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!
Dreams, Hopes, Forward, Forward
I want to dedicate this piece to the person I am becoming. The way forward for me feels inspiring and optimistic!
Runaway Girl
Writing this piece was an outlet for my internal and external struggles when things were at a low point in my home life. I figuratively escaped by writing something that closely resonated with what I was feeling at that time.
A Gathering Storm
I wrote this piece as a 200-word exercise but ended up liking it enough to continue it. Like it or not, here goes…
The Climate Crisis Needs A Story
I first joined the New York City Climate Strike Coalition in July 2019. In the company of such impassioned, optimistic youth activists, I quickly realized that the climate crisis is not about numbers. It is a human story, with a human solution.
Goodbye Berlin
My family’s suffering in Russia, Poland, and Germany during World War II prompted me to reflect on the values of courage, perseverance, hope, and the price of war. My great-grandmother’s ordeal in occupied Russia during the Battle of Stalingrad inspired this story, about a single mother’s sacrifice amid the inferno of war.
Broken Glass/Not Yet Formed
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about being myself—and what that means for me as a young woman. I wanted to write something that reflected being free in my ability to dream and imagine any life for myself as a girl in the twenty-first century.
The Girl Who Speaks Millions of Languages
This piece is about a girl who can talk to animals and is meant to show how she struggles to find her identity.
Those Who Came Before
This short story is inspired by Mohsin Hamid’s novel Exit West. For Lana, the protagonist, taking her place in history means being the person who studies and gives a voice to the stories of those silenced.
A Snapshot in Time
“A Snapshot in Time” is a story about June, a teenager, who bonds with her grandmother and learns how far her love reaches.
LET’S PLAY AROUND: A game of sleep paralysis
Sleep paralysis has been envisioned in art since as early as the 1700s, when it was described as a demonic visitation. But the fear it represents cannot play with women, because we are powerful and control our own dreams.
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.