubStreet offered six free and low-cost nonfiction classes titled "Your Body, Your Story" to provide a platform for writers to explore and express their experiences surrounding pregnancy, abortion, miscarriage, and reproductive justice.

Now, one year after the Supreme Court Dobbs decision, GrubStreet is proud to present Our Bodies, Our Stories, the inaugural collection of essays and poems that emerged from this series.

“Our intention for this series and the anthology was to help writers highlight the profoundly personal experience of pregnancy and the profoundly personal choices we must be allowed to make about our bodies and, ultimately, our stories,” said GrubStreet Director of Programs Erin Weiss.

Kavita Jablonka, a writer and workshop participant, reflected on the impact of the workshop series, saying, "Over the course of those eight weeks, I became a part of an intergenerational collective of writers whose vulnerability, strength, and resilience inspired me. Hearing from others about their experiences of childbirth, parenting, fertility treatments, miscarriages, and terminated pregnancies broadened my perspective on my own pregnancies, their endings, my undeterred desire to become a mother, and the unavoidable pain of having to make hard choices."

The anthology represents a diverse range of voices, honoring the lived experiences, emotions, and perspectives that shape the vast landscape of pregnancy, abortion, miscarriage, and reproductive justice narratives. GrubStreet expresses deep gratitude to the workshop participants for their willingness to share their stories and to GrubStreet's donors for making this class series and the resulting anthology possible.

To make the anthology accessible to all, Our Bodies, Our Stories can be read for free online or picked up as a print anthology at GrubStreet's Center for Creative Writing on the first floor of Porter Square Books: Boston Edition while supplies last.

GrubStreet aims to continue offering free and low-cost classes on pressing contemporary themes through our new series, "Our Times, Our Stories." Each year, an e-book and print anthology featuring writing that emerges from the series will be distributed.

To support GrubStreet's "Our Times, Our Stories" series, please visit our donation page.