Briana Gonzalez, Psychology + English, Class of ’22
Brief Summary: This paper analyzes the strategies and programming of one literary organization in Boston (Grubstreet) and one in Houston (Inprint). Both nonprofits are recognized as leaders in their city, and Gonzalez discusses the factors that have helped them maintain status and influence over the years. Further, the paper finds that each organization could further improve its accessibility and reach by learning from the techniques employed by the other.
A ‘literary organization’ can be defined as a forum that offers programs and workshops to help writers develop their skills, provides reading series, and organizes a community around literature. GrubStreet is a nonprofit literary organization based in Boston, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1997 and is now one of the best writing centers in the nation. On the other hand, Inprint, founded in 1983, is the leading non-profit literary organization in Houston, Texas. In this paper, I will identify the significant events that GrubStreet organizes and their technological advances as elements that can inspire Inprint to grow and develop. Second, this paper will identify Inprint’s specialized outreach to underprivileged communities and their overall efforts for event accessibility, each of which is an advantage over GrubStreet. Finally, from a comparative perspective, I will suggest how each organization can emulate the elements of the other in hopes of improving community writing ability through use of educational training, professional networking, and technology.
GrubStreet was founded by Executive Director Eve Bridburg, a former composition teacher and a graduate of Boston University’s teaching fellowship in creative writing. GrubStreet’s mission is “to be an innovative, rigorous, and welcoming community for writers who together create their best work, find an audience, and elevate the literary arts for all,” (Boston Lit District). Offering over 600 classes, programs, and events a year, Grubstreet provides writers of all skill levels with the opportunity to learn what is required to succeed and advance their writing capabilities. With a total annual budget of about $1.8 million from tuition and fees as well as yearly grants and philanthropic contributions from various private and public sources, such as the National Endowment for the Arts and the Massachusetts Cultural Council (Brown), the nonprofit institution is a leading literary organization in the nation.
GrubStreet is “open to writers from all walks of life and at every stage of development… from absolute beginners to emerging or established writers” (GrubStreet), and their various programs address a wide span of writers’ needs: from a “Memoir Project” workshop for seniors and one-on-one manuscript consulting sessions to online courses that improve program accessibility for those requiring a flexible schedule or location. For young writers aged 13-18, GrubStreet conducts a variety of programs including free Saturday writing workshop sessions once a month and a Young Adult Writers Program spanning three weeks during the summer. Overall, GrubStreet offers a multitude of programs which provide thousands of writers the opportunity to advance their creative writing abilities each year.
To increase accessibility to the public, GrubStreet partnered with the Boston Public Library to create Neighborhood Classes, which administer free creative writing courses to Boston-area libraries. These programs are held either as one-hour drop-in classes or two-hour multi-week classes where students are exposed to creative writing of varying forms and challenged to acquire new skills while learning from established professional authors. In an attempt to be available to all writers, the Neighborhood Classes take place during the weekend, at 12pm (the start of a typical lunch break), or at 6pm, after the work day is over.
An important aspect of GrubStreet’s widespread success is its ability to consistently offer one-of-a-kind events. For instance, in 2011 GrubStreet initiated a program called the “Novel Incubator” in which ten advanced novelists worked on writing and workshopping the first draft of their novels (“Novel Incubator”). Upon graduation from the program, the initial ten writers from the 2011 program “began an alumni network which welcomes the new incubator graduates every year, arranges an annual retreat, raises money for scholarships to the program, turns out in force when their fellow alum(s) have readings or book launches, and collectively curates and produces a wonderful website, Dead Darlings, dedicated to ‘everything novel,’” Executive Director Bridburg comments in an interview with lithub.com. “Now, when a student enters our novel incubator program,” Bridburg continues, “they are not only getting an incredible educational experience with us, but they are also getting a peer group for life.” Having the support of fellow writers is essential to kickstarting a writing career. GrubStreet focuses on creating a setting in which students benefit from an environment of collective support – the support generated by receiving detailed and personal feedback on technique and style and the support generated by learning from and being inspired by the examples of other graduates of the Novel Incubator. In essence, the aspiring writer is literally incubated: nurtured to grow, develop professional wings, and fly alongside their incubated writer hive.
Another notable GrubStreet sponsored event is The Muse and the Marketplace, “one of the highest-value writing conferences in the country,” (“The Gist”) which is held annually for GrubStreet members and non-members alike. This event provides writers with an opportunity to network, talk to, and learn from best-selling authors like Celeste Ng and Morgan Jerkins, and hone their craft during any of the 130 interactive writing events. During the writing sessions, attendees can learn anything from how to get a publishing deal and promote their novels to how to use Twitter. Through this event, writers are able to acquire writing skills and explore marketing techniques, such as earning a publishing contract. Additionally, each year a portion of attendees leave the event with a book deal or a relationship that leads to a book deal. GrubStreet writers are successful because they are provided the resources needed to attain their personal writing goals.
GrubStreet’s emphasis on a collaborative, helpful community extends to all aspects of its operations, including involvement with the city of Boston at large. Programs like The Muse and the Marketplace, for instance, attract writers from the region that are not necessarily part of the GrubStreet network, but who agree to gather and share didactic experiences that form the basis of a connected, creative community benefiting all participants. Further, in 2014, GrubStreet partnered with Boston City Councilor Ayanna Pressley and the Massachusetts Cultural Council to create the first ever Literary Cultural District (Boston Lit District). The district is a walkable region in Downtown Boston and the Back Bay housing several historic sites such as the homes of Henry James and Robert Frost. There are also locations within the district that host events including readings, book festivals, and workshops for Boston writers. The goal of the district is to “put a spotlight on Boston’s rich literary history and the incredible vibrancy of the current literary scene” (DeLuca, para.7). GrubStreet’s involvement in the formation of this district shows its proactive approach and genuine commitment to its mission of creating a community in which all writers can succeed. In terms of longevity, innovative concepts like the Literary Cultural District keep GrubStreet relevant and help it to serve the most writers possible. Through more exposure, GrubStreet will gain new students as well as a better reputation, which will allow it to partner with more well-known organizations in the future and eventually reach an even wider audience of writers as it continues to develop and expand. In this manner, GrubStreet has produced a series of training and networking programs that develop a positive feedback loop of talent.
GrubStreet has the resources to adapt to unforeseen challenges rapidly. Following the breakout of Covid-19 in the United States, on March 24, 2020, the state of Massachusetts was subject to a stay-at-home advisory, and all nonessential businesses were asked to close by the Governor. Thus, Grubstreet’s in-person classes and events had to halt indefinitely. Because GrubStreet already had experience with online teaching, the organization quickly transitioned all of its programs to Zoom, an online software program used for virtual telecommunication. Staying true to its mission of community support, Grubstreet has published numerous blog posts intending to support writers during this pandemic on its website (Grubstreet.org).
GrubStreet’s ability to speedily adapt to ever-changing world events means that the organization will consistently be able to serve its writers through the most relevant mediums. The organization is demonstrating its adaptability in challenging times just as it has demonstrated its ability to train\ writers themselves to grow and change as they work to become better writers.
Another successful literary organization aiming to support writers and readers is Inprint, a literary organization founded by “a group of community leaders who sought to address a need in Houston for greater support and appreciation of the literary arts,” (“About Us”). With an annual budget of about $1.2 million and a mission to inspire Houston writers and readers through enriching programs for people of all ages and from all walks of life, Inprint is the leading literary organization in Houston.
Inprint focuses on providing equal opportunities for all writers to flourish. Thus, the organization hosts several workshops which target mainly underrepresented or underprivileged groups of writers. These programs include a free Veterans Workshop and a Jewish Community Center Workshop, as well as Memoir Workshops for senior citizens and workshops for people with dementia. Inprint also offers an Incarcerated Workshop in the Harris County Jail which serves people who, due to the requirement of cash bail, are not necessarily guilty of any crime other than being poor in America. Through these programs, Inprint carries out its goal of supporting and empowering people through writing and stories; as Executive Director Rich Levy mentioned in a presentation at Rice University, “if others can control the narrative, they can enact change in the community slowly but surely” (Levy).
To encourage and inspire passion in young writers, Inprint teaches children ages 8-12 how to write and introduces them to the top children’s authors through a program called “Cool Brains!”. Inprint partners with local school districts and libraries to provide kids with this remarkable experience for free. Programs such as “Cool Brains!” give Houston kids the chance to connect with writers and motivate young people to become involved in and excited about reading and writing.
In accordance with Inprint’s goal to ensure that its events are accessible to everyone, the organization offers several free programs. For example, in the “First Friday Reading Series” program, a published poet reads their work to the Houston public for free on the first Friday of each month. The readings are held at 8:30pm, so the event is reasonably accessible for people in the workforce.
Inprint amasses national press annually with its esteemed “Margarett Root Brown Reading Series,” in which famous authors from around the nation come to one of Houston’s performance theaters to give readings of their recent work. General admission tickets are only $5, making this grand event available to many writers and readers. In addition to the extremely low cost of this event, the Inprint website offers free access to an archive of past years’ readings. According to Levy, “[o]ur intention is to present leading writers who rarely read in Houston, writers of a wide range of ethnic backgrounds (that reflect the rich ethnic mix of Houston), to balance gender and have a mix of genres and basically offer the very best reading series we can imagine — something that we would enjoy and find extraordinary,” (Culture Texas, 2012). This Reading Series demonstrates why Inprint Houston is recognized nationally as a thriving literary community.
In response to Covid-19, Inprint had to completely cancel its in-person events and programs, with no means of transferring all of them to an online format. However, Inprint was able to offer a few of its programs online, such as the “Inprint Book Club” and the Inprint Archive of Readings, as well as some workshops, with a message to “stay tuned as more workshops are coming soon” (“Inprint Writers Workshops”).
GrubStreet and Inprint have a similar goal: to support and inspire their community of writers. Each organization is a cornerstone of their city’s thriving literary community and has served thousands of writers, but there are a couple of specific ways the institutions could alter their practices in order to further fulfill their goals. Through a comparative analysis, it is clear that each organization can implement the successful tactics of the other as a means of becoming a more well-rounded resource for its respective community.
To start, GrubStreet aims to educate all writers, but it only provides classes for those 13 and older. This organization would better support writers of all stages if, like Inprint, it offered programs for kids 8-12 years of age. Introducing young children to a skill as important as writing and inspiring them with guest speakers would empower a whole new generation of writers in their most formative stage. Secondly, GrubStreet offers many career-launching events, but it struggles to assign appropriate costs that remain affordable while considering the expense of these elaborate programs. The Muse and the Marketplace, for instance, is a great resource for writers of varying ambitions, but the cost of attending the event for all three days is $559 with extra fees added if the attendee wants to access more of Muse’s offerings. To combat this price problem, GrubStreet members get a $40 discount, and two people are offered scholarships of up to $250. While these price deductions are a step in the right direction, they unfortunately are not enough to seriously level the playing field for those who face serious barriers due to cost. Like Inprint does with its “Margarett Root Brown Reading Series,” it is in GrubStreet’s best interest to consider making nationally recognized events affordable to the general public: perhaps by offering numerous benefits with the purchase of a $225 Grubstreet season ticket, or by the accumulation of financial support from organizations like the National Endowment for the Arts.
During this period of forced online-only interactions, Inprint may contemplate learning new technological skills because that preparation will help Inprint survive and thrive even after the COVID-19 pandemic. Today, the internet is many people’s main source of information. Blog posts with updates and resources for the community during a global crisis and online courses offered year-round to provide for those located outside of Houston and those requiring a flexible schedule could help further Inprint’s goal to inspire writers from all ages and backgrounds.
Inprint might consider reinstalling its one-day event “The Business of Writing” which is similar to GrubStreet’s “Muse in the Marketplace” in terms of networking and educational opportunities. On its website, inprinthouston.org, Inprint mentions the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) conference where writers can learn about essential aspects of the field like writing, publishing, and teaching (“AWP: Conference”). The conference is hosted in a different city each year, but in its near 50-year history, the closest it has come to Houston has been San Antonio or Austin (“Conference Archives and Photo Albums”). Similarly, the website mentions the “Writers League of Texas Agents & Editors Conference,” which is extremely important, but held in Austin. Currently, Houston writers must travel outside of the city if they want the best education and networking opportunities. Reestablishing the 1996-2002 Inprint conference event would provide Houston writers with more recognition, along with increased opportunities to network and learn skills essential to a successful writing career.
In conclusion, GrubStreet organizes great events, but could benefit from Inprint’s afforable and inclusive approach. And Inprint could learn from GrubStreet’s innovative methods of reaching a wider audience of writers from both a technological and tangible standpoint. If both organizations were to accept these suggestions, the literary communities of their respective cities, along with the writers and readers that comprise them, would have further opportunities to flourish.
Works Cited
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