Writers After Grinnell Alumni Panel with Jumi Bello, Soleil Ho, and Concepción de León

The years after graduation can be an especially challenging time for emerging writers looking to enter graduate school, work in journalism, or navigate the world of publishing. In our occasional series featuring Grinnell College alumni, as well as the creative, complicated, and sometimes fraught paths they follow, Jumi Bello ’13, Soleil Ho ’09, and Concepción de León ’12 share the experiences they’ve faced as writers and women of color in competitive, exciting, and sometimes hostile professional environments.

Funded with support from the “Mando” Alters Montaño Memorial Fund and Intercultural Affairs. Moderated by Dean Bakopoulos, director, Writers @ Grinnell.

Jumi Bello ’13 is a graduate student of fiction at the Iowa Writer's Workshop where her writing has been supported by the University of Iowa and Tin House. She previously spent seven years living and working in Asia. In addition to writing, she works to bring diversity to the MFA world by serving as the fiction coordinator for the MFA App Review.

Soleil Ho ’09 is the restaurant critic for The San Francisco Chronicle. She also hosts The Chronicle’s food podcast, Extra Spicy. Previously, she hosted the Racist Sandwich podcast and Bitch Media’s Popaganda. In 2018, she co-wrote Meal, a graphic novel on love and edible insects.

Concepción de León ’12 is a breaking news reporter for The New York Times. She previously worked for three years in the newspaper's Books department covering literary news and culture and, before that, as an editor at Glamour magazine.

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