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!
Unmute
Describe a time when someone's words had a strong impact on you.
My Persecution
This poem explores the interpersonal and intrapersonal dialogue of someone being harassed on the street.
True Recognition
A Muslim girl recalls her experience facing religious discrimination. which prompts her to organize a safe space for likeminded individuals to perform their identities.
Fake Mom
Most days, I act like a fake mom. And I’m good at it, too.
A poem about witnesses who have kept their mouths shut.
Blackout
This poem is a climate-change activism piece that follows mother nature's crystalized tears as they pelt down on Earth, causing a blackout in a hospital where a guilt-ridden man awaits death.
The Inheritance of Hate
A short poem from the thoughts of a Black girl
The Eldritch Crown, an Excerpt
This is a taste of the very beginning of my characters’ journey, and I hope you enjoy it.
The Secret Letter
When asked to write my full name, I am always tempted to include the “ę” in Siębor.
Tangles and Knots: My Life as a Highly Sensitive Person
“Are you okay?” The Hispanic woman wearing a disposable medical apron asks me as she comes back into the x-ray check-up room after scanning my braces. No.
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.