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!
Bus Stop
An excerpt of a normal NYC commute that explores the riders’ histories through their transient time on the bus.
The Monsters
This story is a post-apocalyptic world where monsters (in the form of mutant animals) come out at night. Sunlight is weak and limited in this world, so the characters have to be wary.
Harvest Season
Harvest Season is a contrapuntal poem that embodies the essence of yearning, meant to be read from left to right descending, or separately.
Untitled
Candles
This piece explores what home means, and the different ways it can manifest. I mainly explored how different smells can remind you of home, and what that home looks like for me.
I’m Not Angry, I’m African
This is inspired by one of my best friends Jayda and our conversation on the stairwell about our anger.
Ballard/B didn’t always stand for Beer
This is a poem about a neighborhood changing for the better and the worse.
“语言之美: 跨越东方的心灵之旅 / 언어의 아름다움: 동방을 여행하다” (Translation: “Beauty of Language: Journey Across the East”)
The two poems celebrates the beauty of both Korean and Mandarin Chinese, languages dear to the heart of the writer. These poems serve as a love letter to the rich tapestry of linguistic exploration.
Speaking on Magical Girls and Worlds
Prepare to enter into an incredible world with familiars, fantastical tech, and magical girls. That is what's in store for this conversation between mentor Kristy Cunningham Bigler and mentee Shreya Darji. They discuss worldbuilding, the quest for character names, and the funny personalities of ferrets. In this episode, you'll get to hear all about Kristy's work-in-progress Code Name: Space Goddess.
Speaking on Capturing the American Zeitgeist
Mentor Tatyana White Jenkins leads an inquisitive and informative discussion with Community Manager Jesse Jagtiani about the process and inspiration behind her fourth installment of her video series An American Tale.
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.