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!
Dear Friend
This piece is dedicated to my younger self who deserves the recognition for keeping her head high through all the downfalls presented throughout her life. With all my faults and mistakes, yesterday’s me is still me.
Brown Sugar
This piece is a fictional short story that tells the tale of a young African American girl who comes to the realization of who she is and what it means to her.
Weekends/Weekdays
I awake to my upstairs neighbors yelling and my mom shuffling to get my sister out the door for school. It’s 6:00 a.m. and my mom is shouting my name.
Serein: En Vida y En Muerte
This piece was inspired by a story my grandfather told me when I was younger about shape-shifting beasts in my home country of the Dominican Republic. I introduce you to both his world and a retelling of Mulan as we reach for a way to make our ancestors proud.
75 Years
I wrote this piece after visiting the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site last summer and attending the United Nations Holocaust Memorial Ceremony on January 27, 2020. Seventy-five years have passed since the liberation of Auschwitz.
A False Home
We tend to cling to our past and the sense of familiarity because it reminds us of home. This prevents many of us from ever actually trying something new or finding who we’re meant to be. My story takes you on the journey of discovering why home isn’t always home.
Miss Manners Guide to Preventing Tragedy
I have always loved learning about different historical figures and trying to relate their experiences to my life, often with little success as I am not at a point in my life where I am a founding father or queen of any country; this piece is the fruit of that.
A Package of Cookies
This piece is about my relationship with my father, and my appreciation towards him for bringing our family to the United States. His sacrifice has given me the opportunity for a better future.
Becoming Manar the Star
I walked into Dunkin’ for one of our pair sessions, and I told my mentor Jaime that I wanted to run for school senate. But I needed a speech. The speech below is a result of our collaboration. This speech motivates me to pursue my dreams.
The Illusion Of Inclusion
I believe that as a leader you can do two things: either dig people deeper into their illusions and create false hope or free them of their social standards and stereotypes to reach their fullest potential.
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.