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  • Storytelling Across Languages and Cultures (Fall 2025)

Fall 2025

Storytelling Across Languages and Cultures

This Journey invites multilingual storytellers—and those curious about language, identity, and culture—to explore how the languages we speak and the communities we come from shape our stories. Through writing, discussion, and creative expression, participants will examine the connections between language, culture, and self. The Journey celebrates multilingual voices and empowers participants to honor their perspectives and grow as confident storytellers across cultures.

Girls Write Now Collaboratory

This Journey is Closed, but You Can Apply for a Fall 2026 Journey Now!

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Learning Objectives

Explore Language in Storytelling

Reflect on how the languages we speak shape the way we express ourselves and connect with others.

Honor Personal and Cultural Experiences

Create written or multimedia pieces that highlight unique cultural perspectives and lived experiences.

Boost Multilingual Storytelling

Practice storytelling in a supportive environment that encourages multilingual expression and experimentation.

Explore Culture’s Role in Storytelling

Examine how different storytelling traditions inform the way stories are told, structured, and received.

Storytelling Across Languages and Cultures Community Experiences

Mentees and mentors in this Journey are required to attend the monthly Journey meetings listed below.

  • Saturday, November 15th, 2025, 1 pm ET
  • Saturday, December 13th, 2025, 1 pm ET
  • Saturday, January 17th, 2026, 1 pm ET

If you’re unable to attend a Journey meeting, you must notify your Staff Lead in advance and attend a community event to make up for it—strongly recommended options include Community Studios, Community Conversations, College & Career Chats, and Salon Experiences.

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Journey Circle: Community

Storytelling Across Languages and Cultures Courses

In this course, we’ll explore how the languages we speak shape the way we tell stories and connect with others. You’ll create and share personal stories that reflect your own background and culture, using writing or multimedia. Along the way, we’ll look at how different cultures tell stories, and how that affects structure, style, and voice. This is a supportive space to try out new ways of expressing yourself, whether in one language or many.

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Writing

Storytelling Across Languages and Cultures Mentoring

Mentees and mentors in this Journey will be matched for one cycle. Pairs will meet for at least two hour-long sessions each month. This Journey is open to both mentor/mentee pairs and peer-to-peer pairs.

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Journey Teaching Artist

Sally Familia

Girls Write Now Staff

Sally Familia (they/them) is a queer poet and freelance editor. Born in the Dominican Republic and raised in Washington Heights, Familia has a rooted passion for their community. They spent a year serving as senior editor for La Galería Magazine, a Dominican-based magazine for the Dominican diaspora in Washington Heights. They hold a B.A. in creative writing with a focus on poetry from SUNY Oswego. Most recently, Sally’s passions have shifted; now incorporating a strong desire to work with and for the youth. Sally hopes to merge their love for literature, Queer and BIPOC communities, and the youth as they continue to navigate the artist/ professional dichotomy. Sally has been awarded the Academy of American Poets Prize for the poem, “The Trouble with Reminiscing” (2019). They were also nominated for a Pushcart Prize by Brooklyn Poets for the poem, “Esperanza, Republica Dominicana”. Sally is currently working on their first poetry collection.

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Sally Familia
Storytelling Across Languages and Cultures

What Past Participants Have to Say

“I loved getting information and perspectives from so many people! My peers, my mentor, the staff, and the guests had so much amazing feedback and knowledge. This journey made me consider ideas about culture, my culture, that I have never thought about before. It was a very beneficial reflection. I was happy I could find such reflection and peace in my writing.”
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Nailah Araf Mentee
“At Girls Write Now, I was given a space where I could grow as a writer without judgement and with much support. Through the several community studios, I was able to explore several different styles of writing. During my sessions with my mentor, I also received advice specifically tailored for me and the piece I was working on for the journey, as well as having someone to give me advice for my real-life problems.”
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Mahjabin Chowdhury Mentee
“I think the most valuable part of the program is the community. I attended as many salons/community events as I could in areas that I was interested in. Each time the sessions ended, I found myself being more excited with the knowledge I gained. Everyone is extremely supportive and I am truly grateful for my experiences thus far. Girls Write Now impacted both my personal and professional growth through the Journey. I am grateful for my peer-mentor and the support from the program. As someone who has a science background but wanted to explore a career in creative writing, this program provided me the tools I needed to hone my writing voice, whilst challenging myself creatively. As a result, I am excited to continue my writing journey.”
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Jamie Asan Mentee

Journeys in the Wellness 360 Adventure focus on using writing and creating as a tool to help support your mental heath and general well-being. It is designed for mentees and mentors who want to embrace self-love and healing in their work.

Storytelling Across Languages and Cultures is a Journey in the Wellness 360 Adventure.

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Everything’s a Story: Nonfiction that Reads like Fiction (Fall 2026)

In this Journey, mentees and mentors will explore the ways in which creative storytelling techniques can be applied to nonfiction writing of all kinds, from memoir and personal essay to op-ed and how-to articles. We will dive into what makes a story—from structural archetypes to writing that flows—and learn how to harness the power of story to make nonfiction compelling and transformative.

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Wild Ideas: Nature, Science & Creativity (Fall 2026)

Created in honor of Helen Ghiradella, the biologist who uncovered the hidden architecture of butterfly wings, this Journey invites you, mentor and mentee, to explore the natural world through the complementary lenses of scientific inquiry and creative expression. Through close observation, research, and reflection, you'll investigate the forms, patterns, and processes found in nature, then build an original project—writing, visual art, media, performance, music, or a form of your own choosing—that celebrates where these disciplines meet. Along the way, you'll sharpen your powers of observation, stretch your interdisciplinary thinking, and develop the ability to translate scientific understanding into meaningful art.

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Civil Discourse: Connection & Persuasion (Fall 2026)

In this Journey, you—mentor and mentee—will build essential skills in public speaking, argumentation, and critical thinking. Through hands-on activities and lively discussion, you'll learn to craft persuasive speeches, construct well-reasoned arguments, and present your ideas with confidence. You'll explore what makes communication land, sharpen your thinking under pressure, and practice responding to perspectives unlike your own in a structured setting. By the end, you'll be able to make your case clearly, engage in dialogue that goes somewhere, and carry these skills into academic, professional, and civic life.

Civil Discourse Connection & Persuasion; two girls speaking with a mic
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Girls Write Now Girls Write Now .

Dark Tales: A Horror Book Club (Fall 2026)

Step into the shadows of horror and discover what makes a story truly unsettling. Across three monthly book club meetings, you—mentor and mentee—will dig into close readings and lively discussion of selected works, examining how authors build suspense, conjure atmosphere, evoke fear, and use the genre to probe deeper social, psychological, and cultural questions. Together you'll unpack narrative technique, character development, and the many shapes the genre can take. By summer's end, you'll have a richer appreciation for horror, sharper critical instincts as readers, and a store of inspiration and craft to carry into your own writing. Required books this cycle: Dark Is When the Devil Comes by Daisy Pearce, The Body by Bethany C. Morrow, and I'll Watch Your Baby by Neena Viel.

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