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!
They Called Me Blasphemy, I Called It Poetry
We are proud to present an essay by Saraí Pérez, honorable mention in the 2025 Writing for Life Contest in the age 16-19 category.
Seeds of Stigma: Winner of the Writing for Life Contest 2025
We are proud to present an essay by Ivanna Sintes-Klein, winner of the 2025 Writing for Life Contest in the age 16-19 category.
We Will Always Belong Somewhere: Winner of the Writing for Life Contest 2025
Throughout my teenage years, my writing has always had one constant goal, even as others come and go: to reach out to whoever might need it and tell both of us that we will always belong somewhere.
Editors’ Note for Hope Lives in Our Words: 2025 Anthology
This note was written by AJ Lamas-Nemec, a mentee and member of the IV Edit Print Committee, to introduce the 2025 Girls Write Now Anthology.
Part of storytelling is making sense of chaos…Dana A. Williams’ Life@ GWN
Dana A. Williams is not just a scholar; she’s a storyteller. Her CV boasts accolades from the Dean of Howard University Graduate School to this year’s Girls Write Now Honoree because she knows that the best way to get to the truth is to tell a story. And she learned from the best. With Toni Morrison as a personal and professional mentor, Dana built a deep understanding of storytelling as sense-making, self-making, and collective building. The best lessons are not taught, but learned, and in Toni at Random: The Iconic Writer's Legendary Editorship, Dana documents how Toni Morrison built community, identity, and legacy for Black literature
“For me, making do isn’t just about food; it’s also about making do in life”… Kardea Brown’s Life@GWN
We are proud to honor Chef Kardea Brown at the Girls Write Now Awards, and excited to share with you a must-read interview that is not only inspiring, it’s going to have you thinking about food, cooking, recipes, and the power of community in a whole new light. After premiering her cooking show Delicious Miss Brown on the Food Network in 2019, she’s reached 3.5 million viewers, judged Chopped, and authored her first cookbook The Way Home. Now, she’s coming off the heels of her second cookbook Make Do With What You Have, which will be released by Amistad Books in November.
Home
What is the difference between a house and a home?
to dig, to follow
Two New Yorkers explore the echoes of city girlhood.
Adventures Beyond the Screen
Follow Neviah, Himitsu and Blair as they escape the confines of their Creator's screen and explore the outside world!
When you laugh, you defy death…Rachel Bloom’s Life@GWN
During the height of the pandemic, Rachel Bloom gave birth to her firstborn, with complications that put her daughter in the NICU, and suffered the loss of her longtime friend and collaborator Adam Schlesinger to complications with COVID-19 as the world grappled with grief and transformation on an unprecedented scale.
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.