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!
Goodnight.
My mind tends to wander when it's dark and I'm alone, this is a sort of letter to myself, to the part of me that keeps me up at night.
Oppidum Exspiravit
The inevitability of death orbits in the very fabric of your existence from the moment you’re born to the day death comes. History proves time and time again how precious our actions are and that it's up to us to take our place before our time runs out.
This Sacred Earth & Fire Into Water
Growing up in midtown Manhattan, spending the weekends at tree-filled Central Park instilled in me a love for nature, leading me to reflect upon our treatment of the environment.
I met God Herself, and She was Beautiful
I wrote my poem after my ex-boyfriend and I broke up, we were on and off for three years and when we got together it was very toxic. The day after we broke up I wrote this poem because I felt uplifted after the breakup, and I felt like God.
Hyde Yourself In Me
My piece surrounds the text around Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. I got inspired by the text because it is a classic and Emily and I have been exploring classical texts through the modern lenses.
The Crash
It is not a boom It is not a ba-ba-bang It is not even a pft
Tale of an Unsung Writer
I decided the best way to approach this year's broad theme centered around history was to show how I can change the trajectory of my own story by being honest about my passions.
A Painter’s Job
John, an excessive, narcissistic, psycho painter, finds himself liking Allisa, who just happens to be the girl whose house he’s painting, but just how far will he take this liking?
Abuelo, Apples & Me
This piece looks at the way an unexpected Thanksgiving tradition was able to bring me and my grandfather closer.
Note to Self
“Note to Self” is a poem that was written in the midst of a wave of high self-esteem that shows itself rarely. This is when the power of Melanin Beauty reveals itself unapologetically.
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.