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.

Support Young Writers

Support creative innovations like “Rise Speak Change” in order to further our mission to champion writers to break down the barriers of gender, age, race, and poverty to mentor, teach, and connect writers and leaders across disciplines and around the nation. With a focus on those historically disempowered due to their gender and gender identity, we harness the power of stories to shape culture, impact industries, and bridge worlds.
Author Zadie Smith with Girls Write Now Mentees, Natalie Mojica and Daleelah Saleh, holding Rise Speak Change: the 2017 Anthology (Photo by Janette Pellegrini/Getty Images for Girls Write Now)

Introduction by

Tanwi Nandini Islam

Honoree

Tanwi Nandini Islam is the author of BRIGHT LINES (Penguin 2015), a finalist for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. She is the founder of Hi Wildflower Botanica, a small-batch niche perfume, candle and skincare line. Her writing has appeared in Elle.com, Fashionista.com, Open City, Women 2.0, Billboard.com and Gawker. A graduate of Brooklyn College MFA and Vassar College, she lives in Brooklyn, NY.

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Foreword by

Lisa Lucas

Lisa Lucas is an American publishing executive. From 2020 to 2024, she was senior vice president at Knopf Doubleday, and from 2016 to 2020 she was executive director of the National Book Foundation.

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Moderated by

Jenna Wortham

J Wortham is an American journalist. They work as a culture writer for The New York Times Magazine. Wortham was co-host of The New York Times podcast Still Processing with Wesley Morris, which ran from 2016 to 2022.

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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!

Writing Our Way to Wellness: Season 1, Episode 9

Special Projects Coordinator Kathryn Destin moderates a conversation between Girls Write Now Mentor Ashley Sowers and friend Dr. Ijeoma Unachukwu about the taboo of practicing mental wellness in the Black community and the inequities the healthcare system enforces in its practices. They also explore the presence of misogynoir in professional spaces that view Black women as disposable and undeserving of wellness.

Writing Our Way to Wellness: Season 1, Episode 8

In this episode led by Margery Hannah, program manager at Girls Write Now, Michael gets candid about the meager gains of racial minorities in publishing and what can be done to accelerate progress. Listen to an excerpt from their conversation in this episode of Writing Our Way to Wellness, which covers Michael’s meandering career path from flight school dropout to a publishing professional at Writer’s House, how Michael and Margery have seen the publishing industry change (and remain stagnant), and whether affinity-focused imprints are the sole solution to producing diverse stories.

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Girls Write Now 2017 Anthology

Praise for Rise Speak Change

From the Literary Community

“We become strong women when we find our voices and tell our truths with unflinching honesty, even in the hardest times. What does it take to be a girl right now? How do we thrive? Rise Speak Change offers brave answers.”
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Meg Medina Author
“Girls Write Now showcases the power of what happens when we set young women’s voices free. This anthology is full of essential, passionate, and creative writing that will motivate you, too, to Rise Speak Change. I know I will sleep better at night with this important reminder that the future is female.”
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Julie Buxbaum Author

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.