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!
Lineage
Climate change effects our whole planet. On the news we see the melting of the ice caps or the fires in Australia, but the impacts of global warming can be seen even throughout a city.
They think I can be a dang SUPERHERO?… Hollie Harper’s Life@GWN
Charlie Chaplin said “A day without laughter is a day wasted.” Hollie Harper’s days are never wasted. For the last
“My daughter makes me think I am a superhero–that I can do anything”… Nneka & Christine Obiamalu’s Life@ GWN
Girls Write Now Community Manager Christine Obiamalu, our newest staff member, may be the “baby” of the Girls Write Now
“I would hope that I make people feel like they could go for their dreams…” Jocelynn Landon’s Life@GWN
A Profile by Fayonna Jean-Philippe | Spring 2026 GWN Cycle In the 2026 Spring Cycle of the Girls Write Now
The Journey into a Self-Proclaimed Funny Person’s First Time Writing Comedy
A darkly funny take on identity, ambition, and modern life. A mentee at Girls Write Now navigates cultural confusion, people-pleasing instincts, and the dream of running a country with empathy, practicality, and a little tyranny.
friendship
A poem on the constellations in our lives.
“My dad taught me how to be curious…” Bruce Morrow & Tenzin Gund-Morrow’s Life@GWN
Fathers are some of our first teachers, and the best students learn by asking questions. For GWN board member Bruce Morrow's son, Tenzin Gund-Morrow, his dad gave every early curiosity somewhere to go—from ballet classes at the age of three to isolating strawberry DNA at science camp, Bruce encouraged his son's interests, and delighted in where they led.
If you are transgender, you have to live
The title comes from a tweet that reads: "if u r transgender u have to live. if u accomplish something else then good. if u accomplish nothing else then good. but u have to live"
golden girls
Gold can be shaped and formed, so can love.
contingent truth
The same words arranged in identical lines can tell conflicting stories if listed in a different order. And a contingent truth is, by definition, true, but could just as easily have been false.
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.