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!
Speaking on (Ethical?) Blood Sucking
This episode is all about vampires, and we get into it with Girls Write Now fellows Annaya Baynes and Kenna McCafferty. They discuss the history of vampires in Western media, the ethics of living under capitalism, and the way Black women often have the weight of the world placed on their shoulders.
Grew Through Jazz
This piece shares the story of a young woman who was influenced heavily by jazz throughout her life and details her understanding of jazz through a Black perspective
A Bloodline’s End
A motherland and a mother yearn for the children they've lost.
This Earth, our Eden
The poem is meant to speak on the feeling of hopelessness, but also the possibility of change. The idea that even within despair, there is still the ability for something revolutionary to happen.
Spirits of Succession
After 5 years of running a company Conor Coldwell never wanted, his recreational habits surface, threatening to ruin his career and his father’s: Harvey Coldwell, one of the most feared men in business.
Weeping Wisteria
All will wither eventually; enjoy it while it lasts instead.
rain
The thoughts of a student on a rainy day.
Dios Te Bendiga
This piece started as many little stories about my grandmother’s cooking and evolved into a story about my grandmother herself and the moments when we drink hot chocolate together.
The Great Cat Competition
Two cats live in a bookstore cafe…. and they are complete opposites. The cats fight over who the fan favorite is when an event is held.
The Case of the Ugly Black Shoes
I looked down at the horrible, ugly shoes that graced my feet swinging slightly above the floor: my sworn enemy.
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.