online event; open to the public and all mentees & mentors
For more than two years, our young writers have weathered an adolescence shaped by an ongoing global pandemic. But a harsh climate can also produce work of rare depth, complexity, nuance and humor. The result is a stunning book with global relevance of all this generation has endured and transformed.
Join us as we celebrate the launch of our newest book, Taking Root: The Girls Write Now 2022 Anthology, made possible thanks to Dutton Books, Amazon Literary Partnership and Feminist Press. The event features three mentee performances, writing prompts inspired by their original work—and a toast to our authors. The evening will be emceed by mentee Hazel Agicha with her mentor and Anthology Editorial Committee member Nikki Palumbo.
Nikki is a writer, comedian, and Italian based in LA, formerly Brooklyn, and originally from New Jersey—the only three places in TV’s America. Most recently, Nikki won the 2022 Austin TV Festival Pitch Competition with their pilot “Lil Italy” and was selected as an inaugural member of the Climate Comedy Cohort, co-founded by Generation 180 and American University’s Center for Media and Social Impact.Nikki has written TikToks for Barbie (yes, that one), jokes for the Google Assistant (no, the other one), and bits for the only famous Italian-American, Lady Gaga. They have also contributed writing to The New Yorker’s Daily Shouts, McSweeneys, Reductress, and the MTV TV and Movie Awards: Unscripted.Nikki has performed at the YaaasFest Comedy Festival, Women in Comedy Festival, Austin Sketch Festival and the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, where they also taught, wrote, and directed sketch comedy.
Hazel Agicha is a sophomore who loves anything plants, cats and reading. Her goals are to get into a college where she can pursue business and finance. She moved to to America five years ago from India.
all mentees, all mentors, corporate partner employees, print anthology committee members and the public