Eve Bridburg, founder and longtime executive director of the creative writing center GrubStreet, announced Wednesday that she will step down from the organization at the end of the year.
Bridburg, who’s been with GrubStreet for nearly 30 years, will continue to advise the organization. The nonprofit writing center’s board will launch a national search to identify a new leader.
Bridburg (inset) said she founded GrubStreet “with a vision of putting excellent writing education within reach of anyone with a desire to write.
“We have grown and flourished beyond my wildest expectations,’’ she said in a statement. “With success at our backs and a bright future ahead, the time is right for me to pass the baton.’’
Under Bridburg’s direction, GrubStreet expanded from a small organization with two classrooms into a writing center that has worked with nearly 60,000 adult students over the years, awarding more than 4,000 scholarships.
The organization also raised some $8 million to build out its airy new location in the Seaport, where it relocated in 2021. The new space has enabled the center to expand its offerings, including a bookstore, cafe, and stage.
But the Seaport move coincided with what was perhaps the organization’s biggest controversy: fallout from a dishy New York Times Magazine article that detailed a legal dispute over plagiarism charges between two writers who met at GrubStreet.
The article roiled the nonprofit, prompting its board to announce it would hire an independent expert to review the situation.
“Bluntly, we are appalled by the disconnect between GrubStreet’s stated values and the alleged behavior by some that has come to light,’’ the board’s executive committee wrote in an email at the time. “GrubStreet is meant to be a nurturing and supportive environment.’’
Four years later, board chair Sharissa Jones praised Bridburg’s leadership.
“Under Eve’s direction, GrubStreet has revolutionized how we think about access to writing education and how we teach it,’’ she said in a statement. “I am confident that we will find another amazing leader to chart our evolution in the years ahead.’’
Michael Bobbit, executive director of the Mass Cultural Council, called GrubStreet “one of Boston’s most important cultural resources.’’
“GrubStreet’s mission of ensuring that all voices are heard and that every human story is respected is even more urgent in these times,’’ he said in a statement.
The writing center has worked with thousands of teens over the years, and offered yearlong novel and memoir incubators.
“I’ve watched GrubStreet grow from a scrappy, DIY writing center to a huge and thriving community of teachers and storytellers,’’ Steve Almond, an author, GrubStreet instructor, and occasional Globe contributor, said in a statement. “It’s supported me and other writers, allowed us to teach thousands of students, and created a space where writers of all sorts have come together to feel more inspired and less alone.’’
Malcolm Gay can be reached at malcolm.gay@globe.com.
