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!
The Lessons of KuGong
An encounter with an old Chinese grandmother during a hot summer day shoveling compost in Brooklyn.
The Bargains We Make
What sacrifices did we make during the pandemic to sustain our parental relationships? What kind of person have you become since then?
18
Being 18 and wanting to run away from all that you know.
Our delight on My Body and Soul
Even after we've destroyed ourselves over a refusal to view ourselves as one with each other and the Earth, it will never truly die. There's something greater than ourselves, below us at all times.
Melancholy
Welcome to a podcast about the poem "Melancholy" written by mentee Elaine Ng and her mentor Jennifer Bacon! This poem is about the impact of COVID-19 on Elaine's experiences as a high schooler.
Resigned Lockheart
“What?! What do you mean I’m of royalty?” There was me, in a tank top and jeans being accused of having some type of royalty blood in, I would not even fit being of royalty.
Full Body (Laughter)
Look me in the eyes when I laugh. Look at our Black bodies that aren’t just bodies and our Black laughter that will never know death, even when we do. Even if we do.
the great jello incident
not your average love triangle… an alien love triangle
The Journal
A time jump into the future—my 46-year-old self revisits her old countryside home in Romania, where she used to spend her childhood summers. She finds an old journal of hers, uncovering deep memories.
My Mother, Laura
The art of caretaking.
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.