Members of the Girls Write Now community share a draft of one of their works in progress and discuss both the writing process and what creative expression looks like to them.
Listeners have the opportunity to engage with the inner machinations and perspectives of writers, producers, and artists from a diversity of ethnic, gender, age, socioeconomic, and professional backgrounds.
Check back biweekly for new episodes and stories!
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.
Have you ever thought about dropping everything and just going? Mentor Jaime Brockway did just that for two years and in this episode shares a short story about her adventures from her untitled travel memoir.
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.
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.
In this episode of Speaking in First Draft, Nola and Colette discuss how to write fictional narratives about real people, and why the themes of the French Revolution are still relevant today.
In this episode, Girls Write Now Community Manager Emily Rigby speaks with former mentee and current mentor Samantha Isales about her piece “An Uncommon Love Story.” Fall in love with this beautiful and riveting tale of Harlemites navigating revolutionary love and regressive sexism inspired by Samantha’s experiences of home, bell hooks, and late nights in the club.
This week we’re delighted to present Mentees Dom Dawes (he/they) and Jamilah Araf (she/her) as they chat about Dom’s poem “I Am From.”
Listen to Spencer George, Kat Jagai, and Richelle Szypulski talk about the creation of Girls Write Now On the Art of the Craft and respond to a prompt from the book.
This week we have the pleasure of hearing a conversation between Mentee Alum Imani Okwuosa and Mentee Ijeoma Asonye as they dive into an excerpt from Ijeoma’s forthcoming graphic novel, Allergy Girl.
Today’s episode features Mentees Chloe Lee(she/her) and Kayla Misa (she/they). You’ll learn about Kayla’s writing and creative process for her excerpts from one of her many poetry chapbooks. We hope you enjoy this insightful discussion about poetry, Asian identity, and embracing the silly parts of ourselves.
We’re kicking off our second season with a conversation between mentor alum and debut author of The Waves Take You Home, María Alejandra Barrios Velez, and Mentee Fiona Hernandez.
In this final episode of Speaking in First Draft Season One, Mentee Justine Ramirez and Mentor Viviana Leo engage in a conversation about authentic representation of humanity in scriptwriting, the importance of planning and discipline in your craft, and the struggles with getting others to read your work. Join in on the laughs and enjoy this lighthearted conversation between two amazing storytellers.
Our celebration of Pride and Caribbean American Heritage continues in part 2 of the conversation between Girls Write Now Fellow Sally Familia and Mentee Carissa Ceasor. Last episode, our guests dove deep into how they use poetry to process and release their emotions, in addition to the impact their ancestry has on them. This week, Sally and Carissa talk more about poetry and give tons of great advice for all of you fellow writers listening in.
In this riveting conversation, both our guests talk about what it means to explore their Caribbean ancestry and queerness through writing poetry. Carissa opens with three excerpts from their in-progress poetry chapbook entitled “Messages from the Radical Diaspora.” If you’re all about culture, identity, emotional liberation, and history, this episode is for you.
Sometimes mere existence is resistance, especially when you’re a woman in the midst of a war the entire world is watching. In Episode 9, our Senior Community Systems Coordinator here at Girls Write Now Lisbett Rodriguez interviews Ukranian-American poet and Girls Write Now Mentor Vera Sirota.
