Apply
Submission Requirements
- Writing sample (50-300 pages). This excerpt from your memoir should be a polished and thoughtfully-constructed draft that shows a deep engagement with the material and a sense of commitment to its subject matter. However, we do not expect that this sample is the "final form" of any aspect of the project. The sample should be contiguous pages of your strongest writing from your memoir. (If you are writing a fractured memoir, we understand that the order of the fragments may not indicate final form).
- Project description (300 words or fewer). Please tell us how your memoir unfolds beyond the submitted manuscript pages.
- Personal statement (300 words or fewer). Please tell us what you hope to gain from this course of study and what you hope will be different (or the same) from the way you have studied writing until now, whether that's been in workshops, writing groups, or in a more self-directed way. Include your best estimate of how many hours you will be able to devote to class work each week, not including classroom time and your own writing.
- Nomination by a GrubStreet instructor or equivalent workshop leader. No letter is necessary. There is a place on the application form to list your nominator and his/her contact info.
- Experience in at least one workshop at GrubStreet or an equivalent writing center, MFA program or conference. There is a place on the application form to list the titles & dates of previous workshops.
- If applying for one of our scholarships, you must submit a separate scholarship application. You will also be provided the link to the scholarship application at the end of the Memoir Incubator's online application form. You only need to submit this application once.
- There is no application fee.
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Applicants will be notified of their acceptance status by the first week of May. We strongly encourage students to apply as early as possible.
Applications for the 2023-2024 Memoir Incubator are now open. Click here to apply! Applications are due April 3rd, 2023, by 11:59PM EST.
Please note that the Memoir Incubator will be held primarily in-person at our Center for Creative Writing in Boston's Seaport neighborhood, with a selection of classes in each phase of the program taking place on Zoom. The full schedule will be available at the time of admission to the program.
Tuition
The entire cost of the program is $8,595. Tuition is payable in two installments, the first in May, the second in October, 2023.
Fellowships are available and based on a combination of writerly promise and financial need. We strive to locate support for our students who need it, and may offer awardees anywhere from 25% to 75% support, depending on our funding year, and the number of successful applicants. You can apply for a fellowship when filling out the Memoir Incubator application.
Free Open House & Info Session
Thinking of applying? GrubStreet offers informal Q&A sessions each year with alumni and the instructor Xujun Eberlein to answer any questions you have about the Incubator, including the workload, the application process, what the program does and doesn’t entail, the schedule, the philosophy behind our approach, and anything else on your mind.
The next Open House & Info Session will be on Thursday, March 2nd, at the GrubStreet Center for Creative Writing in Boston, from 6:30pm-7:30pm. Click here to register!
Memoir Incubator instructor Xujun Eberlein will also be hosting a virtual Q+A session on Thursday, March 9th, from 6:00pm-7:00pm. Click here to register!