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.
Stories from Inside "Unmuted" Coming Soon!
Stories from Inside "Unmuted" Coming Soon!
This Is My Dwelling
Repetition numbs. Or at least, it’s supposed to.
The Best Chao in the World
Chao ga. To describe it in English makes it sound unappetizing.
Underground
The narrator's family is chosen by lottery to relocate underground for 15 years once the earth becomes overpopulated. This story recounts her first trip to the surface.
Dear Kanye
Dear Kanye, nine days ago I called financial offices of the colleges I applied to. Told them I had to submit my FAFSA without parental information….
Pelo Malo
Smoke rises, hot metal searing each rebellious strand.
Saturday Morning
“Come on, Ma, let me sleep.”
Dinner Time
A poem of food and family.
A Slight Misunderstanding
I wasn’t doing anything out of the ordinary. I was just being Joy, being ten at a restaurant and heading to the bathroom.
Yellow Dress
Everyone has been acting different lately. I can’t blame them. Even I’m different.
Untitled
I loved everything in Anne’s fridge.
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.