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 Pearl Of My Eye
After finding her grandmother's pearl necklace, Roman's life seems to turn upside down. Given the chance to fix everything, will she make it in just the nick of time, or remain stuck forever?
What’s Buried Deep
Desires work in mystifying ways. Actions based solely on these impulses turn back on us in unexpected ways, too.
Intangible Things, an Excerpt
Sybil was waiting on the train platform absentmindedly during her morning commute. Then she fell onto the tracks. When she awakens alone in the hospital, she finds her injured body and soul split apart.
The Artificial Universe of Imminent Destruction: Diary Entry One
A human female refugee records her perceptions of a universe controlled by unethical robots while anticipating an attack from blood-thirsty vampires that want to destroy humankind and AI beings alike.
Infatuation Is a Four-Letter Word
Parasocial relationships are one-sided relationships where one person extends energy and time into another who cannot reciprocate it. Teenage Adam's infatuation with celebrity Vanessa Thompson takes an eerie turn.
Thank You, Dr. Mary Beck: Meet the Trailblazing Ukrainian American Councilwoman Who Saved My Family
More than 4.6 million refugees have fled Ukraine with the onslaught of Putin’s brutal invasion. More than 70 years ago, my Dido (Grandfather) Osyp, Babtsia (Grandmother) Maria, and Teta (Aunt) Helen escaped Ukraine too, thanks to the heroic efforts of a Ukrainian-American woman named Mary (Marusia) Beck.
Her Palms
The first time I realized my parents did not hold the answers of the universe in their palms was not when I was asking obscure questions about aardvarks or pirate ships.
A Splash of Light
I was floating, my elbows resting on the pool’s stone ledge as the jets massaged my back. That’s the last thing I remember.
I used to hate the rain
Acceptance comes after the storm. It poured and poured.
My Way Up
Rock climbing helps me realize that I am capable of beating all the “impossibles.”
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.