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 Going the Distance
Have you ever thought about dropping everything and just going? Mentor Jaime Brockway did just that for two years and in this episode shares a short story about her adventures from her untitled travel memoir.
Everywhere, Everything
This piece is one of the first poems I wrote after my writer's burnout. It is poem about breaking through the cracks a bit and starting to journal through the numbness I had towards writing.
if only i could speak
if only-
the probability of learning my lesson
There is significant evidence that shows I still haven't learned my lesson.
In the dark
Even in the darkest night, there will always be a glimmer of hope.
Young Mourning
A young person’s feeling while aging.
Art
Art is an ekphrastic poem inspired by an exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art titled Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty.
Always a Bird to Me
In this whimsical and melancholic poem, sisterhood and coming of age are illustrated in the metaphor of flight.
orange chicken
Allow the symphonic undertones of the poem to draw you into the emotions of an intimate dinner party. How do we exist in spaces we feel driven from?
Cumin Seeds
A piece about the struggles of self-love and believing that you are enough for your culture.
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.