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!
Surviving not Living
As quarantine started in early March, everyone was told to get adjusted to a bizarre lifestyle. Something new, something different to all of us. In this poem, I have expressed how I felt as I was getting adjusted to this new lifestyle.
Mother’s bindi, My bindi
This poem unveils my initial relationship with a specific part of my culture, the bindi, and the change that I go through to fully accept an obscure piece of my identity.
The Human Stages of Life
A collection of poems, letters and photographs detailing what it's like to go through the five stages of human life—childhood, adolescence, adulthood, aging and death—from the perspective of a young girl.
Lyz and Maya Swap Genres
When we first met as mentor and mentee, we began exploring each other’s writing tastes. Sure, we had a lot in common but we also had our strengths and weaknesses as awesome writers. We decided to swap our favorite genres of writing, and provide rules and guidelines for each other to see what developed when we pushed ourselves out of our writing comfort zones.
Moonlight Portrait
"Now they were only one soul, they were complete."
‘Twas Not The Angel On My Shoulder
A riddle in the form of a poem and an answer in the form of flash fiction.
Got Your Back
Mary is a broke grad student whose only excitement is her online relationship with the mysterious "Clay," but Mary has other admirers.
Jaz’s Quest
Jaz, a young time traveler, found herself lost in the future. She's on a quest to find the last missing pieces so she can find her parents.
Lucky
In the context of mortality, the pandemic and the imminent impacts of climate change, it is beyond important to remember how objectively lucky we are to be alive. There is a certain priceless appreciation in simply existing and breathing comfortably within ourselves.
Fourteen Days
This is a collection of haikus written between January 10 and January 23 that captures our combined experiences.
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.