Things To Do
|
Newsletter
|
Fraylife+
|
Fraylife+
  • Play

    Play

    • A Beginner’s Guide to Soccer
    • You Spin Me Right Round: D.C. Roller Skating 101 in 2021
    • Leading the League: The WNBA’s Natasha Cloud on Breaking Barriers + Inspiring D.C.
    • Spring Has Sprung: 10 Ways To Get Outside in the DMV
    • Play Week Combines Games + Social Impact
    • High and Go Seek Illustration
    • O Captain, My Captain: Washington Spirit’s Andi Sullivan
  • Life

    Life

    • Local Entrepreneurs Infuse CBD into Wellness
    • 19 Entrepreneurs Shaping D.C.’s Cannabis + CBD Industries
    • Upcycling in D.C.: Transforming a Culture of Consumption
    • The Green Issue: Experts + Advocates Make Case for Cannabis Legalization + Decriminalization
    • The District Derp Story
    • Grassfed Media Champions Cannabis Clients
    • Nat Geo Explorer Gabrielle Corradino on Plankton, the Anacostia + Conservation
  • Eat

    Eat

    • The State of Takeout in the District
    • A New Twist on Food Delivery: MisenBox
    • Next-Level Home Dining Experiences in D.C.
    • Foxtrot Market Is Officially Open for Business in Georgetown
    • Food Rescue + Assistance Programs Fill the Gaps in a Pandemic Food System
    • Hungry Harvest Helps to End Food Insecurity
    • Notable Summer Bar + Restaurant Reopenings to Try this Spring
  • Drink

    Drink

    • Pandemic Drinking: Derek Brown Leads the Way to Low-ABV Future
    • D.C.’s St. Vincent Wine Creates Covid-Conscious Experience
    • A New Way to Binge: Sobriety Anchors Business + Being for Gigi Arandid
    • King’s Ransom + The Handover in Alexandria Celebrate a First Year Like No Other
    • Wines of the World Are Just Around the Corner
    • Open-Air Drinking + Cocktail Delivery Changes in the DMV
    • Denizens Brewing Co.’s Emily Bruno: Brewing Change for Community + Industry
  • Culture

    Culture

    • The Artistry Behind D.C.’s Cannabis Culture
    • The Best Movies of 2021…So Far
    • The Survival of the Brutalist: D.C.’s Complicated Concrete Legacy
    • Plain Sight: A Street-Front Revolution in Radical Arts Accessibility
    • A Touch of Danger in Shakespeare Theatre Company’s “Romeo & Juliet”
    • Artgence + Homme: Where There’s Art, There’s a Story to Share
    • 21 D.C. Makers + Curators to Follow
  • Music

    Music

    • Emma G Talks Wammie Nominations and the D.C. Music Community
    • J’Nai Bridges: A Modern Mezzo-Soprano in a Changing Opera Landscape
    • Punk Legends The Go-Go’s Talk Four Decades of Sisterhood, Resilience + Zero Fucks Given
    • Ellen Reid “Soundwalk:” Exploring the Sonic Landscape at Wolf Trap
    • SHAED Releases First Full-Length Album in a “High Dive” of Faith
    • Obama + Springsteen Present “Renegades”
    • Christian Douglas Uses His “Inside Voice” on Pandemic-Inspired Debut Album
  • Events

    Events

    • Play Week 4.17-4.25
    • Midnight at The Never Get 4.30-6.21
    • Cannabis City Panel Presented by BĀkT DC + District Fray
    • Browse Events
    • DC Polo Society Summer Sundays 5.9
    • National Cannabis Festival’s Dazed & Amused Drive-In Party
    • Vinyl + Vinyasa 4.30
  • Fraylife+

Fraylife+
Paul Simon Returns to the Stage at Wolf Trap’s Filene Center This Summer
🎶 Feel the Pride, Hear the Power: WorldPride Choral Festival Hits DC
The Avett Brothers Return Under the Stars at Wolf Trap
Turn Up Your Thursdays: Carlyle Crossing’s Happy Hour Concert Series is Your Summer Soundtrack
Summer Vibes Only: Why Your Next Sunday Funday Should Be with the DC Polo Society
DelFest 2025: Music and Mountains Make Magic Again!
Home » Articles » Life » Author and Professor Melissa Scholes Young Uplifts D.C. Women Writers

Life

Melissa Scholes Young. Photo courtesy of subject.

Author and Professor Melissa Scholes Young Uplifts D.C. Women Writers

Share:

August 4, 2023 @ 10:00am | Abi Newhouse

The prolific writer talks how D.C. has helped her writing process, from her books to the literary magazine Grace & Gravity.


Along with teaching writing at American University, Melissa Scholes Young also edits Grace & Gravity, a literary magazine dedicated to the voices of D.C.’s women. We caught up with Scholes Young to talk her many books, the legacy and future of Grace & Gravity and finding inspiration in D.C.

District Fray: What’s new for Grace & Gravity?
Scholes Young: “Grace in Love” is the 10th volume of the Grace & Gravity anthology series. It features fiction and nonfiction stories about heartbreak, romance, desire, self-love, family bonds and more. In the past 20 years, the project has published nine volumes of more than 300 local women writers. The project was founded by Richard Peabody and I’ve been honored to edit the project for the past five years. With grants provided by the Humanities Truck and the Maryland State Arts Council, the Grace & Gravity project is like a food truck for feminist publishing. 

Where do you find inspiration in D.C. and as a writer – and why?
I spend my time at local independent bookstores. I’ve attended 10 book launches this summer, so I’m working my way through that stack. If I’m not in D.C., I’m at the Porches, a writing residency in Norwood, Virginia run by the poet Trudy Hale, or I’m in a studio at the Virginia Center for Creative Arts. I also teach and do manuscript consultations every summer at the Tennants Cove Writers Workshop in New Brunswick, Canada. Wherever I am, I have a book and my journal. I’m always writing. 

How has the literary community in D.C. helped your work?
D.C. is where I’ve built my literary career. I moved here more than a decade ago, and I spent my early days in town attending readings, meeting writers at workshops, learning about the literary community and strolling art galleries. It’s an incredibly vibrant city of art, and our local is national. It fills me up to be in a place where important conversations are happening on and off the page. 

What’s next for you?
I’m working on three projects: my third novel, a memoir, and a screenplay to adapt my first novel, “Flood.” My second novel, “The Hive,” is optioned by Sony Entertainment so that’s an ongoing project, too. As an editor, we launched “Grace in Love” last May, so we’re promoting the contributors and planning fall events. Next year is our 20th anniversary of the project, and we’re having a huge party. As a professor, I’m working on my fall syllabus and directing the undergraduate creative writing program, so much of my summer is spent hiring, scheduling, mentoring and in meetings. 

“Grace in Love” is available exclusively through Politics & Prose. Learn more about Scholes Young at melissascholesyoung.com and follow her on Instagram @melissascholesyoung.

Looking for local artists and creators to follow? Join the District Fray community for exclusive access to content made and curated by some of the city’s most talented residents. Become a member and support local journalism today.

Abi Newhouse

Interests

books, Entrepreneurship, Trailblazer

Share with friends

Share:

Related Articles

<h3>No Articles</h3>
COMPANY
About United Fray Team Hiring: Join Our Team!
GET INVOLVED
Become A Member Corporate Wellness Contact: Media Pitches + Advertising Inquiries
EXPLORE
Eat Drink Music Culture Life Play Events Calendar
OUR CITIES
Washington D.C. Jacksonville Phoenix United Fray
Sign Up

Get the best of D.C. delivered to your inbox with one of our weekly newsletters.

Sign Up

© 2025 District Fray – Making Fun Possible.