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.
Stories from Inside "Taking Our Place in History" Coming Soon!
Stories from Inside "Taking Our Place in History" Coming Soon!
Speaking on (Ethical?) Blood Sucking
This episode is all about vampires, and we get into it with Girls Write Now fellows Annaya Baynes and Kenna McCafferty. They discuss the history of vampires in Western media, the ethics of living under capitalism, and the way Black women often have the weight of the world placed on their shoulders.
Grew Through Jazz
This piece shares the story of a young woman who was influenced heavily by jazz throughout her life and details her understanding of jazz through a Black perspective
A Bloodline’s End
A motherland and a mother yearn for the children they've lost.
This Earth, our Eden
The poem is meant to speak on the feeling of hopelessness, but also the possibility of change. The idea that even within despair, there is still the ability for something revolutionary to happen.
Spirits of Succession
After 5 years of running a company Conor Coldwell never wanted, his recreational habits surface, threatening to ruin his career and his father’s: Harvey Coldwell, one of the most feared men in business.
Weeping Wisteria
All will wither eventually; enjoy it while it lasts instead.
rain
The thoughts of a student on a rainy day.
Dios Te Bendiga
This piece started as many little stories about my grandmother’s cooking and evolved into a story about my grandmother herself and the moments when we drink hot chocolate together.
The Great Cat Competition
Two cats live in a bookstore cafe…. and they are complete opposites. The cats fight over who the fan favorite is when an event is held.
The Case of the Ugly Black Shoes
I looked down at the horrible, ugly shoes that graced my feet swinging slightly above the floor: my sworn enemy.
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.