ANTHOLOGIES
Taking Our Place in History: The Girls Write Now 2020 Anthology
Girls Write Now is thrilled to be in partnership with Dutton, who produced this year’s anthology. A special thanks to the team at Dutton—Christine Ball,Maya Ziv,Marya Pasciuto and Hannah Feeney, and to Feminist Press and Jamia Wilson, who produced the e-book. Thank you as well to Amazon Literary Partnership for their continued support and for recognizing Girls Write Now as a 2020 grant recipient, which directly funds the production of our anthologies.
The Girls Write Now 2020 class of mentees are using their voices for change in one of the most uncertain periods of modern history. This book invites you into their homes and families, their schools and neighborhoods, their hearts, hopes, and fears. Enter a world where clay creatures take on aluminum oppressors. Get thrown against an elevator wall in the midst of a horror story. Go backstage with a rock band, say goodbye to relatives as you start a new life, stand with an engineer solving a coding problem. Stare out from a coffin—or up at whales in the sky—and fall in love with the color of your skin. Experience tragedy in a mosque, feel the wounds of slavery, know the terror of glass shattering in a World War II village, and see how this next generation of leaders look to the past and write their present to create a better future.
Introduction by
With a Poem 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.
Taking Our Place in History: The Girls Write Now 2020 Anthology
Stories from Inside "Taking Our Place in History" Coming Soon!
Stories from Inside "Taking Our Place in History" Coming Soon!
Translating
I have experienced translation as a fundamental phenomenon in my communication. I feel colonization living in my words.
molasses to drown in
This is an excerpt from a novel I've been working on called To The Grave. It follows Isolde, a woman haunted by the ghost of the boy she killed, and Helena, the silent observer.
To the Grave
People tell me I can’t bring my objects to the grave with me. I wanted to play around with this idea of permanence in my piece. This flash fiction explores what happens when we can.
What I Wish You Knew
In this personal essay, I reveal the difficulty I undergo when opening up to someone but also emphasize the hopeful outlook I have in my journey of growth.
Pozole
A heartwarming moment between a mother and daughter. Cooking pozole, a Mexican meal, and learning about their roots.
Tar
A poem on the often cruel and uncaring nature of the passage of time during the pandemic.
Between the World and Me’ & James Baldwin
This piece was inspired by one of my favorite books, Between the World and Me. Everyone should read this book and these writers.
The Bus Stop
Two girls sit at a bus stop, each wondering if the other feels the same way she does. Wondering if she could be brave enough to find out.
I am from change
The idea to write ”I am from change” appeared in one of the first Girls Write Now workshops I participated in. I wrote a few lines then and decided with my mentor to continue to work on it.
What does it mean to be in my body?
My mentor Caroline gave me the free-writing prompt, "What does it mean to be in my body?" I immediately began thinking of my own experiences being someone who is both female-bodied and chronically ill.
Taking Our Places in History
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.