ANTHOLOGIES
Girls Write Now Unmuted: The 2021 Anthology
Girls Write Now is thrilled to be in partnership again this year with Dutton, who produced this anthology. A special thanks to the team at Dutton—Christine Ball,Maya Ziv, and Lexy Cassola, and to Feminist Press and Jamia Wilson, who produced the ebook. Thank you as well to Amazon Literary Partnership for their continued support, which directly funds the production of our anthologies.
In the 2021 Girls Write Now Anthology, our mentees give voice to fear and silence, demand justice, and hold nothing back. To be unmuted right now requires a new brand of bravery, and these writers show how it’s done. Using stories, poems, essays, fiction, drama, interviews and more, they report on a global pandemic, a climate crisis and the movement for racial equality. They also invite us on their personal journeys through the labyrinth of young adulthood: feeling the rich soil of a neighborhood garden beneath their fingers; traveling through time in search of their parents; inhaling the charged air where young love is brewing. In a world pushed to the precipice of change, in a society that values the tried and true over the dynamic and new, the Girls Write Now class of 2021 is breaking the chains and showing what it means to speak loud, clear and true—to be unmuted.
Foreword by
Introduction 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.
Girls Write Now Unmuted Print Anthology
Stories from Inside "Unmuted" Coming Soon!
Stories from Inside "Unmuted" Coming Soon!
Translating
I have experienced translation as a fundamental phenomenon in my communication. I feel colonization living in my words.
molasses to drown in
This is an excerpt from a novel I've been working on called To The Grave. It follows Isolde, a woman haunted by the ghost of the boy she killed, and Helena, the silent observer.
To the Grave
People tell me I can’t bring my objects to the grave with me. I wanted to play around with this idea of permanence in my piece. This flash fiction explores what happens when we can.
What I Wish You Knew
In this personal essay, I reveal the difficulty I undergo when opening up to someone but also emphasize the hopeful outlook I have in my journey of growth.
Pozole
A heartwarming moment between a mother and daughter. Cooking pozole, a Mexican meal, and learning about their roots.
Tar
A poem on the often cruel and uncaring nature of the passage of time during the pandemic.
Between the World and Me’ & James Baldwin
This piece was inspired by one of my favorite books, Between the World and Me. Everyone should read this book and these writers.
The Bus Stop
Two girls sit at a bus stop, each wondering if the other feels the same way she does. Wondering if she could be brave enough to find out.
I am from change
The idea to write ”I am from change” appeared in one of the first Girls Write Now workshops I participated in. I wrote a few lines then and decided with my mentor to continue to work on it.
What does it mean to be in my body?
My mentor Caroline gave me the free-writing prompt, "What does it mean to be in my body?" I immediately began thinking of my own experiences being someone who is both female-bodied and chronically ill.
Praise for Here & Now
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.