ANTHOLOGIES
Rise Speak Change: The 2017 Girls Write Now Anthology
At the QWERTY Digital Media Exhibition, our mentees showcased projects that are changing the way we tell narratives. A video overlaid with powerful poetry, thoughtful podcasts, and interactive games created with Twine — our mentees used the skills they learned in our digital workshops to create these multi-platform masterpieces.

Our mentees are defining the digital age by bringing the craft of writing into the 21st century. In our Digital Media Mentoring Program, we boost girls’ tech savvy and creative potential through digital media. In bringing our curriculum and writing approach into the digital age, we prepare the girls we serve to truly be the next generation of writers—on whatever platform they choose. Students are paired one-to-one with a digital media professional and together they transform their writing into digital art. All workshops are facilitated by graduate students at Parsons The New School for Design. Our workshops feature writing and digital skill-building exercises, prompts, and share-outs to diversify participants’ modes of self-expression. At the end of a program year, girls are equipped to tell a story in GIFs, a poem in HTML, and take their words to the next level.Together we embark on a journey of creative workshops, public readings and showcases, opportunities for publication, and more, all to give girls the tools to advance their writing through different mediums.
Introduction by
Foreword by
Moderated by
Read What's Inside
Browse our collection of stories from inside the book. Complete with notes from the author and anecdotes from our mentees and mentors.
Stories from Inside "Rise Speak Change" Coming Soon!
Stories from Inside "Rise Speak Change" Coming Soon!
We are Girls from the East
The poem speaks to our shared history as Asian-American women, emphasizing a colonial past in China and India, our liberation, and the formation of new rituals between generations all through the lens of tea.
Negativity Is Destruction
I was inspired by the illusions in my head as if there was a hamster in a wheel and it kept spinning. I felt that the only way to get the wheel to stop was to write my thoughts out on paper.
Me In The Eyes of 2020
Two perspectives on 2020, a year of change, growth, tragedy, and conflict.
The Ice Cliffs
The themes in this poem sparked from an adventure in Lake Placid when I was visiting with my family. We went on a frozen nature walk and saw these gigantic ice cliffs.
Chatty Seagulls
Chatty seagulls is a poem about making every second of your life worthy.
Silent Neighborhoods Across New York
A poem about our two neighborhoods in New York and our experiences inhabiting the city in our own particular lenses.
Christmas in the City
I was inspired to write this piece in December 2020 when I was absorbing the Christmas spirit in a shut-down New York City.
The Man
The Man By Lauren Weisberg As college draws nearer, Nora’s recurring nightmares begin to catch up with her real life
Leather in Heaven
This piece challenges the gender stereotypes surrounding masculinity through two father-son relationships. The narrator’s father associates masculinity with anger, but the cowboy father teaches his son that true strength comes from being kind to others.
Bee
On a warm spring's day, I walked down the street and I saw a bee. I wondered what other functions it had besides pollinating.
Praise for Rise Speak Change
From the Literary Community
Intersectional Voices in Editorial Print Committee
Every year, the Intersectional Voices in Editorial (IV Edit) Print Committee brings their talents to the task of editing, producing, and promoting this fresh collection of writing from today’s emerging voices. The committee is made up of mentors, mentees, and other volunteers who are passionate about diversifying the publishing landscape.