Spanning 10 months from September to June, the Essay Incubator is an intensive, MFA-level, in-person program for dedicated and curious essay writers interested in writing and revising new and existing essays and publishing them. We are now accepting applications for the 2025-2026 Essay Incubator. The submission deadline is Wednesday, July 16, 2025, at 11:59PM ET. There are fellowships available. Apply today!

Participating in the Essay Incubator was one of the best decisions I made for my writing life. Before enrolling in the Incubator, I had taken multi-week workshop-based classes but realized what I really needed was an intensive, longer-term program to take my writing to the next level. Meeting every week for ten months gave me the consistency and accountability I needed to keep writing and revising.

But more importantly, it gave me the following skills to sustain a writing practice long after the program ended:

Learning how to read like a writer and write like a reader – The craft lessons we received in this program gave me a strong foundational understanding of how to create a compelling narrative. I learned how to discern elements that make an essay sing and recognize common pitfalls that weaken a piece’s emotional impact. So much of this was learned not only through our craft lectures and readings, but also through the frequent practice of exchanging feedback with each of our fellow Incubees during workshops. When I grasped what it meant to write an effective essay, I began to approach my own drafts with an eye towards my readers, integrating storytelling devices and techniques that I hope will motivate readers to turn the page!

Building resilience in getting my work out into the world – By bringing in editors and published writers as guest speakers, the Incubator demystified the process of how to navigate the literary marketplace. Being in community with classmates who were tenacious about submitting their essays for publication inspired me to submit more, and thus, be more comfortable with rejection. But submitting more also meant increasing our odds for success! Two new essays I drafted during the Incubator were published either during or shortly after the program, and another piece was later selected as a finalist in a writing contest.

Approaching my art with a sense of play and experimentation – This is the most important thing I took away from the Incubator. Generative writing assignments prompted us to experiment with different essay styles and structures, nudging me out of my comfort zone and allowing my inner voice to run free on the page. In the process, I found great pleasure in discovering that I could write across a wide range of topics, from race to pop music to time travel. Additionally, our instructor Ethan Gilsdorf consistently encouraged us to practice radical revision – whether that meant completely restructuring a piece or re-writing it from a different point of view. This helped me feel less precious about letting go of early drafts that were not working in their current form. Before the Incubator, revising terrified me, but now I see this as an opportunity to be bold and try new things!

Even though I am now two years out of the Incubator, I still very much miss commuting to class and seeing my cohort every week at the Seaport. Being a part of our supportive alumni community is one of the biggest joys of my writing life. I do not think I would have become the writer I am today without the excellent feedback, resources, and encouragement I received during our ten months together.

These days, I continue to incorporate all of the lessons learned from the Incubator to cultivate my writing life. I am currently drafting a memoir-in-essays, and this summer, I will attend the Juniper institute and Kenyon Review Writing Workshops to generate new pages for my book under the instruction of some of my favorite writers. I am so thrilled to be where I am in my writing journey right now, all thanks to the amazing experience I received at GrubStreet.

If I had a time machine, I would choose to go back to the beginning of my Incubator year!