Class Description
About the GrubStreet Short Story Incubator:
A competitive, accessible – and repeatable – MFA-level course, spanning 8 months, for ten short story writers from all backgrounds who want to move their stories from “workshop good” to publishable quality.
Prospective applicants to the Short Story Incubator should be aware that this year's program will be held virtually on Zoom.
Most MFA-level writing programs focus on eliminating major problems in a story – getting it to the point where no one in workshop has any serious objections. Rarely does a program or course focus on developing a story into an outstanding, finished piece that fully realizes its writer’s vision. Our unique model was designed to provide concrete and specific tactics to navigate the distance between “workshop good” and “publishable.” It is founded on two core premises:
- The short story is a living – and evolving – art form that every writer both follows and reinvents to provide their particular window on human experience.
- Essential to effective workshopping is honoring each writer’s material and approach, whether traditional or experimental, western-based or grounded in the traditions of another culture.
In this program, each writer helps define for themselves the measures that will take essential elements of story (e.g., grounding, tension, motion, resonance) and incorporate those into a narrative that reflects that writer’s vision, priorities, values, and intentions. We believe that all voices must be spotlighted with the range and fullness they deserve and that stories are made better when different voices and approaches are part of the conversation. Students working toward a story collection will have an opportunity to discuss – and check in on – their approaches and goals with the instructor, and will receive access to a 90-minute session on putting together and publishing story collections. They can also tailor their second-term goals toward milestones related to a collection.
The second term also includes a focus on publishing:
- Guest sessions with literary magazine editors
- Insights into the short story marketplace and best practices for story submission
- Targeted submission recommendations for each student
Program Dates and Information:
Location:
- The 2025-2026 Short Story Incubator will take place on Zoom. Writers everywhere are encouraged to apply.
Application Info:
- Application Opens: Monday, April 14, 2025
- Submission Deadline: Monday, June 16, 2025 at 11:59pm EST
- Decision Notifications: The week of July 14, 2025
Program Dates:
- Program Duration: September 2025 - April 2026
- Class Time: Mondays, 6:00-9:00pm EST
- First Day of Class: Monday, September 15, 2025
Free Information Sessions:
Financial Info:
- Tuition Total: $4,525
- Scholarship Info: Available in the amount of 25% to 75% off the total tuition cost. The optional and brief application is attached at the end of the standard program application for your convenience.
This class will take place using Zoom videoconferencing. After registering, a yellow Resources tab will appear in this section containing a link to join class. Please note that you will need to be logged into view the Resources tab.
Zoom Participation:
In our experience, the intimate nature of a writing workshop benefits from on-camera participation. Students are of course welcome to turn their camera off whenever they need to, but it is a community norm for cameras to be on most of the time. You can learn more about using Zoom here.
Zoom Accessibility:
You can enable closed captioning at any time during the meeting by clicking the CC button at the bottom of the screen. If you'd like to access the transcript after class, please make sure to let your instructor ahead of time that you'd like a copy.