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!
The Happenings at the Estate
This is an interactive reading/listening experience. Listen to the accompanying audio with headphones and read at your pace.
Double Vision
The newspapers called them “a monstrosity,” “sent from the devil himself,” “a burden to a mother.” But Judith just saw her twin sisters and a future where only one of them would survive.
Poetry Podcast: How A Poem Comes to Be
How does a poem come to be? Mentee Angie Galindo Perez reads her poem-in-progress, "Where I Am," and shares how she is crafting the piece.
Ye Olde Voicemaille
Have you ever wondered what would happen if medieval serfs had answering machines?
Spring Sunday
I first started out with just a rush of memories of the garden, then I organized those memories into seasons and turned five pages from my collage journal into representations of those seasons and memories.
A Generational Blessing
Oftentimes I tend to focus on generational curses, the bad traits I've received from my family. My piece reflects on this and the generational blessings passed down.
Zoom to the Moon
While writing this essay, my goal was to keep things lighthearted and tell an entertaining story that also shared a bit of my personality and interests.
Everyone’s a little bit GAY!!!
Are you a queer youth trying to navigate the waters of coming out? Do you enjoy hearing other people's coming out stories? Or do you just want to laugh at the innocence (and sometimes ignorance) of teenagers? Look no further, this podcast is meant for you!
the body: an examination
This poem comes from a page of “The Power to be Affected,” a philosophy essay by Michael Hardt. It is a work that first resonated with me at age 14.
Tiff Talks: An Afternoon with Brick Distributor
"Tiff Talks: An Afternoon with Brick Distributor" is a podcast about a recent music event in Brooklyn that my friend’s band, Brick Distributor, performed at. My mentor played a huge role in the inspiration for this project, as her studies of journalism and communications inspired me to pursue my own project (and soon major) in journalism. This represents my best work in the program this year because it combines everything I learned about writing at Girls Write Now for the past four years. It is a symbol of how much I've grown in this program.
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.