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!
They Called Me Blasphemy, I Called It Poetry
We are proud to present an essay by Saraí Pérez, honorable mention in the 2025 Writing for Life Contest in the age 16-19 category.
Seeds of Stigma: Winner of the Writing for Life Contest 2025
We are proud to present an essay by Ivanna Sintes-Klein, winner of the 2025 Writing for Life Contest in the age 16-19 category.
We Will Always Belong Somewhere: Winner of the Writing for Life Contest 2025
Throughout my teenage years, my writing has always had one constant goal, even as others come and go: to reach out to whoever might need it and tell both of us that we will always belong somewhere.
Editors’ Note for Hope Lives in Our Words: 2025 Anthology
This note was written by AJ Lamas-Nemec, a mentee and member of the IV Edit Print Committee, to introduce the 2025 Girls Write Now Anthology.
Part of storytelling is making sense of chaos…Dana A. Williams’ Life@ GWN
Dana A. Williams is not just a scholar; she’s a storyteller. Her CV boasts accolades from the Dean of Howard University Graduate School to this year’s Girls Write Now Honoree because she knows that the best way to get to the truth is to tell a story. And she learned from the best. With Toni Morrison as a personal and professional mentor, Dana built a deep understanding of storytelling as sense-making, self-making, and collective building. The best lessons are not taught, but learned, and in Toni at Random: The Iconic Writer's Legendary Editorship, Dana documents how Toni Morrison built community, identity, and legacy for Black literature
“For me, making do isn’t just about food; it’s also about making do in life”… Kardea Brown’s Life@GWN
We are proud to honor Chef Kardea Brown at the Girls Write Now Awards, and excited to share with you a must-read interview that is not only inspiring, it’s going to have you thinking about food, cooking, recipes, and the power of community in a whole new light. After premiering her cooking show Delicious Miss Brown on the Food Network in 2019, she’s reached 3.5 million viewers, judged Chopped, and authored her first cookbook The Way Home. Now, she’s coming off the heels of her second cookbook Make Do With What You Have, which will be released by Amistad Books in November.
Home
What is the difference between a house and a home?
to dig, to follow
Two New Yorkers explore the echoes of city girlhood.
Adventures Beyond the Screen
Follow Neviah, Himitsu and Blair as they escape the confines of their Creator's screen and explore the outside world!
When you laugh, you defy death…Rachel Bloom’s Life@GWN
During the height of the pandemic, Rachel Bloom gave birth to her firstborn, with complications that put her daughter in the NICU, and suffered the loss of her longtime friend and collaborator Adam Schlesinger to complications with COVID-19 as the world grappled with grief and transformation on an unprecedented scale.
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.