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!
Art Imitates Life (Part Two)
Everyone wants a picture perfect ending, where the couple ends up together and lives their dream. But is that possible
Art Imitates Life (Part One)
Everyone wants a picture perfect ending, where the couple ends up together and lives their dream. But is that possible for the struggling artist and the therapist who see the world differently?
Seek Joy in Everything You Do… Alex Ewing & Elizabeth Stone’s Life@ GWN
Mentee Alex Ewing and her mentor Elizabeth Stone may come from opposite ends of the country and have a 50-year age gap, but when they meet up over coffee, a good book, or an in-depth Twilight presentation, they’re thick as thieves. Neither knew what to expect when they joined Girls Write Now for the Summer 2025 cycle, but both wanted community and collaboration to shape their creative practices. In their second cycle together in the Collaboratory, they’ve only grown closer, each gaining new insights, perspectives, and hope for their future together and in their own creative practices. Read on to learn more about how this pair struck their balance.
“Anything you do, let it come from you. Then it will be new. Give us more to see…” Irene Cho and Alexis Grusby’s Life@GWN
In their second cycle together, this peer-to-peer pair bridges seven years and certainly feels more like mentor to mentee. Considerable distance lies between the two as geographic opposites, with one on each coast of the United States, East and West.
“All You Have to Do is Not Give Up, Okay?” Winnie Holzman’s Life@ Part II
In the second part of our candid conversation with WICKED’s co-writer Winnie Holzman, she opens up about how she copes with fear and defines success—through authenticity, laughter, honest critique, and the power of persistence.
“We’re Not in Kansas Anymore…” Winnie Holzman’s Life@GWN
“We’re Not in Kansas Anymore…” Winnie Holzman’s Life@GWN To Winnie Holzman, co-writer of WICKED, writing is all about what happens
Book of Alchemy Review
The process of “finding who we are,” Jaouad suggests, is never finished, but her prompts and methods keep the search alive in her new book.
A Letter To You and I
We are proud to present an essay by Alexandria Thornycroft, honorable mention in the 2025 Writing for Life Contest in the age 13-15 category.
The Words That Make Us Whole
We are proud to present an essay by Carolyn Austin, honorable mention in the 2025 Writing for Life Contest in the age 13-15 category.
I Was Made to Be Big Before I Was Allowed to Be Small
We are proud to present an essay by Veony Marie Artis, honorable mention in the 2025 Writing for Life Contest in the age 16-19 category.
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.